Smart Holiday Shopping Tips!

I love hunting for bargains and trying to get really good deals. Here are some of my tips for shopping smarter this holiday!

1. Shop Clearance – Shop the clearance aisle or mark down sales to score some great prices to allow you to not break the bank gift shopping.

2. Shop all year – If you plan throughout the year to buy gifts you won’t be stuck with a huge amount of money to spend all at the end of the year.

3. Get the “hot gift” ahead of time – If you know a great gift that is likely to be the “hot” gift of the year that you can grab it before the crazy lines start forming and be sure to have the “must have” item.

4. Make a list to plan out good gift ideas – Make a list of what you’d like to get so that when you are out shopping you can be sure to check those aisles. Then you can check maybe Candles or Kitchen aisle you might not have on the top of your list to check while shopping and search for good sales.

5. Home make gifts with meaning – There are tons of great homemade gifts you can make that hold a lot of meaning and can be very inexpensive. You could knit scarves, paint picture frames, make marble fridge magnets, or lots of other projects!

6. Get the same gift for relatives – If you have a bunch of nieces and nephews to buy for, or even brothers and sisters, you can make gift giving easy by getting everyone the same gift – like each child gets a tub of play dough and a toy for playing with the dough and then they can all have a great time playing with it together and swapping the accessories.

7. Gift movies or books – Movies and books are great gifts that will get use year round, and long beyond the novelty a toy might get. Also, many children have too many toys to it’s nice to get something a bit different. Books and movies also make great gifts for adults on your list!

8. Gift the gift of experiences – The top of my “Wish List” I’m passing to the grandparents this year for my children is experiences such as a Zoo membership or passes to local play zones. Something that will help us get out of the house and active and having fun.

9. Use your talent for gifts – If you have a trade that would make a great gift use that and your time rather then the expense of a gift. This could be things like photography, scrapbooking, or even lawn services! Be creative and think how your skills could benefit your friends and family on your list!

10. Gift Cards! If you are totally stuck and have no clue what to get someone you can always resort to a gift card. You can buy gift cards online on several gift card swapping websites that let you save a percentage off the value of the card. For example, you might be able to snag a $25 card for $15-20!

What are your tips for making holiday shopping smarter?