What's On Your Christmas List? My Quick Guide to Saving the Most!

If you haven’t put together a Christmas list, you may want to take a second today and do that.  By having a list set and located by your computer, you can easily stay on track and on budget this Christmas!

While I will be posting any deals that I think will benefit the majority of you, I won’t be able to post everything.  So what you will want to do is sign up for email newsletters for any company that sells the products you need for Christmas.  For example, if I know that my sister wants Makeup, then I should sign up for email newsletters from Ulta, Sephora and Stila.  Then, when a sale hits, I will be one of the first to know about it!

While you are signing up for email newsletters, also sign up for any Free Rewards Programs the company offers!  You may earn freebies with your orders that are only available to rewards members.

Another site I personally love is RetailMeNot.com. I will check it anytime I am going to make an online purchase!  It gives a list of available coupon codes and expiration dates.  That way, I can know whether or not there is another code I might be able to stack on my order! 

Use Cash Back sites to your advantage.  Even if you have already used ShopAtHome or Ebates in the past, keep using them.  They are already starting to feature Double Cash Back promotions. That means that at the end of December, you will have a pile of money waiting in your account that they will send you!! 

You can still use your coupon codes and check out like normal.  Sites like ShopAtHome and Ebates act like a marketing tool for the retailers.  They get paid to advertise and sell products for each of the different retailers.  Instead of keeping the money for themselves, they share that profit with you.  And that is how you get cash back.  All of your transactions are done through the actual retailer websites and not through the Cash Back sites.  But you will want to sign in and click on the link to the retailer to make sure your purchase counts for the Cash Back.  If you made all of your purchases through a Cash Back site, you could have at least $100 set to be mailed to you!  Wouldn’t that be a fun surprise at the end of the Holidays??

Try your hardest to purchase as early as possible. Available money may not permit it, but just do the best you can.  Finding the absolute “best” deal can be hard. Retailers will change their promotions depending on how many items were sold with the last one.  So it is always a guessing game on if the price will go lower, or if you should purchase it then. The best advice I can give is to start watching the prices of the items you want now.  Watch the trends and see what happens to the prices.  Then, when that incredible price comes along, you will know that you are getting a killer deal on it.

Don’t be blind during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales.  Both of these sales can have some pretty incredible deals.  HOWEVER…. don’t purchase things just because it is on “sale”.  Last year, I saw many items that were a part of the Black Friday Sales that ended up being cheaper before and after the sale.  So make sure you are keeping track of what the item normally sells for and what kind of deal you think you can get in the future.  There are some crazy deals that you definitely don’t want to pass up on during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales.  Don’t think that I don’t participate, because I do.  Just make sure you do your homework before you start laying down the cash.

Give, Give and Give Some More!  I truly believe that having an incredible Christmas depends on how much you serve and give to others.  It doesn’t matter if you have money or not.  But, being in that spirit of giving makes the Holidays seem so less stressful!  And, it can teach your family what the real purpose of Christmas is.  Moments like those are ones you don’t want to pass up during the Holidays.  Plan them ahead of time and make it a priority.  If you haven’t had the experience of serving or giving to others during the Holidays, you will have a Christmas you won’t forget!  I promise!

Need some ideas for Service and Giving Ideas?  It’s never to early to plan.  Mark them on your Calendar and treat them just like any other important thing you need to do:

• Volunteer at your local Toys for Tots center and help wrap Christmas presents. 
• Purchase a $4.00 Barbie Doll or other small toys and donate it to Toys for Tots. 
• Take a Holiday treat to someone who needs it in your neighborhood.
• Shovel sidewalks and driveways of those who are unable to do so.
• Have your kids donate used toys to Deseret Industries or a Salvation Army. 

I’m sure you can come up with other service and giving ideas of your own too!  There really are so many free and cheap things you can do that can really make a difference!

My Memory
I wanted to leave you with one story I remember from my childhood.  My parents had heard of a family in our neighborhood who was really struggling.  The father had lost their job and not only did Christmas look  meager, but so did their cupboards.  So, my parents being as amazing as they were- pulled us in one Saturday afternoon and told us we were doing a “Secret Service Mission”.  We were to go downstairs into the pantry and grab any non-perishable food that we could find and put it in this Gigantic cardboard box. (Think the size of a Christmas Tree box).  So, that is exactly what we did.

After putting the box together, we all put on black outfits and got in our camoflauge gear to get ready to drop off the secret box. We put the box on the doorstep filled with enough food to feed them for probably an entire month. And I remember my parents enclosing an envelope with a little bit of cash as well.  We rang the doorbell and ran.  As we jumped in the car, we slowly drove around the block…just so we could drive past their house like we were on our way home from somewhere.  And as we did, we saw the Mother of the home crying on the doorstep-I imagine because we had been an answer to her prayers. 

I will never forget that day.  I believe I was 12 at the time.  And years and years later, I still remember that moment like it was yesterday.  Those moments are the ones I want my kids to have!  And, I hope that all of you can find time to make memories like that in your household this Holiday Season.  Even if things are tight, there are so many things we all can do to brighten someone else’s day and help out!