Blog – dollardollarnow.com

I love Christmas and the holiday season. It’s an absolutely amazing time of year that’s full of music, food, and spending time with those you love. It truly is, “the most wonderful time…of the year.” But with all of that holiday magic comes a price. And let’s be honest, Christmas and the holidays are insanely expensive. Between your grocery bill, fall photos, gifts, and all other miscellaneous expenses, it’s easy to spend thousands of dollars that you don’t have. I know, because I’ve done it. But over the years, as I’ve gotten smarter with money, the cost of Christmas has grown exponentially and I’ve become more annoyed at the costs. However, as I raise my own family, I’ve come to accept two conclusions about the holidays: First, YOU’RE GOING TO SPEND MONEY. It’s simply a fact and thinking you won’t spend any money around the holiday season isn’t very rational. It’s okay to spend some money around Christmastime. However… Second, and most importantly, you should ALWAYS TRY TO SAVE MONEY. There’s no need in being a stingy Scrooge. But always look to save, especially around this time of year. This list will help you with that. Over the rest of this post, we will look at why it’s important to save money at Christmastime and the 57 best ways to actually save money this Christmas. So hop on the sleigh and let’s take a ride! Why it’s important to save money at Christmastime 1. The Christmas season is EXPENSIVE Did I mention that the holidays were expensive? Oh, I did? Yep, let’s just take a look at EVERYTHING that you could possibly spend money on beside your normal groceries and bills: Christmas decorations Christmas lights Increased power bills (due to Christmas lights) Holiday meals Gifts Christmas photos Christmas cards Wrapping paper Stockings Stocking stuffers Christmas trees Gas and snacks while traveling Hotels (if you can’t stay with relatives) And there are so many other things that people spend money on during the holiday season. But that list above is about the bulk of it. Even so, you can easily overspend on around the holidays so you have to work on finding ways to save your money. 2. There’s no reason to spend everything you have I’ll admit that my October, November, and December spending is usually way more than the other 9 months of the year. But we always try to tighten up the budget, save where we can, pay extra on the house, and have money left over at the end of the month. If you do spend a lot of money around Christmas, just make sure that you DON’T BORROW MONEY FOR CHRISTMAS. It sure would be a shame to be paying off the holidays until Christmas next year, wouldn’t it?! 3. You’re broke… If you’re broke and in debt, you don’t need to be overspending this Christmas. You’re BROKE! You don’t have the money to splurge. So cut back heavily this year and next year to get everything paid off. Once you’re out of debt, you can spend more on Christmas and not feel guilty for a bit of overspending. Until then, we should find all those ways to save! 57 Easy and fun ways to save money this Christmas Save money on Christmas 1. Figure out what you can afford: the first step in saving money this Christmas is to figure out how much you can actually afford to spend. Most people don’t even stop to think about this. Ask yourself, “how much money can I afford to spend on Christmas this year?” So to start off, I want you to think of a number in your head for how much you can afford. A good rule of thumb is no more than 20% of your monthly take home pay for ALL Christmas expenses. So if you make $2000 dollars this December, no more than $400 should be spent on ALL gifts, decorations, Christmas dinner, and everything else you’re going to buy for the holidays. If you’re in debt, cut that number in half - no more than 10% percent of what you made in December. And that’s even still a little high. I encourage you, while you’re broke and in debt, to spend as little as possible this Christmas. Remember, this is a short term plan to get out of debt forever! 2. Set a Christmas budget limit: next, set your budget limit on what you can afford. Set a limit on how much you are allowed to spend on the holidays and stick to it NO MATTER WHAT. Once you’re out of debt, you can play around with this. But if you need to save, set your budget and stick to it. Even if you run a few dollars over, and don’t make it, at least you’ll have saved way more than you normally would’ve spent. Probably double that or more! 3. Be like Santa (make a list): how does Santa make sure and save money every year? He makes a list and checks it twice. Then he cuts out gifts for people who don’t deserve them. I’m not saying you need to cut a bunch of naughty people off your gift list (which might actually save you money), but you need to make a list and stick to it. Make a list of your immediate family members and start thinking about who is going to receive gifts and who doesn’t need gifts. Make your list and check it twice. Take people off who you don’t really need to buy a gift for. Try to think of what you’re going to buy and check off names as you get each gift. This is also a great way to not forget anyone important! 