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10 holiday planning tips to help save money and your sanity

Disclosure: This post is a sponsored post for which I received monetary compensation. In some cases, compensation may have been used to purchase the item so that I may give a personal account of my experience.

I’ve plenty of holiday planning tips to share to help you get through the holidays without having to get three jobs in January to pay for all the shopping bills! It’s a difficult time of year to say no to the kids, right? They don’t always understand how much money it all costs. PLUS, you have to get holiday cards in the mail before, you know, Valentine’s Day.

Plus, figure out how to string lights up; decorate a tree; and, BE FESTIVE.

holiday planning tips

Making life easier with my ten holiday planning tips

Here are holiday planning tips to help you get through your holidays without totally obliterating your budget. They’ll also save time, as well as save your sanity.

Money Savers

  • Head straight to websites like Swagbucks to start earning points to redeem for gift cards for holiday shopping!
  • Always shop online with Cash Rebate sites such as Mr. Rebates, and Ebates.
  • Bake gifts for teachers, hosts for parties you have to attend during the holiday season and anyone else you have to give a gift (like the mailman, garbage man, etc.).
  • If you’re having people over, turn your heat down. It’ll save you a ton on your bill and your guests won’t sweat all over the place.
  • Stop buying gifts for adults. Make a joint decision with your siblings to just buy for each others’ kids! It saves a BUNDLE.

Time Savers

  • Skip doing OUTSIDE LIGHTS. Just string them up around your tree, get yourself a pretty wreath for the door and change some of your outdoor lights to green and red.
  • Don’t set yourself up for failure when it comes to the HOLIDAY PHOTO of the kids. Not one person cares if everyone’s dressed in holiday appropriate clothes. Or if you include a mantle filled with holiday stockings. Just take your best picture of the kids, or do a montage of pictures on one card. There’s a ton of festive Christmas Cards to choose from all over the internet. PS-You can also do the picture in BLACK AND WHITE!
  • Enlist help when wrapping the kids’ gifts. You shouldn’t have to do it alone, in the wee hours of the night when everyone else (including your spouse) are sleeping. Drop the kids off at a friend’s house and tackle the job together for a few hours. Get the holiday music pumping, enjoy some cider and get crazy.
  • Keep lists of what you’ve purchased for everyone you have to buy for, so you don’t have to “think” about it. Jot down the list of people you’re buying for, when you buy the gift, jot down what you got next to the person’s name. Helps when wrapping – you won’t have to sit there wondering “what the heck did I buy this for” when you pull it out of the bag.

Sanity Saver

  • Learn how to say NO. You cannot attend every holiday party, you cannot buy every gift on the lists from your kids or your spouse, you cannot eat everything on your plate at every party you attend! Just say NO. But in a nice way, of course!

Most of all, just have fun and really enjoy family and friends. Forget the perfect damn tree. Or a clean house for guests stopping by during the holiday season. This is the time of year to reflect and really enjoy your family more than usual! Breathe and just BE.

Let’s start this Holiday Season! Hopefully these holiday planning tips help!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the Storkie holiday blogging program. I received compensation for my participation. All opinions are 100% mine.

Disclosure: NovemberSunflower.com is a small business. In order to survive, there's a need to make money. I love a lot of things, I share those things, and if I can make a little commission here, and there, I'm 100 percent going for it. Why should the brands I love be the only ones making money, right? Please, use my affiliate links within this post when placing your orders with the brand, or joining up with the brand. Your support is beyond appreciated!

By | 2018-10-29T07:21:56-04:00 October 29, 2018|Family|2 Comments

About the Author:

Staci loves to write, and loves to share her "take" on everything thrown her way. Movies, entertainment, food, fashion, shopping, money, travel and family. There's nothing off limits at NovemberSunflower.com, and Staci's always telling it like it is: good, bad, and all that lies in between!

2 Comments

  1. Kathy October 14, 2011 at 4:30 pm

    Great tips! I will tell you that one of the best things I do to cut down on the stress of gift giving started when our son was two weeks old ( He is a Dec baby!) We started the tradition of the kids getting 3 gifts. (they do also do a gift for each other, plus they have 3 adoring grandparents and aunts and uncles, they do not suffer at all) We also do a Christmas stocking. I have to say I most likely save time and headaches rather than money because we focus on the three gifts they want the most. I can really focus on each child. Also we stopped doing Christmas gifts for family, we just buy for the kids, but what my family does is either a secret Santa, or a Grabbag or one year with did the Secret Santa with a twist, you had to give the person something you already had! I got a picture from my sister that I had always loved of hers, and I gave my other sister a antique candy dish that I knew she loved. It was one of the best Christmas’s I think I had. I really enjoyed it. Thanks again!

  2. Shawn Farigan October 18, 2011 at 11:47 am

    Thanks for the tips. Holidays are always a stressful time in my house

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