28 Ways to Save on Anything – GIFTS! Part one – Christmas gifts

Join me everyday in February as I share ways to save money on just about anything you need, want, use!

So how many gifts do you give in a year?  Christmas, birthdays, baby showers, wedding showers, Valentine’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, Easter, anniversaries…it adds up!

How do you save money on all that?

I’m going to break this post down into a few parts simply because there are maaaaaaaaany gift giving occasions!

First, I’m going to talk about Christmas!  Yes, in February, I am going to talk about Christmas presents.

If you want to reduce your Christmas expenses in 10 months, here’s what you do.  Sign up for Swagbucks.  Start searching and earning Swagbucks.  Every time you get 450SBs, cash out for a $5 Amazon.com giftcard.  When you get your code, bank it (all you have to do is enter it in your Amazon.com account.  It’s stored there until you are ready to use it – it never expires!)

Before you know it, you’ll have $20.  Then $40…then….I would be willing to say that with very little effort at MINIMUM you’ll have $80-$100 to spend by Christmas time.  Since you can get just about anything at Amazon.com you’ll have no trouble spending it.  And most items ship for FREE with a $25+ order!  Amazon also has HOT toy deals around Christmas time too which will help stretch your dollar!

So, stop what your doing and start using Swagbucks!!!  (And then come back and keep reading…)


How else can you save on Christmas gifts?  Start shopping NOW!  Seriously!  Keep your eyes peeled for incredible bargains!  My son’s two big Christmas gifts from Santa this past Christmas were a kid sized drum set and a sit and spin toy.  I paid $20 for them both after Christmas the year before.  Hid them in the garage for a whooooooooole year!  Saved big because of it!

Stockpile gifts.  Children’s books, classic games and simple toys are great to stock up on at super cheap.  (I found paperback Sesame Street books in a Target clearance bin for 25c one time!)  I have FOUR nieces of varying ages and a 2 year old son, so I’m always looking ahead for kids gifts.  You can also stock up on picture frames, candles and bath sets when you find a clearance.


Keep a list of who you buy for at Christmas.  Post it on your refrigerator.  List everything down to the dirty santa gift you have to get for the office Christmas party.  Then when you find the perfect gift on clearance somewhere during the year, buy it!  Put it in a safe place and write it next to that person’s name on the list.  I buy up clearance picture frames and keep them on hand.  They’re great for grandparents that you don’t know what else to buy for – just add pictures of grandkids!  They’re also great for that gift-you-didn’t-know-you-needed, hostess gift, dirty santa gift.

I also took advantage of FREE photo gifts from Vistaprint and Snapfish.  And even Walgreen’s (those free 8×10 collage went well with my stockpiled picture frames!)   Just be ready when the deals come around and jump on them!

Use your stockpile.  This year, I made gift baskets from items I had in my stockpile.  Coffee paired with a photo mug I got for FREE, lotions and candles I got for cheap or free, use your imagination!

Stay tuned for tomorrow where we’ll talk about baby shower and wedding gifts!

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