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Financially Creative Christmas Spending

We’re in the thick of the holiday shopping season right now. Only 23 more shopping days till Christmas. Have I started? No. I know there are many of you who shop year round for gifts. And I know there are some of you who will wait until December 24th to get your husband or wife that “special something.” Here are some things to consider if you’re financially pinched.

USE A COINSTAR MACHINE
Take your coins to the [tag]coinstar[/tag] machines. While I don’t recommend these machines normally because they take 8% of your money as a processing fee, they’re an excellent way to turn your cash into gift cards or gift certificates (the processing fee is waived for gift cards). Participating companies include amazon.com, Starbucks, Apple iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Old Navy, Circuit City among many others.

Head over to http://coinstar.com/us/WebDocs/A1-0-3-1 to read more about it.

MAKE A LIST AND STICK TO IT

For those in your life who are special, make a list of what you want to get them. But make sure you stick to the items on the list. Many times, the impulse to buy a couple extra items to go along with the gift kicks in. If you stick to your list, you’ll end up saving money.
BREAK OUT THE CASH

If you write down what you plan on buying, then you know exactly how much money you’ll need. So bring cash along to purchase the gifts. Put all your plastic away. Without access to credit cards and debit cards, you’ll also make sure that you’ll limit your spending and buy only what you planned on buying!

THINK ABOUT BUYING ONLINE

Think about skipping the malls entirely and shop from the comfort of your own home. Many times, you can find items much cheaper online. If you’re walking through the mall and find an item you love at a store, chances are you can find the item much more cheaply on the internet. I did a quick search for some novelty items at Restoration Hardware and was able to find the exact same items online, but 50% less.

Online shopping gets many of us into trouble though. So make sure you do it with financial restrictions (like sticking to your list and your list).

CREATE A BUDGET FOR GIFTS

Next year, make sure that you add a line to your budget for gifts. Every month take a certain amount of money and stock it away for your Christmas shopping. Then, at year’s end, you won’t feel the panic and the sting that comes with overextending yourself financially.