4. Spend Christmas at home: one thing that my family has done to save money on Christmas is to simply stay home. Let everyone know that you simply can’t afford Christmas this year because you’re broke and in debt. “We love you all but we’re broke and in debt. So we’re going to stay home this year. Again, we love you and next year we can exchange gifts. Thanks for understanding.” The exact words we used when talking to family about our debt-free journey. Most were fine with it. Some weren’t. But we had a great Christmas at home anyway. 5. Agree on NO gifts: we’ve never done a completely zero gift Christmas but this could be a great change of pace for everyone involved this year if your family is really struggling. Talk to those in your family and try to agree on NO GIFTS this year. Sometimes there are other things that are more important. 6. Time over money: instead of gifts, spend this Christmas with those you love, letting them know how much you love them. People always make Christmas about gifts. But it isn’t about that. It’s about being around those that you care most about, as well as enjoying the holiday food and music. Once everybody is more financially stable, start giving gifts again. 7. Fewer gifts: whether you’re financially stable or not, in order to save money this year, speak with your family about fewer gifts. If you’re the person that gives multiple gifts, it might be time to cut that back to just one decent gift per person to save a little bit of cash. This is something we always do! 8. Gifts under $10 dollars: there are thousands of gifts under $10 dollars. You just need to put some thought into what you’re going to buy. In order to find these gifts, check out both of these options: Google, “Christmas Gifts Under $10 Dollars,” for a complete list of blog posts with great gift ideas. Search Amazon here for, “Christmas Gifts Under $10 Dollars,” for a ton of great gift options! You can also find great gifts under $25 dollars here. 9. DIY gifts: my wife and I love to make stuff for people if we can because this can be so personal for each and every person. This Christmas, think about everybody on your gift list and start coming up with a few ideas on DIY, or Do It Yourself, homemade gifts. Another idea is to buy most gifts like you normally would, then make gifts for friends and other relatives. What we usually do is buy gifts like normal for immediate family members, then take some time to mix up and make sweets and other baked goods for friends and coworkers…okay, so maybe my wife bakes it all. But the point is, DIY stuff is usually extremely cheap (for purchased materials) and only costs you your time after that. For a really awesome list of things you can make this year, check out this post here on thestressfreechristmas.com. 10. Used stuff is okay: free is great. I also want you to know that buying and gifting used stuff is just as acceptable. I often buy decent, gently-used stuff to give every single year. For example, I hit up EBay this year for a bit of nostalgia. I bought my mom an original Gameboy. It was a little pricey for my gift budget, but so worth it. I’ve also bought jerseys, sports memorabilia, and many other things used online to be given as gifts…all of which were received with admiration and joy. For used stuff online, make sure to hit up both EBay and Mercari. You’ll find some awesome deals on those 2 sites. 11. Hit up thrift shops, yard sales, and Facebook Marketplace: you can also shop in person for used stuff. You’ll find deals online, but you’ll save even more in person. Check out local thrift shops, yard sales, and the local Facebook Marketplace page. You’ll probably save 75% percent or more on what items originally cost. The key here is to shop for gifts at these places often, as you never know what will pop up as a great gift for someone. 12. Start saving money EARLY: my wife and I do this every year to save money at Christmastime. Get an envelope and start stashing away cash in January. This allows you to start saving super early, with money to spend on whatever you want (preferably gifts) during the holiday season. Just $20 dollars per month equals $240 extra dollars for your Christmas needs. That’s what we do and it REALLY helps. 13. Start shopping EARLY: my wife and I also start shopping really early for gifts. We usually don’t make our list until about October or November, but we will pick up a few gifts as we go along through the year. We buy most of them for our son, but as we see potential gifts for family members, we grab them and write down what we’ve gotten up to that point. Then, once Christmastime rolls around again, we don’t have quite as many people to buy for. And that can really save you money during those expensive holiday months! 