Today is a guest post from the lovely Savannah Hoban! I guest posted for her this week too where I wrote about $5 Holiday Gifts! Anyway, without further adieu, allow me to hand it over to Savannah! Happy Thursday, friends!
I know the holidays can be a very stressful time of the year for most. Especially with this pandemic going on a lot of hard-working people have been out of work for quite some time. I’ve rounded up my top 7 ways to save money during the holidays in the hope to help someone this year!
Make a Budget
I tend to have a problem with overspending during the holidays. Maybe it’s my Christmas cheer but I always struggle to keep it to the budget. That’s why last year I implemented my Holiday budget planner! This has helped me tremendously! By creating a budget I know exactly what I can spend and where it’s going.
Track Your Spending
There are apps you can use to track your spending but my favorite way to keep track of what I spend and stick to the budget is to get cash out and put it in envelopes. Once the cash is gone, that’s it! No more spending.
Make a Pre- Holiday Checklist
You can create your own or use this one here. Making a checklist ensures you have everything you need for the holidays including meals, gifts, and clothing, or other things like professional photography and Christmas cards. This will make budgeting a breeze!
Shop Early
During the year there are SO many sales! Let’s take advantage of that and plan early! Between Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there is no reason not to be able to save! I try and pick up one thing a month if I can! I always buy on sale or find a coupon as well! If not I wait for it to go on sale.
DIY
Make your own gifts for grandparents, relatives, and friends! There are numerous DIY gifts you can make on Pinterest. This year I will be making those trending Hot Cocoa Bombs and Apple Butter for our friends and family this year. I can make it in bulk and save some money!
Pot Luck
When budgeting for the holidays it’s easy to forget how much meals add up! In our household, it’s a struggle because I come from a family who is passionate about cooking. What we do is have a sign-up sheet for what to bring that way the cost is much less and we still eat fantastically!
Use Rakuten
I have a whole blog post about this if you’d like to read further on the subject but I’m going to keep it short and sweet on here. Rakuten is a company that gets paid to send its members to retailers. In return, they pass some of that money to you, the customer.
You can shop your favorite online stores and get cashback with your purchase! How awesome is that?! It’s free to sign up and free to use! If you sign up using this link you will receive a $10 cashback on your first purchase. This is not points or credits it’s actually $10 back.
Those are my best kept holiday saving secrets! If you’d like to check out my blog I’d love for you to come and look around! I’m a photographer, blogger, and educator!
I want to thank Brittany for allowing me to share these tips with you all!
Xo Savannah with SavannahHobanBlog.com
Thanks again, Savannah! This information is awesome!
