Written by: Kailey S.
The Christmas season is an expensive time. Everyone wants to buy their loved ones gifts, however, in the end it all adds up. On average Americans spend around $600 annually on Christmas gifts, and that’s not including decorations or food. There are plenty of ways to avoid breaking your bank account on gifts, and they are quite easy too! One way, which is pretty common is to make homemade gifts. Most of the time homemade gifts are sentimental , and are meaningful to both you and the person receiving the gift. Something that would be a good idea of a homemade gift is maybe a picture frame of pictures of you and that person together. Another example could be a jar of the person's favorite candy, with notes and other nicknacks hiding inside.
Another way to save money is to plan how much your going to spend on each person, and do not go above that limit. This can be beneficial because you go into it knowing that you won’t exceed your limit.Something that a lot of people do, but should stop, is buying things for yourself while shopping for others. This can be harmful to your bank account because you don’t go into shopping thinking that you’re going to buy yourself things. Make sure that you don’t exceed your limit of spending, so cut out buying things for yourself. Avoid stores that you like to shop in, this should make it easier. The final tip to save money is to do group gifts, whether that’s a white elephant gift exchange, secret santa, or a combined gift for your siblings or parents.
There are many ways that you can save money during the holiday season, and I hope that this gave some insight into ways that can be beneficial.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/10-easy-tips-to-save-money-this-christmas/
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ReplyDeleteI thought that you should have gone more in depth on your ideas. They were pretty easy ideas that you could easily get from a pintrest. You also should have given actual statistics to support your ideas so that readers could get and actual idea of how much they could save. The visual was the highlight of this posts.
ReplyDeleteYou brought up a lot of good ways of how to save money on Christmas gifts. I know my friend group does a lot of secret Santa and white elephant kind of things. I also like how you said to budget. A lot of people want to spend a lot on the ones they love but it is better to have a budget to save some money.
ReplyDeleteThese are very useful ideas when having to shop on a budget. I liked how you explained that creating a budget can keep you from spending on yourself and really focus on spending money on the ones you love. I also found it beneficial when you laid out some examples of homemade gifts. Although to spice things up you could have given links to websites with ideas about homemade gifts.
ReplyDeleteI think that a couple of these suggestions are great ideas. I also agree that the most dangerous part of Christmas shopping is the fact that people are walking around and finding things that they would like as well and they end up spending more than they had anticipated. I however would like to argue a fact that while homemade gifts are sentimental, cute and don't typically cost a lot of money, there is still the cost of time and creative energy. And for some people- especially during the holiday season- the cost of spending more money is less than the cost of spending more time.
ReplyDeleteWow, $600 seems like a lot for gifts. I just think about all of the people living paycheck to paycheck and how they are spending a lot of their money on gifts during December. Also, I agree that doing a group gift or a gift exchange is also fun and is obviously a good way for everyone to save money.
ReplyDeleteI really like your viewpoint on spending on yourself unintentionally. I think that many people are negligent and will buy things just because "it is the holiday season." Overall, I really like your prose and I think that this post was truly amazing.
ReplyDeleteI think that people don't really understand how much they are truly spending on others for Christmas presents. Most of the time I think people just wander aimlessly through the store until they stumble upon certain gifts. You did a nice job of explaining how much people spend on not just others, but on themselves.
ReplyDeleteI haven't really thought about the fact that many spend money on themselves unintentionally, but now that I really think about it, it is true as myself and members of my family have spent money on ourselves while shopping for gifts for others. And this all can really add up to where you spent more than you could afford.
ReplyDeleteI like how you made your post on something relative to this time of year. I also liked how you included different ways to save money like handmade gifts and or knowing how much you want to spend on each person.
ReplyDeleteI think that what you said about setting a limit on how much you'll spend on each person before you go shopping is a very good idea and can be really helpful. Without some sort of limit or range on how much you'll spend for each person, it can be really easy to be impulsive and buy more than is needed, or that you can afford.
ReplyDeleteI think these are all good suggestions on how to save money around the holidays. I agree that shopping for yourself may happen unintentionally while shopping for others so it would be good to cut that out. It seems like it would be very effective to have a limited budget and to stick to it so you are not spending more than what you have. It is very important to keep track of what you are spending because all of the expenses add up. Around Christmas, budgets seemingly need to be tighter so that people are not over spending.
ReplyDeleteThis is very insightful, as I was aware that a lot of money was spent during Christmas, but I wasn't aware it was to this level. Spending gifts on others is a nice gesture, but it is absolutely correct that someone doesn't have to break the bank to do so. The tips are helpful, and it is interesting to think that people buy stuff for themselves when they shop for others.