14. Really take your time on gifts: this year, I want to really encourage you to spend some time thinking about the gift you’re going to buy for each person on your list. Even if you’re buying for 10+ people like we usually do. This will allow you to think about something practical that they’ll actually use, an item that the person might really want, or a gift that they might really need. And you can also usually keep the cost down and figure out if you could make that item! 15. Sending gifts? Do that early, too!: if you’re mailing out gifts, be mindful of both increased Christmas shipping costs AND increased shipping times/delays. Normally, shipping prices don’t go up that much around the holidays. But if your package is going to be late, and you choose to pay MORE for the 2-3 day shipping, well, you just wasted money for not getting your shopping and shipping done early enough. By shipping stuff early, you get the best price, you can choose the cheaper shipping option, and your stuff will almost always arrive on time. Oh, and remember - if you can, ship stuff directly to the person from the website. I always try to do this with Amazon since 2-day shipping is free and you won’t have to ship it again (which wastes money). 16. Budget/track your spending all season: if you’re not budgeting your money, now’s the time to start. Aside from just holiday spending, you need to be budgeting every dollar that you make. If you’d like to learn how to budget, check out the following posts ⬇️: 7 Ways a Zero-Based Budget is the Best Budget for Your Money The Complete 7-Step Guide for Building a Zero-Based Budget 37 Ways to Give Yourself a Raise in Your Budget (#27 is Crazy!) Once you understand budgeting, I want you to add a category in for holiday spending, set a spending limit, and track all of your expenses during Christmastime. Do your best to stay within your budget limit and you’ll undoubtedly save A LOT of money this year. 17. Stick to cash: just like I was saying earlier, you should try saving up a little bit of cash for Christmas. Having that cash can help you physically see how much money you actually have to spend over the holidays. If you have trouble with credit cards or overspending with your debit card, stick to using ONLY cash for ALL expenses. That way, you know exactly how much you started with and how much you’ve spent. Remember, CASH is KING! 18. Grab those discounts!: as you’re going through the year, look out for discounted items that can make great gifts. Stores like Walmart, Target, Ross, and TJ Maxx are always having sales on stuff they mark down. This is why you need to shop throughout the year or else you’ll miss out on a lot of money that you could’ve saved! 19. Cut in other budget areas: wanting to spend a little bit more during the holidays? Go ahead. But make sure you’re cutting expenses in other budget categories and you’re not completely overspending on Christmas. For example, you cut back on eating out, spending money, gas, and groceries for the month, saving you an extra $300 bucks. You cut back so that you can spend an extra $150-200 bucks on Christmas this year. That scenario is acceptable. However, if you cut back a few hundred dollars in order to justify overspending by $1000 dollars, that’s just stupidity. Don’t do that. The goal is to SAVE money this Christmas, not spend more. 20. Gifts over decorations: you can also save this Christmas by cutting back on how much you spend on Christmas decorations. For me personally, I’d rather spend more on gifts than inside or outside the house decorations. But that’s just me. You can do this however you want. If you’d like to spend more on decorations, go for it. More on gifts? Go ahead. But again, the goal is to save money so try to cut back a little more this year. 21. (Expensive) old traditions gotta’ go: look, like I’ve already said, I LOVE Christmas and everything that comes with it…except for how much stuff costs. So if you’re really trying to cut back, it might be time to cut out some of those old, expensive holiday traditions. I’m not opposed to any of the things I mention below, but if you can’t afford them, you need to cut them out of your budget and find new traditions that don’t cost you that much. For example: Elaborate or competitive light and decoration displays - requiring hundreds more spent on power for multiple months and a large investment in decorations/inflatables per year. Annual Christmas parties - if you’re the one throwing the Christmas party every year and forking out all the expenses, you might want to rethink this year’s party. If you still want to have one, suggest that others either throw in some money or bring something for the party. