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Sun, 15th November, 2009 - Posted by Nash - 2 Comment

10 Easy Ways To Reduce The Cost Of Christmas

Ah yes, the holiday season is almost upon us. And in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, some of us are cringing in horror at the prospects of having to keep up the appearance of a ‘typical’ Christmas. But why? So the next day the family can haul their loot to far off corners of the house only to have it be forgotten in a week or so. What exactly have we come to? $15 CDs, $20 DVDs, $25 gift cards as stocking stuffers! What happened to some peppermint sticks, a plum, and a few oranges, turning the kiddies inside out with delight? If you’ve had it with the ridiculous costs of Christmas, here are a few ways to cut your costs while keeping the holiday spirit of giving intact.

1. Do it Yourself

It’s time to put some of those seldom-used skills to use. Are you proficient at carpentry? Have you a knack for music? Is it possible you could force yourself to cook? Consider making your own Christmas gifts this year. A CD of favorite songs for a loved one, a new handmade dresser or jewelry box, or a dinner cooked to order could be wonderful, not to mention inexpensive Christmas gifts.

2. Husbands and Wives

Women love to be pampered, and men … well, men like attention just as much as their wives. Making coupons for free massages and home spun spa treatments can save you money and get you both you some great pampering time.

3. Child’s Play

It typically isn’t until ages four or five that children begin wanting new, unused toys. Until that point, why spend the money on store bought items when the kiddies are just as happy with used toys or hand-me-downs? Trust me - unless you have a baby Einstein on your hands, they’ll never know the difference. My child has been playing with garage sale finds and family hand-me-downs for three years now and never complained once.

4. Make Stockings Fun Again

You don’t need gift cards, CDs, iPods, cell phones, DVDs, and video games to stuff stockings. Stockings are meant to be filled with little treats that shouldn’t break the bank. Toys, food, candy, and games, are perfect stocking stuffers, many of which can be found at discount or dollars store and can allow you to fill a friend’s or family member’s stocking for $10 or less.

5. Vacation Celebration

Make memories that count this Christmas. If you typically take the family on a yearly vacation, consider making that their Christmas present. You were going to spend the money on it anyway, but doing so at Christmas can allow you to make it a ‘family present’ and could possibly get you out of the cold weather for a while.

6. Play it Again

Logic would tend to point to most people rather having 20 used CDs as opposed to three brand new ones. Yet, seldom do we see resale items showing up as Christmas gifts. As long as the used items still work well, there isn’t much difference except for price. It’s the same for video games and DVDs. With online vendors offering all but the latest releases, going used is a great option for lightening the financial load at Christmas time.

7. Parental Presents

What happened to the days when kids actually made things for their parents? It seems that nowadays kids are asking for money to go out and buy mom this or find dad that, when all parents really want is something from the heart that shows their children still love them like they did when they were three.

8. Start Early, Save Big

One of the best ways to reduce costs during the holiday season is not to wait for the season to arrive to begin your shopping. Keeping your eyes open for deals throughout the year will decrease the pressure on you to run out and buy something that isn’t on sale because you waited until the last minute.

9. Brand Name Pressure

Due to advertising and fashion trends, we often feel tremendous pressure to buy brand name products when we can find store brand items of equal quality for half the price. If you want to save, don’t be swayed by those savvy advertising executives. Buy for quality and price, not just for a name.

10. Trade ‘n Go

If you’ve given up on Christmas gifts altogether, you can always do what my grandparents used to - trade fifty-dollar bills and head out to Walmart. On a serious note though, consider exchanging gift cards to restaurants you like, or stores like Target, Walmart, Home Depot or Lowe’s. This way you can enjoy your gifts and get what you want, while having the option to use them for practical things like going out to eat or doing home repairs and improvements.

About the Author

Kris writes about managing personal finances for an Australian credit cards comparison website where you can can compare 0% balance transfer and cash back credit cards that help you save money throughout the year. In his spare time Kris enjoys reading and spending time with his young family.

Collection of Articles On Personal Finance (Carnivals):

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Categories : Frugal Living, Personal finance

Tue, 6th October, 2009 - Posted by Nash - 5 Comment

Carnival Of Everything About Personal Finance – 12th Edition

Welcome to the 12th Edition of Everything About Personal Finance!

In this carnival, just like the previous ones, you’ll see a wide variety of collection of fresh articles about Personal Finance in the topics of career, credit card, debt management programs, frugal living, property, make money online, insurance, investment, savings and others.

To the contributors of the articles – thanks for participating! Please feel free to join this Carnival again in the future. Can you do me a favor? Can you please link this article back to your blog, so that both our readers can benefit from this post? Thanks!

What is blog carnival? It is a collection of articles from other blogs on the related topic. It’s divided to smaller topics where you can zoom in to the ones that interest you. The articles are fresh, so it’s always useful to come back for more.

If you like this article, you can subscribe to get future articles to be sent directly to your email.

