By Emelie Pelenkahu
5 Ways to Save Serious $$$ This Holidays
It’s early November (what just happened?!) and Daylight Saving is behind us – which means Holiday season is just around the corner! Wohooo. If you have gone to your local supermarkets (Ralph’s, Vons and Giant – for East Coast peeps) and even CVS or Walgreens, most of them have started to put up Holidays goodies, decorations, sparkly home goods, chocolate galore and booze.
To us, Christmas and the Holidays is truly the most wonderful time of the year! We believe that Christmas is a celebration of hope and the Holidays is a time to be grateful for our lives, our friends and family and spend some quality time with them.
The holidays are also the perfect timing to wear big comfy sweater, fur boots, Netflix and Hot Coco and … giving gifts to the people that we love!!! Most of us will travel – whether domestically or internationally.
Translation = the holidays is EXPENSIVE. Can you relate?
We thought that we want to share some of the ways to save serious money this Holidays without letting go of important traditions. Here ya go:
- Set a Budget, Stick to It AND Track Yo Expenses
If you want to save money, you must know how much is your budget! Write down your top priorities this holiday season, perhaps: Travel (airfare cost), Immediate family gifts or Holiday Party cost. Whatever it is, once you choose your priorities, be detailed in each section’s budget. Then stick to that budget and try not to give in to buy unnecessary items!
Track your expenses with APPS like Wally and Mint.
Image Credit: Wally.me & Mint.com
- Start Early
This is one of the BEST tricks on saving money during the holidays, is to start early buying gifts and home decorations. I know.. I know, some of us are too lazy to start early, but if ya wanna save same money, you better go the extra mile! Take advantage of BLACK FRIDAY deals and CYBER MONDAY deals to save at least 20% to 75% off the trendiest gadget, clothing and décor. Many of these items on sale are from past season of this year, but who cares! If what you buy if a good quality item and is beneficial for you and for the person you will gift it to, then GO FOR IT!
For those of you who loves shopping in person, go to your local mall or Factory Outlet to get amazing deals. For people who prefer to shop from your laptop, set your alarm to 12 midnight on Cyber Monday and scout the best deal without the hassle of going into stores. A few sites that carry Cyber Monday biggest deals would be Amazon, Macy’s and Best Buy.
- Give Creatively – DIY
This is one of our favorite trick! DIY! If you have the skills and enthusiasm for DIY items, we suggest you make a list of 3 to 5 items that you’d like to display at home (for home décor) or gifts. Make reasonable list and try not to put too much pressure in making all décor and gifts DIY – because, depending on your schedule, you might not have time to craft everything. Even if you’re not sure that you have DIY skills, try to watch YOU TUBE videos on a few items that you want to make. Also, follow DIY Media, bloggers on Instagram and YouTube for inspirations. Here’s a few of our favorites:
Image Credit: Brit & Co
- Coupons AND Online Discount Codes
Many retailers give out coupons and discount codes (worth at least 20-40% savings!) during Holiday season. Unfortunately, these coupons are often not easily accessible/known by consumers. Which is why you should use HONEY – the Google Chrome extension searches discount codes across online platform for you so you can easily get the best deals around. Another site, BE FRUGAL, even searched Cash Back and Discount Codes for you. Double win!
Image Credit: Honey
- White Elephant or Secret Santa
I mean.. who doesn’t want to get more than just one gift during the holidays. BUT, this also means that we need to give out gifts just as much as we receive. This year, perhaps encourage your group of friends, tribes and family to do gift exchange in White Elephant or Secret Santa Style! Or you can even do both. The main goal is to eliminate giving to 25 different people and instead making Holidays memories that will last through laughter, quality time and good food!
Do you have other hacks on how to save money during the holidays? Share your ideas and thoughts with us!
xx
Everina Team