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a fun Christmas party! Elf on a shelf - my wife and I hate elf on the shelf. It’s just such a weird, time-consuming, and sometimes expensive trend that the kids love. If we end up doing this at our house, we’ll be finding fun, yet mostly free ways to try it out. Traveling - look, I’m really not opposed to traveling for the holidays unless you’re REEEEALLY broke. But you might want to rethink long cross-country treks to see relatives if you don’t have the money. Gift wrapping services - of all the traditions that waste money, hiring people to wrap gifts for you is at the top as far as it being a complete waste. Buying presents and wrapping them yourself is a part of the normal Christmas experience. Don’t waste your money paying someone else. Do it yourself. Don’t know how? Learn how to wrap presents here on YouTube. Once you get good enough, you can actually start wrapping gifts for others and making money on the side! And there are still many more. For a great post on these expensive Christmas traditions, and why you need to cut them out of your life, check out Ramseysolutions.com’s article here. 22. Skip the parents (kids ONLY): one rule that we’ve established in our family is that parents no longer get gifts for Christmas. In an effort to save money, with a very large family, mind you, we’ve established that once you become a parent, you don’t get gifts anymore from other parents. We buy a gift for my nephew (sister’s kid) and my sister buys a gift for my son (her nephew). Same goes with us and my wife’s sister. It helps relieve some of the gifting pressure and saves us all money, too! 23. Gift-giving philosophy: before the holidays kick off this year, I encourage you to start thinking about your gift-giving philosophy. This philosophy is simply your rules on how you give gifts every year. My wife and I have a pretty simple set of gift-giving rules - we give almost everyone in the family a gift for Christmas (except for other parents). We also try to limit present cost to about $20-25 dollars. Friends get Christmas cards or homemade sweets. Birthdays don’t include presents but “Happy Birthday!” calls. That’s it. Pretty simple. Set your gift-giving philosophy and make sure to let everyone know about it so there’s no confusion at Christmastime! 24. Be nostalgic or sentimental: nostalgia and sentimentality can really take gift giving to another level. But be careful, because it can also cost you. If you take the time to really think about others and what they’ll like, you can usually come up with some really great ideas for gifts that don’t cost all that much. For example, my wife did something really special this year for her great uncle. My wife’s grandmother recently passed away and so my wife decided to make cinnamon bread for her great uncle, her nana’s brother. Her nana would always make cinnamon bread and send it up to her brother in Ohio. This year, my wife kept the tradition alive and sent the bread up just in time for Christmas morning. Her great uncle was ecstatic and sent her one of the sweetest “thank you” notes that I’ve read in a long time. 25. Practical is also good: my brother is awesome at deals on practical items like multi-tools and other useful things. Every Christmas, I can fully expect some kind of knife, tool, or emergency survival gadget when I open up my present from him. I enjoy those gifts and actually use them fairly often. So don’t forget to think about stuff that people can use…like throw blankets. You can’t go wrong with multi-tools or throw blankets. 26. Group gifts: if you’ve got a group of people, like say a group of siblings that can all throw in on one big gift for mom or dad, give it a shot. A bunch of people all putting in money for an awesome gift can definitely make someone’s Christmas. Group gifts can be awesome. 27. Creative gift wrapping: I love this creative way to save money. My uncle used to wrap gifts with old newspaper and other various things. One Christmas, he did the ol’ box trick and sealed my present in 10 separate boxes. I had fun getting through all of those boxes before finally getting to the present (which I actually don’t even remember after the chaos of all the boxes)! Be creative. That’s the stuff that really makes memories. Also don’t be afraid to re-use Christmas bags and other clothes boxes, as long as they aren’t torn up or marked all over. We do that every year just to save a few extra bucks. 28. Go cheap for stocking stuffers: if you have to buy stocking stuffers for your family, go extra cheap with this. Nobody really cares that much about what’s in the stockings, so stick to hot wheel cars, candy, and things you can pick up at the dollar store. Kids don’t really care about the stockings anyway. 