Career

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Just In Time For Labor Day, Some Job Interview Humor posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

nissim ziv presents How to Negotiate a Salary: Negotiation Tips, Questions & Expectations posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “The article brings the best tips, tactics, questions and answers for your salary nagotiations.”

nissim ziv presents Resume Objective Ideas posted at Job Interview Guide, saying, “Many resume objectives and career summaries are missing the point. A properly written resume objective can pull the reader to your resume while a bad one can drive him or her out.”

FMF presents How to Make Up for Being Ugly posted at Free Money Finance, saying, “One way to make your career better: don’t be ugly.”

Credit Card / Debt Management Programs

Woman Tribune presents “Can My Credit Card Company Do That To Me?” posted at Woman Tribune, saying, “A list of current complaints from credit cardholders and comprehensive answers about several current credit card terms.”

OnlineCollege presents Online Colleges and Financial Aid - Top Accredited Online Colleges, Universities, and Courses posted at Universities and Colleges.

Braudis Pegram presents Are Some American Banks Un-American? posted at The koH Resources Blog.

Alex presents Is Buying a Rental Property Worth it? posted at MoneyStance - Money Making Opportunity Reviews, saying, “A getting out of debt Journal where Alex is paying down a half a million dollars in debt while simultaneously evicting tenants and battling the woes of a landlord.”

Colin Robertson presents Is Credit Card Interest Deductible? posted at The Truth About Credit Cards.com.

CreditCardAssist presents What Are The Responsibilities of a Co-Signer? posted at Credit Card Assist, saying, “Some risks and responsibilities to be aware of when co-signing for a credit card account or a loan.”

oneadvice presents Do I Need Debt Advice? posted at One Advice, saying, “Not sure if you need debt advice? Want to find out when the best time is to seek advice about your debts? Find out here…”

oneadvice presents Become Debt Free posted at Debt Free, saying, “Learn how to become debt free. Depending on your circumstances it could be easier than you think…”

Steve Faber presents - The Right Debt Management Solution – How It Can Help You Succeed Financially posted at DebtBlog, saying, “The ability to properly manage and use debt is one of the most vital skills you can possess, and one of the key determinants in your financial success.”

Credit Shout presents How often do credit scores change? posted at CreditShout.

Billeater presents How to Find a New Credit Card posted at Billeater.

Frugal Living

BWL presents Free land? posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying, “Believe it or not, Kansas is still giving away free land available to homesteaders…”

Joseph presents Cheap DVD Movies posted at How to save money

Investing

Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Best Brokerages for Roth IRAs posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “Where should you open a Roth IRA? This article reviews some of the best mutual fund firms and discount brokerages for opening a Roth IRA.”

Mike Piper presents How to Rollover a 401k into an IRA posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, “A step-by-step guide to rolling over a 401(k) account into an IRA. Also includes tips on pitfalls to avoid.”

Retirement Savior presents The Future of ETFs posted at Retirement Savior, saying, “Will the future of ETF’s be good or bad for investors? Times are changing, and the ETF “wild west” period is over.”

Sam presents Buy 500 Companies for $1,000 with a Stock Index Mutual Fund posted at Surfer Sam and Friends, saying, “Thanks for including my article. Here’s an excerpt… If you are a small investor who wants to meet your long-term investment goals, to minimize risk and to save the time and expense of researching stocks for yourself, an Index Fund is the ideal investment vehicle. Index Funds allow average people to participate intelligently in the stock market. If you have only $100 to invest, you can still buy shares in an Index Fund. People invest in Index Funds because they believe that stock markets are efficient and that stock-pickers on average will not do as well as the market. When you consider that other mutual funds, those with active managers, often do not perform as well as Index Funds, you can see why many small investors buy Index Funds. Here we answer your questions. What actually is a stock Index? What is an Index Fund? Is an Index Fund a good investment for you? How much does it cost to buy an Index Fund? How much will an Index Fund earn for you? How do you buy shares in an Index Fund? Which Index Fund should you buy? Finally, what are the tax considerations when you buy an Index Fund?”

Others

Bucksome presents Is Your Partner Financially Compatible? posted at Buck$omeboomer’s Financial Path to Retirement, saying, “A study that included over a thousand adults determined that even though people are more likely to select partners that with matching personality traits and looks they go for the opposite when it comes to finances. Of course the result of the opposite orientation is fighting. In my Financial Peace University class, Dave Ramsey mentions that money is the number one reason couples fight (and in some cases divorce). So what do you do once you fall in love with a financial opposite and marry?”

Property

Chris presents Buying a home? Learn how negative equity can become your worst nightmare. posted at Home I Own.

Jeff Rose presents How to Hire an Architect For Building Your Dream Home posted at Jeff Rose.

Retirement

Bill Spohnholtz presents 401K Rollovers (Gimme My Money Back) | Learn The Stock Market And How to Trade posted at Learn The Stock Market And How to Trade, saying, “You left the company for a reason, why let your money make your old company some money? There are better ways!”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of everything about personal finance using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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