I am very pleased to bring you a guest post today. I asked my good friend Jessica to share with my readers how she has saved hundreds of dollars on Christmas shopping this year so they could use her tips to accomplish the same thing next year. Here is what Jessica had to say…
Ok, so I hope all you Many Hats Mommy readers out there do realize that Christmas is just 19 days away! Yep, that’s right, just 19 days. In regards to your Christmas shopping does that number send you into a panic or are you still breathing ok? Well, in the past I would have been hyperventilating just about now, but not this year. I mentioned to Jenny that I had almost all of my Christmas shopping done for a fraction of the original cost thanks to some online programs I participate in, and she asked me to share them with you! I am, most thankfully, completely done Christmas shopping. A big task since I purchased gifts for 37 people, including my immediate family, extended family, and staff & Sunday School teachers at church. My total would have been….drum roll please…..$1, 105.98. Praise the Lord I only paid $380.17! That’s only 1/3 of the original total!
Here’s how I did it:
1. I keep a very detailed spread sheet of my Christmas shopping. It has columns for the people I’m shopping for, the gift, the original price, the price I paid, my total out of pocket spending so far, and last year’s total. This helps me see each gift and price as well as keep an eye on the big picture so that I don’t let the budget get out of hand. My goal is always to keep things low cost and to beat last year’s total!
2. I stalk several blogs, including this one, to help me find the best deals all year long. There are so many online deals for things that make great gifts (photo mugs and calendars for instance) that you can buy at any point in the year and save for Christmas. I would never know about these deals if the great women who write these blogs didn’t post them for all of us. I am very thankful to them! My favorite money-saving blogs are:
3. I get what is basically FREE MONEY online by participating in a few ABSOLUTELY FREE programs and earning online gift cards. I know folks can be skeptical about such things, but my 3 favorite ones I have been participating in for at least a year now, and I have never been asked to spend any money—I’ve only received it! Here is a rundown of these programs and links to get you started:
1)
Swagbucks: Swagbucks is basically a search engine. First you register for a Swagbucks account which is free. I found it easiest to download their free toolbar and set your default search engine to Swagbucks. This way every time you search for something online you have an opportunity to win points. That’s it. Just use your search engine the way you normally would. You will be awarded points randomly. You can also earn points by taking daily polls, surveys, and online shopping if you wish. My favorite way to redeem these points is with Amazon.com e-gift cards. 450 points gets you a $5 Amazon.com e-gift card. These can add up quickly. I’ve only been a member for 15 months and I’ve earned $160.00 in Amazon.com e-gift cards! To get started just follow this link:
https://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Iheartmykids2) Mypoints: Mypoints is probably the least exciting of these programs to me, but still effective. I think it just takes longer to see fruit for your labors with Mypoints. With Mypoints you set up a free account and they send you e-mails. You click on the link in the e-mails and are awarded 5 points for each click-thru. You make a lot more points when you do online shopping through Mypoints. If I am going to buy something online, I always check Mypoints first to see if the company participates. You redeem your points for Gift Cards from various companies. I like to use these for Christmas presents. I have given Bath & Body Works, Sears, and Visa, etc Gift Cards as gifts that I got for free from Mypoints. To get started just follow this link:
3)
Expotv: Expotv is a product review program. I get most of my online e-gift cards from Expotv. I LOVE THIS PROGRAM!! First you sign up for a free Expotv account. If I remember correctly you complete some surveys at the beginning so that they can send you invitations to review products you might already have or be interested in. Expotv will send you invitations to do short video reviews of certain products. These reviews only have to be about 1 min. 30 sec. long. Super easy and they tell you how to do it. There is also a monthly list of “Most Wanted” products you can choose from to review for extra points. I find items from this list that I already own. You upload your video and they reward you with points. Each video is worth anywhere from 500-2500 points. Again, I usually redeem mine for Amazon.com e-gift cards. So far this year have earned over $300 in Amazon.com e-gift cards…and I still have some points waiting to be redeemed! To get started follow this link:
www.expotv.com/raf/twocoonsSo, that’s the scoop on my Christmas shopping. I have found that the more I shop throughout the year, not only do I save money, but my holidays are a lot less stressful since I’m not worrying about getting gifts in time or how I am going to afford all these presents and still get my groceries for the month! I have been so thankful for these resources lately as my list of people to buy presents for continues to grow, but the budget does not! Just another way God continues to show me that He provides for our needs and sometimes even for our wants. There really is more joy in giving than receiving, and sometimes the giving is even sweeter when you know that you saved a whole lot of pennies!
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Jenny Herman is not anyone special or a hero. She's just a working special needs homeschool mom who uses the Power of One to "just keep swimming". Visit her blog jennyherman.com to learn more.
December 6, 2010 at 2:13 PM
>Good tips. I also recommend sites such as frugalgirls.com, moneysavingmom.com I also use ebates which gives you back cash quarterly, and they have all the coupons availalble for the merchants. I always check ebates before I shop and click through them if the merchant participates. I also use swagbucks but just recently with my new computer use it as my default which really helped me get my points up (my old computer had issues and I couldn't use the browser that would support swagbucks.). I love the spreadsheet idea, will also help me to remember what I got people year to year.Lisa
December 6, 2010 at 2:15 PM
>If anyone is interested in ebates, you can join herehttps://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=zOQBzI75lUIJM%2BQCAWoNzw%3D%3D
July 18, 2013 at 1:57 AM
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