29. Establish house rules for Santa: if your kids are young and still believe in Santa, thank you for letting them have a childhood. But you still need to make sure you’re not overdoing the whole “Santa” thing. By that, I mean overspending and telling your kids that Santa brings 47 gifts including multi-hundred dollar gaming systems, bikes, and other expensive items. That can get expensive…and hard to explain when other kids don’t get those things. So I want you to limit “Santa’s gifts” to no more than 1-2 gifts and no more than $40-50 dollars total. Anything more expensive can come from you or relatives. But “Santa” is frugal and has a lot of gifts to give out. Remind your kids of that and set those rules for your house. 30. Limit gifts for your kids: just like putting rules or limits on “gifts from Santa,” if you’re looking to save money this Christmas, it might also be wise to limit gifts from parents to kids as well. It’s easy when kids are young. You can get creative, buy small stuff, grab cheap toys, and get things used. Kids don’t really care as long as they’ve got fun toys. As kids get older, it might be time to bring them into the fold. If you’re seriously broke and working to get out of debt, be honest with them. Tell them that you’re going to do your best, but they may not get everything they want this year. You make sure you tell them that you love them and that in the future, they’ll get more toys and stuff at Christmas. They may not understand, but if you get creative enough, and buy them a few things, they will still have fun (they’re also kids…so I promise you they’ll be fine). 31. Friends get Christmas cards (not presents): I love my friends. But they understand that they’re probably not going to be getting gifts for Christmas. Why? Well, because my wife and I have a lot of family to buy presents for. We buy family gifts and give friends Christmas cards…and maybe some baked goods or treats. If you want to make them something, that’s fine. 32. Christmas E-cards!: if you’re really trying to save money this year, try out online Christmas E-cards! You’ll save at least $40-50 dollars compared to buying printed cards. If you don’t have that extra money to spend on photos, cards, and postage, Christmas E-cards can really be the way to go! 33. Axe random gift exchanges: if your work colleagues or friends always seem to keep up the charade of Secret Santa or crappy random gift exchanges, maybe it’s time for you to step up and speak your mind about how awful they really are. Most people don’t want to participate in these because the gifts suck and you’re spending unnecessary money. Talk with your buddies and coworkers and try to sway them into doing something else this year like the next tip below! 34. Potluck lunch or dinner: at my job, we don’t exchange gifts. Instead, we all throw in a small amount of money for a Christmas luncheon. It’s cheap, everybody gets fed, and we all have a great time. If you want to do this with friends, a potluck dinner could be the way to go! Have everyone bring a dish and everybody can laugh and eat their heart out. 35. Go cheap for Christmas dinner: instead of paying an outrageous amount of money for Christmas dinner, just grab a couple of Rotisserie chickens, a bag of potatoes to mash, some canned vegetables, dinner rolls, and you’re good to go. Have family bring over some extra dishes and your fancy Christmas dinner will only cost you about $20-30 bucks total. Done deal. 36. Skip the mall shopping: thinking about hitting the mall this year to cross stuff off your Christmas list? Before you do that, hear me out! If you’re the person that can’t resist a deal, then heading to the mall could be the worst thing you can possibly do when trying to save money. The mall is going to have SO MANY “great” deals over the holidays and those stores are just looking for suckers willing to spend extra money. However, if you do decide to hit up the mall, make sure to only go to look for stuff on your pre-made Christmas list. Don’t get wrapped up into spending extra money. Just hit up the mall, buy what you need to buy, and get out. 37. Don’t window shop: window shopping is also another way to subconsciously get wrapped up into spending more than you need to this holiday season. While it might seem cool to look, stores are hoping that you’ll look, think about the deals, and then come in to buy. It’s all a trap. Make your list and get only what you need this Christmas. 38. Don’t use cash back credit cards: if you currently use credit cards for cash back or flight miles, it’s time to cut that out of your life. Remember, that for every $100 dollars you spend, you only earn about $1-2 dollars back. So if you spend over $1000 dollars on Christmas, you might earn $20 bucks back. That sucks. Stop playing the credit card game with your card company. Because they don’t care if you pay it. They’re going to make a lot of money off of millions of other people. Plus, they’re just hoping you don’t pay it in full. If that happens, you pay interest. They win, you lose. Use cash or your debit card only this Christmas. 