During the holiday season, it can be easy to go overboard on presents and on your budget. On top of that, it can be hard to buy for family and friends while also on a student budget. The four tips below can hopefully help you find some creative ways to save your money and buy amazing holiday gifts for everyone on your list!
- Make a list (and stick to it)
It can be so easy to make a list with only items you know your friends and family need, and then once you get to the store, to buy extra things just because they were on sale. Don’t do it! Remember your budget and remember your list. Don’t spend your hard-earned money on cute little trinkets that won’t last the receiver very long. Chances are they would rather have a couple of large meaningful gifts rather than small cheap ones.
2. Holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be helpful (but not always)
If you weren’t able to get out and buy anything on these two “big” sale days, don’t fret! Sometimes, depending on what you’re looking for, stores may have great deals for you, other times people get so caught up in the excitement of these days that they end up spending money on things they might not have bought any other time and sometimes for the same amount as they would have any other time because low and behold, the deal wasn’t actually that great of a deal!
3. If you use Google Chrome, try installing Honey
If you do a lot of online shopping (like me, opps) then you’ll want to install this app. Honey automatically helps you find coupons when you check out of an online store. Obviously, it isn’t going to find coupons that don’t exist, but in case you forgot to apply that 25% off coupon to that new sweater, don’t worry. Honey’s got your back.
4. Know which items on your list will have a sale (and which items won’t)
Sometimes, we end up buying the same things for people every year; like gift cards or a new pair of boots. In order to make sure you get all of your shopping done in time, and you save some money at the same time, try to think about which items you know either won’t have a sale, (like gift cards) or that will only be on sale a for a certain time. This means you can set up for yourself a type of schedule when you should buy your presents for the least amount of money and you won’t have to stress about getting them all bought before the holidays!
I hope these four tips will help you save some money this holiday season and help you to spend your money more wisely this year than in past years! This way you will not only have more money in your pocket, but you will have more time to spend with your family and friends, and let’s face it, that’s the only thing that really matters!