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I am so exhausted from Christmas, and you are probably thinking the last thing that I want to think about is next year’s Christmas, right? Well, I just wanted to help inspire you to start now and make next year’s Christmas a great one. It use to be, that once December was over we spent the next couple months catching up financially from Christmas (and multiple birthdays!). This year however, we have been able to be more generous than any other year before, and have more fun with Christmas. This has all been made possible with the savings from smart shopping throughout the year.
Before I started wrapping all the presents, I took this picture of the toys that we were able to purchase throughout the year which was well over $600 (retail) and paid no more than $100 for all of them. This allowed us to give to our family and those in need in the way our hearts felt led.
Before I started this crazy journey of couponing, it felt like I was always a few steps behind. It would have been nice to prepare for Christmas early, but instead I was still paying off last Christmas. By God’s grace and a lot of frugal and smart shopping we have been able to get steps ahead of the game. You can do it too, trust me! Here are a few tips to help you get started early this year.
- Make a plan: Write down the “extras” that you have to buy for throughout the year like birthdays, Christmas, Valentines, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Anniversaries, etc… that way you are able to track what you are going to need to buy.
- Try to buy ahead: Right now toys, candy, cards, decorations, etc… are going on sale, espesically from Christmas (obviously). However, these items don’t have to be used for just Christmas. For example, I read that one lady gets ready for Valentines day by buying Christmas M&M’s and separating the red & green ones. Red one she uses for Valentines and the green for St. Patrick’s Day. At Target yesterday, they had cute pillows, hand towels, table cloths, socks, gifts and lots more that didn’t look like Christmas at all, on clearance. Get creative!
- Be patient: if the deal doesn’t seem like a steal for you just wait it out. For example: those Hasbro coupons have been on coupons.com for a few months now. They put those up on there because they want you to rush out and buy the thing right away and it’s just an ok deal. They don’t expect you to wait for an amazing deal like after Christmas where you get things almost for free. After couponing this last year, I am not amazed by what I can get for free or really close to it.
- Don’t feel like you have to get in on every deal: we post lots of deals on here but we don’t do every deal. This is about helping you save money. We want to see you get the things you need at a great deal, not spend all your money on great deals that you don’t really need. Weigh things out. Can I use this? Would I have spent money on this item or on this person anyways? Am I saving as much as I want on this item?
- Try not to get overwhelmed: if you start to think about these things now you have all year to make it happen! Don’t stress about missing a deal or trying to be perfect about couponing, trust me there will always be more deals!
If you have any tips or advice that helps you save throughout the year please let us know by leaving a comment, thank you!