How to save money on holiday gifts

When the holidays rolls around you get busy with shopping for gifts, baking treats, and visiting friends and family. While the holiday season is joyous, and is meant to be celebrated, for many the holidays come with undue stress. The biggest reason for stress during the holidays is the expense of gifts. The following are some great ideas for how you can save money on holiday gifts.

Idea 1: Limit the number of gifts you give.

The holidays are a great time to catch up with old friends, and rekindle love with family, however, this does not mean you need to give expensive gifts to everyone in your family, and every friend you have, and every person you know. If you want to save money on holiday gifts, then start by not giving as many. Exercise some restraint when it comes to giving gifts. You do not need something for each person in your office. You do not have to give gifts to all of your neighbors. You don't even have to give something to everyone that gives you something. If you have to do something for everyone, instead of buying gifts, bake cookies, or do something homemade. Most people won't care, they just like being thought of.

Idea 2: Buy for kids, let adults be adults.

If you want to save money on holiday gifts, focus on the kids. The kids are the main reason for gifts anyway, so enjoy splurging on them, and skip the adults all together. Adults are not only going to understand, but in many cases they will be grateful as it eliminates the pressure for them to find something for you. Adults can buy things for themselves, so let them. Or, at least limit the number of adults you buy for by exchanging names at work, with your friends, and even with your family.

Idea 3: Shop early.

Have you ever noticed how around the holidays, toys tend to get expensive? Well, if you think ahead, you can start shopping during the year, and if you ever see a great price, sale, or deal on something, you can pick it up. Just be sure to keep a list of what you got, and who it is for so that you do not over-buy for those people. Shopping early means saving money, but you won't save anything if you shop early and late, and just give twice as much.

Idea 4: Don't buy the in-demand items.

The fact is that while your recipient might love to get the hottest gift of the season, they will probably also like something less trendy, and you will not only save money, but you will also save a lot of stress as sometimes the "hot" gifts mean long lines, wait lists, etc. If you wait long enough these items inevitably come down significantly in price.

Idea 5: Go home made.

If you have more time than money this is the way to go. Sometimes a home made gift is going to be loved and cherished more, and be just as good. If you have a little girl on your list make cute hair bows, and jewelry instead of buying it. You will save a lot. If you are good at crafts, make some for your family and friends. If you sew, make an apron, or a beautiful table runner for your mother. There are a lot of fun ways to make home made gifts, and everyone on your list will love it. If you aren't sure what to make, take a few minutes looking for ideas online. Chances are you can come up with something you can make yourself and save a lot of money doing.

Idea 6: Give the gift of self.

One of the best ways to save money on holiday gifts is to give gifts that can't be bought. Say you have to buy for someone who has small children. Instead of a DVD or a CD, or something, how about a night of babysitting? Any young parent would love that. Do you know someone that loves to garden? Consider giving them a day of weed pulling, or help planting their spring bulbs? Know anyone who has a house? Well, how about doing some deep cleaning for them? These are great gifts, and they are free. So think of the person you need to get a gift for, and then think about something they might enjoy, a night out, help on a project, some company, etc.

Idea 7: Shop online.

Do your Christmas shopping without spending any money on gas, and without wasting your time in crowded stores, and long lines. Save both time and money by shopping online. Most stores will offer the same prices as they have in store on their websites. Usually around the holidays they offer promotions like free shipping, which saves you even more. Also, if you do not want to go with the retail shops online you can save even more by shopping at online auction sites like Ebay. Many people are under the impression that you can only buy used items on sites like this, but it is simply not the case. So, at least take the time to compare prices. Often times you can save yourself up to 50%.

Idea 8: Buy used.

Depending on what you are getting for gifts, buying used or previously owned items is a great way to save money on holiday gifts. One of the best items to buy previously owned are DVD's. As long as they are not scratched, there is no reason not to buy them used. You can also look at children's items. Kids grow out of toys and clothes fast, especially babies, so as long as the items only went through one child, you can often find almost new items for a really low price. And, the best part, no kid is going to notice or care that their item was not brand new.

Idea 9: Consider alternative ways to celebrate.

If you want to save money on holiday gifts a great idea is to eliminate them all together, at least for the adults. Instead of exchanging gifts with your siblings for Christmas, for example, instead have an adult only dinner where you all get together and go out to eat. You will be able to enjoy one another's company, and do something you would probably do anyway, and thus save money, have fun, and eliminate the need for the stress of figuring out what gifts to give everyone.

Idea 10: Draw names.

Do you have a lot of people to buy for? Well, most people do. If you have a large family, or a big group of friends, a much better option than buying gifts for everyone is to exchange names and have each person only buy for one other person. You can spend a little more on one gift, and get something good for the person, and not spend time or money buying a lot of gifts for your whole family or group of friends. This means better gifts, and less money spent.

Idea 11: Give a subscription or membership.

One excellent holiday gift idea that is also really inexpensive is a subscription. You can give a magazine subscription, an online subscription to something, a membership to a club, etc. A lot of times these are really appreciated, they are all year round, and they can be less than $20. These are great gifts because the recipient will know that you were not just getting them something generic, but something specific to them.

Idea 12: Take advantage of card offers.

One of the easiest ways to save money on holiday gifts if you have good credit is to take advantage of the in-store credit cards. Typically by signing up for a card you will get 20% off your purchase that day. So, if you are going to buy a lot of gifts for kids at Toys-r-us or something, then make sure you do it all in one trip so that you can get the 20% off your entire purchase. You can't do this every place you shop, and it would hurt your credit to open too many accounts at once, however, if you are smart about it, and strategic about it, and make sure you pay it off right away so you do not pay high interest, this is an excellent way to save on holiday gifts.

If you take the time to shop smart, do your research, and start early, you can save a lot of money on your holiday shopping. Holiday gifts should be fun to give, and fun to receive and should not be a source of undue stress. Instead of going into debt this year on your holiday gifts, use the above tips, and some planning to save a bundle of money.