Save that New Year’s resolution for something besides paying down holiday debt. With a bit of planning and saving, and a little help from the Internet, you can keep your holiday spending in check.
- Plan ahead — Create a spending plan using an online budgeting tool or homemade spreadsheet. Make a list of recipients and establish a budget for each individual. Include gifts for family, friends, and teachers, as well as travel expenses, holiday parties, and items such as wrapping paper, postage, and holiday decorations and clothing.
- Suggest a gift exchange – Gift exchange games can be an interactive and creative way to entertain guests, and to shrink the number of presents each person must purchase.
- Forgo extended warranties – Most financial experts recommend skipping extended warranties. Shoppers rarely redeem them and, if they do, the average repair cost isn’t much more than the warranty cost.
- Use coupon codes – Find thousands of coupon codes on the Internet, by searching sites like Tada, Coupons.com, RetailMeNot, Swagbucks, and many more.
- Look for Black Friday and Cyber Monday online deals – Many of these sales are available online for the same price as in stores. Also, Cyber Monday deals often start well in advance of that day, so shop ahead.
- Purchase reduced price gift cards — Sites like Gift Card Granny and Raise offer discounted gift cards for many major retailers.
Use daily deal sites — Deal sites Groupon or LivingSocial offer deeply discounted offers on things like restaurants, jewelry, spas, hotels, golf courses, gym memberships, home supplies, and much more. Purchase a gift item or give an activity like a kayak rental or a weekend getaway. - Use mobile shopping apps — Find the lowest prices on holiday items with apps like Shopsavvy and RedLaser, both available for iPhone or Android. Simply scan the bar code or type in a product name, and the app scans for the lowest prices online or at a nearby store. CouponSherpa is a mobile coupon app featuring hundreds of digital coupons.
Open a Holiday Savings account — To avoid credit card debt, save now so you can pay cash for these holiday items. Check out our Christmas Club and set up a savings account for future holiday needs.
