I know, I know—the holidays aren’t on your radar yet but hear me out. But we are into fall officially, meaning Halloween and Thanksgiving are right around the corner. For us, that means family functions, class parties, teacher gifts, family gifts, events with neighbors, etc. Next thing you know, it’s Christmas, and you’ve blown through your budget. You’ll tell yourself “OK next year I’m going to plan and save better.” To that I say, why not start this year with my ten tips to save money for the holidays. Because really, you should start now (if you haven’t already).
10 Ways To Save Money for The Holidays
- Sell clothes/shoes you aren’t using:
This is my favorite way to save money because let’s be honest, we all have stuff in our closets we aren’t using. Do you have sunglasses from three years ago that are in great shape but you just don’t wear them? Sell them. What about all those workout clothes you no longer use? Sell them. You could easily come away with $300-$400 if you want to. Pro tip: sell in local garage sale groups over resale stores. You make way more money. - Cash in gift cards:
Have you ever received a gift card to a place you’d never shop? You can cash them in at a gift card exchange, or even sell them online. - Take on odd jobs:
Dog walking, babysitting, house sitting, etc. These things pay well, and you can do them in your spare time. - Work on your side hustle:
Do you knit? Bake? Sew? Craft? This is a great time to start selling. People are always looking for unique gift ideas. Cash in on that! - Check out your credit card points: I know that with one of my credit cards I can actually use my points
- Have a set amount go to a holiday savings account:
This is one of the easiest ways to budget. Send a little money every month to a savings account and BOOM! You’ve saved all your holiday money without having to do anything. - Stop buying water/coffee:
Use reusable mugs/bottles and stop overpaying for bottled water and coffee. Doing this can potentially save $50 a week, which is $200 every month! - Utilize free services:
Your library is a great free service to use. Books, movies, even magazines can be found there. You could save a ton that way. Plus there are SO MANY free holiday events in my area, I’m sure they are like that all over! - Cut a few subscriptions:
Auditing your subscriptions (which I have talked about before) is a great way to cut expenses and save money. Cutting even one or two subscriptions will give you plenty of extra money to put toward your holiday spending. - Coupons:
If you aren’t using coupons for everything you can you are basically just wasting money! From online shopping to grocery stores, to craft stores, etc. Pretty much everywhere has a coupon. Most websites even have a coupon for first purchases. Heck, even Amazon has coupons on some items. I repeat—if you aren’t using coupons for everything you are wasting money!
What is something you do to save money for the holidays?
This post was originally published in 2019 and has been updated for 2021