39. Don’t borrow money to buy gifts: this runs along similar lines as the last tip, but expands to all forms of debt. I said it earlier, and I’ll say it again, DO NOT BORROW MONEY TO PAY FOR CHRISTMAS. It’s simply an unwise financial move to continue paying for Christmas for months after it’s over. Don’t use credit cards, personal loans, or any borrowed money to pay for anything Christmas. If you’ve already done so, pay it off and pay for the rest of Christmas with the money you have. Don’t have any more money? Well, you’ve found this list. So use it to save money and get through the rest of the holidays the best you can. 40. It’s okay to re-gift stuff: first off, it’s okay to re-gift stuff that you don’t use or don’t need. If you get a gift, and realize that it’s not going to get put to use, re-gift that thing! Just don’t re-gift it to the person who gave it to you. That would be awkward! 41. Don’t forget about old gift cards!: if you have any leftover gift cards, put ‘em to use this holiday season. Whether you use them to save you some money or you give them away, either way it’s a win-win. 42. Better to give than to receive: if you’re having trouble spending any money during the holidays, just remember that it’s Christmas. It only happens once a year, so it’s okay to spend a little bit on gifts and other stuff. Don’t be stingy. Just do your best to save and enjoy the time of year. 43. Charity gifts: don’t forget that, even though you may be trying to save money this year, it’s always a good idea to do some charity gifting. Don’t spend everything you have, but $20-50 dollars can go a long way in helping kids or other family actually get presents for Christmas. If you don’t have it, you don’t have it. But it’s something to think about. 44. Don’t let guilt make you overspend: before you keep going, I just want you to understand something. Some families suck. Some families have huge Christmas expectations and expect the biggest and best gifts from everyone in the family, no matter the cost. But those are ridiculous expectations and so you may have to get some family in line…even if they get upset about it. You may not want your relatives to be upset with you, but sometimes people need to understand that they don’t always get what they want. And they don’t run your household. Reasonable family members will understand the struggle and your need to get out of debt to fix your finances. If they don’t, too bad. They don’t get a vote. 45. The perfect Christmas might have to wait: I want you to understand something before we move on to the next section. I know you’ve probably experienced an awesome Christmas in the past, and you might want that for your family, but that perfect Christmas might have to wait a year or two. If you’ve got money problems, you don’t need to be overspending on Christmas. You don’t really need to be spending anything period. You NEED to get your finances in order and get your debt paid off as soon as possible. If you don’t, you’re going to be broke next year and the year after that. Christmas will always be a struggle and you won’t ever really have a perfect Christmas. Since my wife and I have paid off our debt, Christmas has been an absolutely amazing experience. And if we do overspend a little bit, there’s really no worry because our finances are in order and our debt has been paid. That should be your goal from here on out. Want the perfect Christmas? Work for it. Other ways to save around Christmas Looking to simply save money or save up money during the holidays? Check out the last few tips in this post below! 46. The no-spend challenge: if you’ve never done a no-spend challenge, it might be time to give it a try. I love this challenge, but it’s REALLY hard and it takes a lot of discipline throughout the day, week, month, or year to pull it off successfully. The no-spend challenge is simple - no spending on anything other than groceries, bills, gas, and any other NEEDS for a short period of time, in order to save money. This challenge is usually done over the course of a month, but can also be done for a quick day challenge, week challenge, or a full year. That last one is INSANE and pretty much unattainable for most people. But trying this challenge around the holidays can be a fantastic way to save a lot this year. Or you can just do your best throughout the year and hit a no-spend challenge in January like my family usually does. Again, we’ve got to try and save money somewhere! 