In the past, I admit that I have gone way overboard on purchasing holiday gifts for my kids. I entered every holiday season without a solid spending plan in place. This typically resulted in me buying too many gifts that weren’t really necessary. This holiday season, I made a few changes. My husband and I started a strict budget last year and we’ve been trying our best to stick to it.

Thankfully, we are in a good place and we didn’t go over the budget on Christmas gifts this year! We are entering 2019 completely debt free. This is the book that helped us start our journey to becoming debt free! You, TOO can start the new year without going into huge debt from overspending during the season. Here are a few tips.

7 Ways to Save Money on Gifts This Holiday Season

Budget, budget, budget.

You must have a plan this holiday season if you don’t want to overspend or go into debt. Set an amount that you can afford comfortably and make a plan to stick to that amount without going over. Try to shop in one place to avoid hefty shipping charges. We find great deals at Amazon every holiday season! We use Amazon Prime to get free shipping.

Enjoy this special offer: Try Amazon Prime FREE for 30 Days!

Create a list.

Write down the names of everyone you plan to buy for. Include family, friends, coworkers, teachers, etc. If you will be attending any holiday parties with gift exchanges, be sure to include those expenses as well.

Assign an amount.

Assign an amount that you want to spend on each person. Stick to the amount when shopping. Remember the budget!

Make gifts!

Keep in mind that you don’t have to go to a retail store or mall to find gifts for loved ones. You can make gifts, too. Consider DIY gifts for a few of the recipients on your list.

Gifts in Jars are always affordable and popular gifts.

Re-gift.

This can be a controversial topic, but if you have been given a gift that you think someone else will enjoy, give it to someone that you think will benefit from it.

You can even shop at thrift stores throughout the year and find unopened gifts at a low price. Just place them in your gift closet until you are ready to give them to the recipient.

Shop at dollar stores for stocking stuffers.

You can fill a stocking with great items from Dollar Tree. Choose 5-10 items to include in stockings.

Find items like candy, small toys, hair supplies, toothbrushes, notebooks, school supplies, and more at the dollar store!

50+ Stocking Stuffers for Under $3

Beauty Gifts for Under $3

Give the gift of time.

Give the gift of time. The gift of time can be one of the greatest gifts of all. Remember the reason for the season. Money doesn’t buy love. Create special memories this holiday season with family and friends. Memories are FREE!

Bonus Tip: Don’t forget to check all of your rewards accounts to see if you have an extra cash or rewards balance from places like: Swagbucks, Ebates, or Ibotta.

Keep these tips in mind this holiday season. Do you have any tips to add to this list? How do you save on gifts during the holidays?

By a show of hands, who actually likes sending Christmas cards? Okay, so a few of you might have your hand raised (I admire your enthusiasm), but if you’re like me, you still have to buy them and then scramble to get them in the mail a week before Christmas. If that’s you (or something similar), here are four ways to save a little money on cards this year.

1. Send e-Cards – Christmas cards via e-mail? Do I dare? I’ve considered this option in the past, but the darn tradition is so rooted in sending and receiving actual paper cards that I quickly reconsidered. If you don’t mind bucking tradition and saving a lot of money (e-cards are free!), the answer to your Christmas card woes is just a click away.

2. Trim Your List – Your list has probably grown over the years, but you can cut your card budget in half by putting that bloated list on a diet. If they’re not a close friend or family member, or they didn’t send you a card last year, you should consider removing them from your list.

View the Christmas card selection at Amazon.

3. Shop After Christmas – This tip won’t help you save money on cards this year, but it will help you save 50 to 75 percent on next year’s cards! Stores slash their prices dramatically on the day after Christmas. Stock up then, but don’t wait too long to get out there and shop because there won’t be much left on December 27.

4. Send a Letter – The easiest way to save on cards is to not buy cards! Instead, send a holiday letter. It can be a hand-written letter – if you’ve got a short list and a lot of time to write – or a printed letter with a short personal note written at the end.

5. Shop at the Dollar Store – Yes, we have high expectations for our Christmas cards, but the dollar store has some nice options at very nice prices. Check out the variety here. Is that $4 box of cards as nice as that $20 box of cards you saw at the mall? Maybe, maybe not, but the $16 you’ll save (or $32 if you have to buy two boxes) is pretty darn nice!

Related: Ways to Earn Extra Cash and Rewards for the Holidays

Wanna know the double whammy about preparing Thanksgiving dinner?

In addition to requiring half a day of preparation (or more if you count the planning phase) only to be devoured in about 20 minutes, it’s also kind of expensive.

Actually, let me rephrase that – it’s very expensive. With the cost of the average Thanksgiving dinner approaching $50 – a total that seems low, if you asked me – it’s important to find ways to cut corners on cost without cutting corners on taste.

I paid a visit to the buffet of inspiration known as the internet to round up four Turkey Day dishes and ideas guaranteed to reduce your grocery bill this Thanksgiving.

The free turkey

The bird is the most expensive course on the menu (a 16-pounder will cost somewhere between $10 and $15). Cut this cost by taking advantage of the “free turkey” offers available at many grocery stores when you cash in your member rewards points.

Mashed potatoes

It’s just potatoes, milk, butter and some salt and pepper. If this meal costs more than 50 cents per serving, you’re doing something wrong.

