10 Easy Tricks To Save Money During The Holidays

It's the most expensive tiiiiime of the year.

1. Create a budget for every area of your Christmas spending.

Set a (realistic) max spending limit for gifts, decorations, donations, etc., and stick to it! It's easy to get carried away buying everything at Christmas, but it's easier if you have a firm limit for each category.

2. Start a separate Christmas fund.

If you tend to really go overboard during the holidays, create a separate fund dedicated just to Christmas. Put a few dollars a week in it year-round, then you won't be completely overwhelmed once the holidays roll around.

3. Skip the extra indulgences you usually splurge on during the rest of the year.

It's easy to want to spoil yourself during the holidays, but unless you just happened to have a lot of extra money lying around, you'll have to make sacrifices somewhere. So maybe only buy Starbucks once a week instead of three times a week, or cook at home more often instead of eating out every day.

4. Donate your time instead of giving gifts.

Cut back on gifts and instead use time you would have spent shopping making Christmas cards for children in the hospital, ringing the bells for the Salvation Army, or creating care packages for homeless shelters.

Yeah, your kids may not be too happy about it at first, but they'll learn a valuable lesson, and it may turn out to be one of the best gifts they've ever received.

5. Or try the Secret Santa method instead.

If you have a large family, buying even one gift for every single person can be costly. Instead, have everyone randomly pick one or two people to buy gifts for. Everyone still gets gifts and everyone saves money. Win-win!

6. Establish cheap family traditions.

Instead of taking a family trip or planning other expensive excursions to keep the kids busy, focus on cheaper alternatives. Drive around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights, start a Christmas cookie baking challenge, or work on arts and crafts projects to decorate the house.

7. Have a big potluck Christmas dinner.

Have every family member bring something to the table to share the costs (and time) of preparing Christmas dinner.

8. Avoid blindly buying sale items, and always remember to comparison shop.

Just because something is marked on sale doesn't necessarily mean it's a good deal. Although it's tempting to buying everything on Black Friday just to get shopping out of the way, it's sometimes better to wait and compare prices.

9. Go the DIY route and make gifts yourself.

Yes, it takes some extra time to craft that perfect gift yourself, but it ends up being far less expensive and far more meaningful.

10. Manage your kids' expectations early on in life.

If you have young children, teach them early in life that Christmas doesn't mean getting everything on your list. Tell them to ask Santa for only one or two items they really want, and that way they won't be disappointed on Christmas morning when they don't find dozens of presents under the tree.