5 Ways To Save Money During Holiday Season
FULL DISCLOSURE: I consider myself somewhat of a minimalist. I try to fight the consumerism as much as possible, and I understand that some of these money saving tips may not be immediately palatable for all. But, I promise, if you give them a chance, you’ll find joy in the freedom of giving what you want, to who you want, and how you want.
1. Christmas shopping is a fixed expense. Plan for it.
Number one, it might be too late for this tip for this time around, but keep it in mind for next time around and for all of the times after that, because it’s really important.
So this one, it requires a sinking fund also known as a targeted savings goal. Start saving for holiday gift spending starting in January. Make a sinking fund in your high yield savings account, which is an online bank account that pays you more in interest than a traditional savings account at Wells Fargo or Chase would pay you.
Once your high yield savings account is open, make a little separate savings bucket, and title it ‘holiday spending’. Throw in five bucks a month in there, ten bucks, 50 bucks, whatever you want. But Christmas happens every single year.
And if you are someone that gives gifts every single year, then this is a fixed expense. So start saving for it early, poquito a poquito. When Christmas comes around, you won’t be as stressed as you would have been if you didn’t start saving in January.
Bonus tip on meaningful gift giving
If you can, support local businesses, instead of shopping at Amazon, Walmart, etc for your holiday shopping.
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2. Ask yourself, can I afford to buy this gift?
This is a spicy one. But it’s your biggest needle mover when it comes to saving money.
Put your financial needs first. If life is making it hard for you to make ends meet or reach your money goals, do not feel pressured to spend on material gifts. There are a lot of ways to be generous with those that you love.
I know, I know. Maybe you feel pressure because you know someone’s gonna give you gifts. That is a totally valid concern.
I’m gonna share with y’all something that I did about three years ago.
And trust me, I got an eye-roll from my sister. I sent a group message to the family group chat, basically to who I thought might get me a gift. And I just said, ‘hey, everyone, I can’t really do presents this year, please don’t feel the need to get me a present. I’d love to spend time with y’all instead’ or something like that.
But basically saying, I can’t do gifts this year. I love you all. Don’t feel pressured to get me a gift either.
I know that’s kind of out of the box in capitalistic consumerism, the US of A. But let’s be real. If I am struggling to pay my bills or to reach my emergency fund savings that I need for my vitality, it does not make sense for me to go spend on material gifts.
Now, if it’s something of necessity, like if you know that someone you love desperately needs to go to the dentist because their tooth is hurting, then okay, right? Like if you want to give them some money for that, then that’s different than just buying them something being fancy. Again, put your financial health first.
Especially because oftentimes gifts may just end up in the trash or we don’t even know if the person wants that gift.
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3. Gift your time
I know this sounds like a cop out, but it’s not. You do have to be thoughtful with it, though. You can’t just offer to do something that you know they’re never gonna need or want.
Think about it. Be generous with it. Again, gifting your time is not an excuse to be cheap or skimp out on a meaningful gift.
There is a fine line with this gift because, for example, me, like, I’ve received judgment for this in the past. I am a retire on time teacher, so I teach people how to open an IRA, buy their first investment and essentially – retire on time. For someone’s birthday one year, I wanted to gift that person a 1:1 ‘Retire Ready’ intensive, where we’d basically sit down and get them set up for retirement. Anyway, when I mentioned this to someone close to me they gave me a little eye roll like I was trying to avoid spending money on a gift.
Again, some of these money saving tips can be ‘out of the norm’, but as long as you put thought behind the gift and the delivery, you can be generous without going broke.
Find the right balance for you. If you know that this type of gift may not be the best idea for you, you could find something that might work that’s similar to it. Maybe buy them something a little bit less expensive and offer to do something nice for them too.
It’s really up to your discretion and the individual’s preferences.
4. Buy people what they need
In an effort to provide value and not be wasteful, ask your loved ones what they’d enjoy or are in need of.
When I told my boyfriend what I wanted for my birthday, it was a list of things that were boring – a blow dryer, screen protector for my phone, jeans, etc.
