Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little extra money for Christmas?   

The holidays can be one of the biggest budget busters for many families! In fact, in 2019,   U.S. households  spent an average of $1,496 on Christmas shopping.  

Even more, over one-fifth of Americans went into debt for Christmas shopping. Of those that went into debt, 30% were relying on their tax return to pay it off.  

Y ikes!  Nothing like counting your eggs before they hatch.  

Allowing your Christmas spending to follow you into the New Year in the form of credit card debt isn’t a great way to kick off the year.  

So what is the best way to save money for Christmas? I highly recommend saving for Christmas year-round! You can do this by  setting up a Christmas sinking fund in your budget.    

While this is the best way, life happens! Sometimes you roll with it and stack up as much cash as possible a few months before!  

If that is the case, this is for you! These are some great ways to save money for Christmas. 

While some of these ideas may seem extreme, keep in mind they are designed to help you save money  fast.  

Set a budget for every single person on your list. Then, stick to your list and your budget (the hard part).  

Download my free Christmas budget printable to help you keep track!  

⭐️ Other holiday savings tips:

Live without TV for a few months. Most people only watch a few channels anyway! If you cut TV but cannot live without your favorite show, see if you can re-watch episodes online.  

I am sure there is another way you can find to watch it, someone more tech-savvy than I can help you!  

We cut our cable subscription a long time ago! We now have a smart TV and only watch 2-3 channels using the app on Roku TV. I won’t get into the details because I do not know what I am talking about... but I know how to find the channel I want :)  

Using cash back apps is a way to save money with just a click of a button. My favorite cash back app is Rakuten. They offer cash back at thousands of popular stores! Additionally, they consistently offer double or triple cash back at certain stores.  

Stores include Target, Sam’s Club, Macy’s, American Eagle, Verizon, etc.  Take a look yourself!   
 
You can easily install Rakuten on your web browser within minutes. This way, Rakuten will show you a notification when you visit a site that they offer cash back for.  

Rakuten even searches the web for coupons available to the site you are on and automatically applies them to your order at checkout.  

They do have a threshold for when they payout funds, but if you do a lot of online shopping, this is a fantastic way to save!  

Are you a restaurant or fast-food junkie? One of the biggest ways we saved money when we were paying off debt was cutting out dining out.  

Let me tell you, it adds up FAST.  

What I thought we were spending eating out and what we were actually spending were  vastly  different. 

Commit to eating dinner at home and bringing lunch to work to save up cash.  

Or, if you want to still have your weekly date night, buy Groupon vouchers. It is an effortless way to save money. It is common to see a deal where you pay $40 for a $50 voucher to a restaurant.  

You can also read 8 expenses you need to cut from your budget!

To avoid eating out altogether, you have to be very  intentional  about setting yourself up for success. Here are a few tips.  

Once we started doing the three things mentioned above, we saved hundreds of dollars on groceries!  

Other money saving grocery hacks:

I know many people are sick of hearing  “cut out latte’s and you’ll save money!”   Although many people roll their eyes at this suggestion, it adds up!   For certain generations, they consume more gourmet coffee beverages on average than plain coffee:

If you get a coffee 3x per week, that adds up to $15. If you save $15 per week for 6 weeks, that equates to $90. 

See how simple that was?

Remember, cutting out treats isn't forever, it's just to help stock up cash.  

Depending on your budget, that can go a long way for Christmas shopping!  

Other ideas include cutting out gas station food, nail salon visits, and buying generic brands for the time being!  

Instead of focusing on cutting costs to save, try and make some extra money for Christmas!

If you have stuff that you’re willing to part with, declutter and sell. Many times, you can list your stuff on various social media sites.  

Price it cheap and get it out the door. The goal isn’t to make a huge profit on your stuff, the goal is to get cash into your hands.  

One of our family goals is to not have a ton of stuff. We want our kids (and ourselves) to enjoy being outside and getting creative.  

Ain’t  no shame in the pizza delivery game.  You can make good money delivering pizza’s! My friend recently delivered pizzas for 3 hours and made $60 plus a free meal. That’s $20/hour!  

If you have 3 hours to spare on a weeknight or weekend, it is an effortless way to make some good cash!  

Nowadays, so many people work outside the home and are just busier in general than ever before. As a result, they are looking to create more time by outsourcing some basic tasks.  

Cleaning is one of those tasks and is prime real estate for an easy side hustle!  

This is a very practical way to make money. Place an ad in the paper, make a post on social media, and ask friends to spread the word.  

