Shopping Frugally For The Holidays Or All Year ‘Round

With so many people to buy for, shopping for the holidays can become financially stressful. The kids all want a Wii, plus they need clothes. The tots are fine with clothes from Target but the tweens are into expensive name brands. In addition, you have friends and family to buy for and you don’t want anyone to feel left out or call you a cheapskate behind your back.

Here are some ways we save money while shopping. They can be applied to shopping for the holidays and may keep you loan free!

Use coupons & coupon codes: Check out your local papers and even magazines for coupons. Even if the coupon is for something that you don’t think you’re going to purchase any time soon, clip it! There are many resourceful sites online where you can not only print out coupons but grab codes to use at the checkout of your favorite retailers. Some of my favorite places to find coupons are Coupon Chief and Retail Me Not. Both sites are powered by bargain hunters alike. Coupon Chief even has a Pays-2-Share program which allows you to get paid each time someone uses a coupon that you submit.

Shop with iBakeSale: iBakeSale turns everyday savings into cash-back for you and fundraising dollars for your community. iBakeSale has partnered with hundreds of merchants to offer up to 20% cash-back rewards on every purchase. All you have to do is shop from iBakeSale or install the Shopping Bag browser plugin. Whenever you land on any of the select merchants, a pop up will let you know that you can get cash back from iBakeSale. You can use iBakeSale with coupon codes and sales as well! Whether you choose to keep all of your cash-back rewards or donate them to your favorite organization is up to you. We’re listed as an organization, search for Mommy Daddy Blog. Yes, we are fundraising. Any donations are accepted with deepest gratitude (is that right?). Who would have thought that it costs money to maintain a blog?

eBay: Whatever it is you can find it on eBay, whether it’s brand spanking new or in excellent used condition! You’ll be surprised what you can luck up on below the price of retail. eBay has coupon codes too!

Never Pay Retail: Over and over again I hear parents complaining about how they just bought so and so some new clothes that they grew out of or destroyed very quickly. Shop the clearance rack, hello! JcPenney has many racks of lovelies. You can find outfits for less than $4! We do it all of the time! Looking for name brands? Shop stores like Marshalls and TJMaxx who sell factory seconds. It’s possible to find items for less than $4 in these stores as well! You just have to look! The kids want stylish gear to wear to school but you can only afford to buy them 5 outfits each at retail. Don’t have them repeating the same 5 outfits! I’ve seen this so many times going back to school after Christmas. Kids would come back looking fly for one week only because their parents didn’t shop clearance!

Buy in bulk: When the seasonal items go on sale clearance, grab them at the speed of light! You may have to save some of the items to use for the next year, but hey you got them next to nothing! Baby Dagny had an 80% off Labor Day sale. I quickly snatched up a 6-pack of wubbanubs marked down from $90 to $18!

Using these tips should help you save, save, save, and avoid having to take out icky cash loans! Many people turn to loans to help bail them out of the sticky financial situation called Christmas. Sure, everyone absolutely LOVED the gifts you got them, but now you have thousands of dollars accumulated in interest. If you absolutely must take out installment loans, I suggest getting one with the lowest interest rates possible, then paying them off ASAP! You don’t want to have to start the new year off with a pile of debt!

Tagged as: being frugal, coupon, coupon codes, coupons, ebay, financial stress, frugal, Holidays, Shopping, shopping for the holidays