ReplyDeleteI think these tips could be helpful for many people as it's so easy now a days to spend a lot of money on Christmas gifts. I definitely don't want to spend a huge amount of money but I also don't want to compromise the quality of the gift. Handmade gifts can be filled with more meaning behind them compared to a plain gift card which is an important part of Christmas as well. How much money you spent on a present shouldn't be the main topic of conversations that families should be having at Christmas because spending time with them should be the priority. I completely agree with the fact that people shop for themselves while shopping for others as it's easy to just look at something you want and think of it as a "gift to yourself" when in reality you aren't doing yourself any good. People need to be more aware of their spendings to avoid being in a unmanageable financial situation.
ReplyDeleteThese are interesting tips, and it really shows how much people actually spend on this holiday. A lot of it has to do with all the discounted prices, however, creating a budget and limiting spending is always a good idea. This is just another thing people have to spend money on it, and finding ways to limit the spending is always beneficial for shoppers.
ReplyDeleteI think the homemade gifts are a really good idea, I know that it might be hard to come up with something sentimental but in the end it really matters. The gifts are not just about how much money you spend it is about the gift that means something to the person. The other thing I like in this is how you said not to buy anything for yourself when you are shopping, and to actually think about it, I buy more for myself than for my friends and family while shopping, and I am always confused how I spent so much money. I really enjoyed the tips in the writing.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good idea to make homemade gifts for your loved ones. The holidays really are a sentimental time for many people, so giving a gift that comes 100% from you is a really good idea. That way, when people see the gift you made for them, the memory of that time will most likely come back and remind them of the holidays and the good times that come with that. At the end of the day though, it may be extremely difficult to provide things like that given the time and effort that is consumed in the making of these gifts, which can be expensive in and of itself. Also, if there is a child in the family that has been begging for something specific, they will be extremely disappointed if they do not receive the gift they have been asking for.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great topic to write about considering that Christmas is less than a week away! I can definitely see how Christmas gifts can start to add up. Like you said one way to save money is to know how much to spend on each person. On Christmas Eve My siblings and I exchange gifts we got for each other. When shopping for them I normally try to spend an equal amount of both and try to not go too far over that limit.
ReplyDeleteI think this article is very true, plus homemade gifts are always good because you put thought into creating them. A lot of people have a hard time when out shopping for Christmas gifts to not buy themselves anything. By shopping for others; avoiding your favorite stores that you don’t need to go in would be the best bet. Yet it is always hard to save around holidays because window shopping is pretty big and with all the new and pretty decorations of stores can really draw you in as well. Saving in general is super hard but around Christmas time with buying gifts for others is even harder.
ReplyDeleteI really like this post as it is applicable to a wide audience. Although I had heard of some of these ideas before I have never really thought about avoiding stores that you personally like and avoiding shopping for yourself. My parents still help me buy some gifts for my grandparents and cousins which aren’t usually at stores that I like but when I shop for my friends I have definitely bought things for myself which probably isn’t great for my bank account. I also really like the idea of having a set amount for each person. Knowing how much you are going to spend when you walk into a store could be very helpful for some people to not feel overwhelmed or stressed in making decisions.
ReplyDeleteI liked how one of the points you mentioned was that while people are shopping for Christmas gifts, they tend to get distracted and shop for others. That point alone stood out to me because I have a bad habit of buying things for myself and I forget what my focus was on because it is harmful to your bank account like you had mentioned. My friends get together to do white elephant so we only have to buy one gift otherwise it would just cost too much to buy for everyone.
ReplyDeleteThis really got me thinking as to what I do when I Christmas shop. I tend to not really have a budget, I just think of what might be nice for the person I am shopping for and I get it. This year though, my siblings and I are combining to get our parents gifts. That only doesn't save a little money but also a little stress. I think the tips that you provided were really smart. I do agree that when you make something meaningful for someone they will like it even more.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great start to a very helpful topic. I think that the multiple ideas you gave were really easy to bring into someone's shopping habits. Creating a budget for each person is a good idea because you can make sure you look for gifts with prices that match or go under what you set aside. This was a well-written article, but I think to make it even better you should add some statistics or outside sources to help add credibility. But, this post was helpful and up-to-date with the season we are in. Good job!
ReplyDeleteKailey - these are very cool and interesting tips, and it really shows how much people actually spend on Christmas. A lot of me wonders if it's more of social thing or what, but I agree with Travis in saying that I think much of it has to do with all the discounted prices and "doorbusters" that companies offer this time of year. However, it does seem that the best option to avoid overindulging yourself and those you care about this holiday season, is to create a budget and limit spending.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Christmas has passes, I think your ideas were very cool and interesting, as I am one who typically spends too much on presents. This is helpful, where this will apply to me next year.
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