Do you have a special skill? Actually, it does not have to even be a special skill. There are many people who lack common skills  (myself included)  that are looking for someone to teach them!  

Everyone has something to offer.  Are you a great gardener? Do you decorate well? Have you figured out some cleaning hacks to save time for busy moms?   

While these might seem like  “basic skills”  to some people, I was looking for more guidance and  expertise .  

I have taken paid online courses for baby sleep training, money management, and scheduling your day with little kids.  

Offer in person training or  coaching or  create an online course.   

There are benefits and drawbacks to each. Let us briefly look:  

Benefits  

Drawbacks   

Benefits   

Drawbacks   

If you go the online course route, I recommend using Teachable. They help you EVERY step of the way. Additionally, they have an amazing resource library full of step by step videos. Teachable also has regular webinars with successful Teachable course creators sharing their secrets to success!  

You can start building a course for free, and only start paying for the platform when you put up your course for sale!

The sitter market is  hot.   I will tell you what.  I remember getting paid $3-$5 per hour to watch multiple kids. Not the case anymore. Our sitter cost more than our dinner a lot of the time!  

While we love having grandparents babysit, they need a night off sometimes too 😉  

I am always looking for trustworthy, responsible sitters for my kids whether young adult, middle-aged adult or older.  

Obviously, the holidays involve traveling for most people. If you are going to be staying home, consider offering to pet sit while owners are out of town.  

Additionally, many parents have work parties and other holiday parties that require them to find a sitter.

Give up an afternoon, weekend, or entire day to make some quick cash!  

Much to my surprise, one of my most successful streams of income is from Etsy.   

You are probably thinking,  yeah  but you spend hours on end working on it every week I bet.   

Nope.  Right now ,  I am spending less than 10 hours per week working on every aspect of my business-  the blog, Etsy shop, and online course.   

I do 3 simple things to be successful on Etsy:  

Like an online course, Etsy is a great passive income stream. This is perfect for busy moms who do not have a lot of time on their hands. 

In fact, I only work on my online business when my kids are  napping  or  in bed.   That's  it.   

I became a stay at home mom to be with my kids more,  not start a full-time job and park them in front of the TV.   

Maybe it’s not in the cards for you to save more money this year because you have cut all the costs you can. Or, maybe you’re not in a position that you can extra time to make more money.  

Or, maybe you’re like me and you think holiday spending is obnoxious and your frugal heart just can’t bear it.  

Whatever the case, here are some things you can do to make the holidays more enjoyable and less focused on money.  

We try hard to focus on the quality of our time with friends and family rather than the quantity of gifts we give or receive.  

Although this sounds cliché, memories last a lifetime. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of our big, hectic family gatherings with screaming kids and wrapping paper strewn everywhere.  

I do not remember any of the gifts I got growing up.  Not one.  

I have to jog my memory to remember what my husband got me last year.  

However, I can tell you exactly what my favorite parts of the day were- playing games with family and enjoying a nice dinner together.  

Focus on the memories, not the gifts!  

No matter what your budget is, you can do something special for everyone on your list. Consider making a DIY gift! Remember, Christmas shouldn't be a competition of who gives the most expensive gift.

A great idea for kids that you can do on any budget is to follow the 3 gift rule.

With this rule, each kid receives 3 gifts:

This is a great way to keep the gifts down and remind your kids that gifts aren't the most important part!

There is an abundance of  free activities  for families during the holidays.  

These are some of our favorite things to do:  

Youd don’t have to look far to have free family fun. Search your local newspaper, community Facebook page, etc. for updates on events!  

While this is easier said than done,  put your phone away for the day.  Instead of trying to recreate the perfect photo op, just focus on  being present.   

Many times, our kids, spouse, and family compete with our phone for attention...  and lose.   

In addition to taking away from our families, our phones also feed our envy.  

If this is a tough year financially, scrolling through social media will not help you feel better.  

There is nothing worse than feeling guilt for what you cannot afford and opening social media to see all the 10-year-old's that got iPhone’s for Christmas.  

Do yourself a favor and stay off your phone!  

You need to  make a plan .  This is my step by step process for budgeting for Christmas.  

A plan is great, but you must execute the plan. While it’s tempting to overspend, remember, paying cash for Christmas and exercising self-control will put you in a much better place financially.  

You will be so happy you started the New Year off with no financial strings attached!  

These are just a few of the best ways to save and/or make money or Christmas.

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