I did get push back from him at first since he is a gift giver.
However, like I mentioned before, I’m somewhat of a minimalist and these were things that I actually wanted that made me happy.
So ask your loved ones, what do they want? What do they need?
If you feel like they might ask you for something that’s not really in line with your values, you can always go the gas card and groceries gift card. That’s always a win-win. DON’T LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE WHO SAY IT’S NOT THOUGHTFUL. Times are tough – we can all use a bit more $$$$$$.
Asking people what they want, is a great way to give them something they actually need, and it also cuts down on the waste. E.G. you wont see your gift end up in the garbage can or be re-gifted because as thoughtful as you thought you were being, it wasn’t something they wanted.
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5. Gift contributions to a child’s 529 plan (college savings plan)
This one is for the uncles, aunties, grandparents, close friends. Gift your niece, nephew, friend’s baby contributions to their 529 plan.
A 529 plan is an account where someone can save money for college. It’s not a regular savings account. It’s similar to a retirement account where you put in the money and you can invest that money, and the money grows in the stock market.
When the child is of collegiate age, child and parents can withdraw the money and use the money that’s there for educational expenses.
The kiddos, usually, they don’t need more toys. They don’t need more shirts. You know what they need? Money for educational expenses (not just college). If you have a child in your life, consider mentioning this type of account to a parent who may not have yet heard of it.
I know it’s boring, but they’ll need it. And they’ll thank you when their money grows and save their asses when they’re learning how much college actually is.
5 ways to save money during the holidays
- Do your best to plan for fixed expenses, like Christmas, people’s birthdays. Open a high-yield savings account and squirrel those dollars away slowly. It will all add up.
- It’s okay to put your financial health first. I’ve been there where I didn’t have the money to spend on holiday spending. It’s important to prioritize yourself first, even if you’re known for giving great gifts. (Things change. Maybe you don’t have it this year, that’s okay. Trust me, everybody is feeling it. It is expensive to exist.)
- Gift your time. How can you spend meaningful time with the person that you care about?
- Ask the people what they want. Send them a quick messaging saying, ‘hey, I’m thinking about what to get you for [insert occasion here]. Can you send me a list of a few things that you are in need of? I’d love to give you something that you actually like’.
- Contributions to a child’s 529 plan as a gift. They will THANK YOU when they have money for educational expenses.
You can be generous without breaking the bank
TLDR, we do not have to financially constrain ourselves in order to be generous and show people that we love them. Ask yourself, if someone that loves me wanted to give me a gift, but they did not have the money, would I want them to go into debt to give me that gift?
I know the answer is no. So if you are in that situation, extend yourself some compassion. It’s okay, people that love you will understand.
And as we get older and make more money, our gift giving will evolve. For example, I prefer the one-to-one meaningful gifts if I can, and when I make more money, instead of it being a one-to-one breakfast with someone or hiking and then protein shake after whatever the case is, it’ll probably evolve a luxury spa or something. 1-1, meaningful connection time.
I’m not there yet, but this just goes to show, even when you have a lot of money and money isn’t an issue, there are still ways to be intentional with our gift giving.
Bonus gift giving tip
If you really want to nail your gift giving, ask yourself the following question: who is this gift for? Let me elaborate. Is the gift for that person – as in, you know they want and will enjoy the gift. OR are you gifting that thing/experience to that person to make benefit you? Maybe it’ll make you feel good to buy something expensive for that person. Maybe you want people to see you in a certain light due to the gift you gave. Food for thought, amiga. Think about it. Who is the gift for?
Goodbye consumerism, hello intentional gift giving
Let’s be real, we live in consumerist, capitalist U.S.A. This mean’s we’ve really got to be intentional and give pause to what we are purchasing. The good news is the world is slowly like snail pace, but I do see it slowly, slowly, slowly, noticing how capitalism is ruining everything.
Let this be an invitation to slowly pivot from habitual consumeristic tendenciec and into habits that consider sustainability and our planet.
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