Holiday Spending: Four Ways to Give Fully and Frugally

It’s about that time of year. If you are participating in holiday shopping and/or gift giving, here are four ways to take the bite out of the bill…

1. Spend Wisely

If you are going to spend your hard-earned dollars, make sure that you are doing so in a way that honors the recipient of your gift and yourself as well. Honoring the recipient is about giving with the recipient in mind. That may sound obvious, but many people end up shopping more for what they want to give instead of what the recipient would prefer to have. This leads to gifts not being used and unnecessary dollars spent. Honoring yourself means giving something that you can afford and won’t otherwise put you in a precarious situation with your holiday budget and other remaining needs you have to meet yourself. Give generously, but be generous to yourself as well.

2. Take Advantage Of Deals Catered To You

Plenty of organizations offer deals to members. Insurance companies, your employer, vendors you work with, AAA, etc. offer deals to the people they serve. Our human resources company offers a wide variety of discounts on many products and services and they say it is one of their most under used offerings. You save a lot by knowing what is available to you and by taking advantage of these discounted deals.

3. Shop Online

Shopping online makes comparison shopping a lot faster and easier, which means you’re more likely to get a better deal. Also, there isn’t the typical sales pressures of being physically in the store. You may feel obligated to buy in store when someone has helped you or you’ve spent a lot of time looking for something and make a purchase because you are too tired, hungry, etc. Online shopping takes a lot of these pressures off the table, allowing you to make a better decision. A lot of retail companies have made online shopping just as advantageous if not more so than going to the store through online deals, shipping discounts, and the like.

4. Invest In Experiences

We tend to adapt to material goods, which have a depreciating value over time. How exciting is that new item six months later, two years later, five years later? However, great experiences can create dividends long after they’ve happened, seemingly appreciating in value over time. How do you feel when you remember spending time doing things you loved or what your loved ones enjoyed doing six months later, two years later, five years later? Invest in experiences and you’ll be making an investment that gives you more bang for your buck over the long-term.