47. Sell your stuff: selling some stuff can be the perfect way to save up some cash for Christmas. I prefer EBay, while my wife ABSOLUTELY LOVES Mercari. Between the two of us, we’ve probably sold $5,000 or more dollars of stuff on both platforms. And selling is easy. Find stuff you don’t want. List it for sale and people will buy. It’s fairly easy money and doesn’t take much time out of your life. Plus, there’s straight up cash for you in the end. Save it or spend it on Christmas. You earned it! Lastly, don’t forget about Facebook Marketplace. It’s not just good for finding deals. You can also list stuff for “porch pickup.” It is local and requires you to give out your address to strangers. But there’s no direct contact. Someone comes to buy your item, you leave it outside, they leave money under your doormat, and they take the item they bought. Safe, simple, and effective. 48. Start a side hustle: everybody needs a good side hustle. Whether you cut grass, clean houses, shovel snow, walk dogs, or build websites (like me), side hustles can make you extra dough for Christmas or whatever you want to use it for. If you need some extra money this year, start thinking about what you can do in your spare time to stack extra cash. Think about your hobbies as well and ask yourself, “can it make me extra money on the side?” It might take some time and effort, but side hustles can actually make you $20-30 dollars an hour or more! 49. 2nd job or other part-time job: if you’re not interested in starting up a side hustle, think about grabbing an extra hourly job on the side. Most hourly spots don’t offer as much freedom as a side hustle, but are usually an easy$10-15 dollars an hour or more if you’re lucky. So…who needs their presents wrapped this Christmas?! 50. Overtime: if your full-time job offers it, you can always grab a few hours a week of extra overtime. Most jobs pay 1.5X the pay for those hours and that can be an easy few hundred extra bucks in the bank every month! A little bit of OT can easily cover Christmas this year. 51. Get a new job: if your income isn’t quite what you want it to be, and you need more cash flow in your life, try getting a new job this year. Staying in a job that sucks and doesn’t pay well is not how you want to live. So start looking for something that can both pay you better and give you some joy in your life this Christmas. 52. Save on utilities: as utility costs continue going up, you need to continue looking for ways to save in this budget category. Be vigilant and check out this awesome post on my site - “The Complete Guide to Saving Money on Your Utility Bills: 57 Easy Tips.” 53. Save on gas: with gas prices continually rising as well over the last couple of years, you should be doing everything you can to save money at the gas pump. So I wrote an awesome list of tips to save money on gas this year. Check it out here - “27 Awesome Ways to Save Money at the Gas Pump [The 2022 Guide].” 54. Save on groceries: groceries can be a mega expense…especially during the holidays. So check out this post - “47 Tips and Tricks for Saving Money at the Grocery Store” - to save money on your food costs this holiday season. 55. Don’t let Christmas throw off your financial plan: before you start splurging and spending thousands of dollars this Christmas, I want you to REALLY think about your money goals and financial plan. Don’t let holiday expenses ruin a year or years of progress. All it takes is a few too many shopping trips to completely derail everything you’ve been working for. So don’t let Christmas mess up all of that progress. Make a plan for Christmas and be careful about what you’re spending money on. 56. Don’t stop investing during Christmas time: if you skip out on investing this year because of Christmas expenses, you’re making a huge mistake. You need to make sure you’re out of debt and you’re maximizing retirement before you spend too much money at Christmastime. 57. Get out of debt this year!: the best way to save money this Christmas - and every Christmas after that - is to get out of debt. Again, this won’t help you save on gifts or decorations, but getting out of debt can be one of the best things you ever do for your finances. And the amount of money that you’ll save on debt payments can be astronomical. So don’t wait. This Christmas, start your debt-free journey and crush your debt forever. The Perfect Christmas The perfect Christmas does exist. But it doesn’t require you to spend thousands of dollars on anything and everything that you THINK you need. The perfect Christmas consists of you spending quality time with family, eating good food, listening to good music, and exchanging reasonably-priced gifts with those you love. You don’t need to spend money to have a good Christmas. Just do your best to have fun, spend time, and save a little bit of money along the way. Related content 47 Creative Ways to Pay Off Debt [2023 Edition] 21 Ridiculous Things That Frugal People Never Ever Buy 101 Ways of Creatively Cutting Expenses to Save a Ton of Money Feature Pic Attribution Free Vector Christmas Background Vectors by Vecteezy