The Suprise
Christmas comes once each year, but it always seems to “creep up on ya”. I am terrible about putting Christmas gift buying off until the very last minute. As a full-time college student who also has bills to pay, Christmas shopping can, unfortunately, be dreadful. I have saved my money all year as much as I could this time around. I am finally prepared to buy, but first I would like to share my secret.
Amazon
I feel like a lot of people don’t know this, but Amazon offers a Prime Membership to all college students, the first 6 months are free, and then it’s only 6.50 a month after that. A Prime Membership includes free shipping, free music, unlimited movies, and so much more. I buy almost everything on Amazon. The best part is all of my stuff arrives guaranteed in two days or less. In no way am I sponsoring Amazon or making money off of sharing its great benefits, instead I only have money-saving advice to share; who doesn’t like the sound of that?
Now let’s talk about the good stuff. Everything I have bought on Amazon was chosen wisely and has been deemed in my eyes as purchased below retail value. Amazon offers coupons on most of their products and I will not buy unless I think the product is cheaper to buy off Amazon than in-store. By comparing prices, I have learned to save that moolah.
Amazon allows me to create lists and name them. For e.g, I have a list named “Brady”. Brady is my brother and within this list, I have every single item he would want for Christmas. By having the visual list in front of me I am able to think about how much I should be saving all year to make sure he has a great Christmas. Oftentimes if I create a list, I tend to get more excited, this is my money-saving motivation. Who wouldn’t want to see a five-year-olds face light up on Christmas?
Money Management
Finally, the most important ingredient to buying Christmas gifts without becoming poor is by saving money. Any of my loose change or small bills get thrown into a huge jar in my room. By the end of the year (AKA Christmas time), I crack it open and I have lots of money to spend. The key is to save all year long. Money management is the most important ingredient to “buying on a budget”.