Green bean casserole

No Thanksgiving is complete without this American classic. But it’s easy to spend $15 or more on this dish, which is why I recommend simplifying it by sticking to the Campbell’s recipe. Just six ingredients and you’re done.

Bring your own side dish/dessert

One of the easiest ways to cut costs is by asking guests to bring a side dish or dessert.

To make it fun, challenge them to bring something made with an old family recipe or something that reminds them of Thanksgivings from their childhood.

Just be sure to coordinate what everyone is bringing or else you’ll wind up with five pumpkin pies and six sides of creamed corn!

How do you save on Thanksgiving dinner?

According to Forbes, the average American spends an average of $75.03 on Halloween candy, costumes and decorations each year. While this figure pales in comparison to Christmas spending, it’s still a pretty substantial chunk of change, especially if you are pinching pennies. Thankfully, there are plenty of inexpensive Halloween decorations that pack a ton of cute into their tiny little price tag. Today’s DIY Halloween decoration is no exception. You’ll love these adorable Halloween Tissue Ghosts!

Halloween Tissue Ghosts have everything you could want from a Halloween decoration. They are easy and fun to make, they are seriously cute, and you can literally make them for pennies. You can make them as far in advance as you’d like since they don’t go bad, and they are easy enough to make that your kids can help. You probably already have all of the materials on hand, so they don’t require a trip to the store. Make one or make a whole room full–they are quick and easy enough that you can make as many as you want!

Halloween Tissue Ghosts

Materials Needed:

• 2 Tissues (per ghost)
• String
• Scissors
• Marker
• Tape (optional)

Directions:

1. Take one tissue and wad it up into a ball.

2. Place the first tissue in the center of the second tissue.

3. Flip the whole thing over so the loose ends of the second tissue drape over the tissue wad.

4. Tie a string around the ghost’s “neck” to secure. (The length of the string will depend on where you want to hang him.)

5. Draw a face. Spooky or cute–it’s up to you!

6. Hang the ghost wherever you like! You can tape the string to a wall or tie it around a ceiling fan to make him “fly!”

**Optional: If you want the ghost to hang upright, you may need to tape the string to the back of his head. If you are hanging him from the ceiling fan, tape won’t be necessary.

Alternate Suggestion: Cut up white plastic shopping bags or trash bags for ghosts you can hang outdoors!

Related: Scary Ghosts Halloween Craft

Are you decorating for Halloween this year? Will you be buying decorations or making your own?

Affordable Halloween Party Favors

No holiday demands more decorative detail than Halloween. Actually, scratch that, Christmas might have it beat, but that depends on the decorator. Some people get crazy with the Yuletide spirit (blame it on the eggnog), while others prefer to get all spooktacular at Halloween (blame it on the peanut butter cups).

If you’re throwing a Halloween party, your three main expenses will be food, decorations and party favors. Today’s entry blog entry won’t help you save money on food or decorations (another time, perhaps), but it does focus on party favors. Specifically, party favors for the most demanding of party guest – kids.

The following three ideas are not only simple to make, they’re affordable, too. And more money saved on favors means more room in the budget for food and decorations!

• The bag of creepy crawlies – Plastic spiders, snakes and other thingies are pretty cheap. Put an assortment of them in cellophane bags (feel free to throw in some candies), and presto! You’ve got yourself a spooky surprise.

• The bag of slightly less creepy crawlies – For a more girl-friendly take on the previous party favor, buy some fabric on sale and cut it into 4×8 inch strips. Then fold the strip in half (making a square) and sew the two sides (making a pocket). Attached some ribbon for a handle and then fill the pouch with candies and spooky trinkets.

• Paper plate masks – This party favor scores points because it’s cheap, but it’s also simple to make. Actually, it’s really simple to make because the kids make the masks themselves! All you need are paper plates, markers, ribbon, and a hole punch. The hole punch is used to make holes on the sides of the plate where the ribbon will be tied to make the mask wearable.

What are some other affordable Halloween party favor ideas for kids? 

Halloween will be here soon! Have you purchased your child’s Halloween costume yet? What about your Halloween costume? Here’s a great list of ways to save money on Halloween costumes!

How to Save Money on Halloween Costumes

Make your own Halloween costume. 

Go around your home and get creative! Think about what you want to be or what your child will be and see if you have any clothing, fabric, or other supplies to create a costume! You can do this for FREE if you can collect enough around your home to create your own Halloween costume.

Related: 10 Halloween Costume Ideas You Can Make Yourself

Shop for Halloween costumes at thrift stores, consignment shops, or garage sales. 

I find the majority of our costumes at thrift stores. You can find great deals on Halloween costumes at Goodwill or other local thrift shops or consignment shops such as Once Upon a Child! The Halloween costumes are usually marked down big time!

Borrow your Halloween costume from a friend or family member.  

Halloween is only one day a year. If you are like many, you may have a stash of Halloween costumes in your closet. Talk to a friend and see if you can swap costumes this year! You may even want to ask your friends over Facebook if they have a specific costume they can loan to you! Remember to take good care of it though and return it promptly.

Shop online or in stores.

If you really can’t find what you are looking for, check out the Halloween costumes at Amazon! These are the first places I will check before I venture anywhere else.

Related: How to Save Big on Halloween Costumes

What are you going to be this year for Halloween? Do you have any other ways to save money on Halloween costumes?