Saving Money on Holiday Gifts

Giving holiday gifts is about more than their cost. Gift-giving makes you feel good; it lets people know that you care about them; and it provides a great opportunity to bond with people that you otherwise might not get.

Of course, to say that gift-giving is more than the costs is not to say that the costs don’t matter. In fact, the costs are quite significant. Online spending was over $1 billion on Black Friday—a day known more for its in-store sales than for its online deals—and that amount isexpected to be even higher for today’s Cyber Monday.

In other words, people are spending veritable fortunes on holiday gifts. Because it’s so easy to get carried away in the holiday spirit and spend more than you expect, it’s important to take cost-saving measures where you can. And that’s where we can help.

Here are a few tips to save money on gifts during the holiday season:

If you’re going to give gift cards, consider buying from Cardpool at discounted rates. As discussed in our Guide to Giving Better Gift Cards, gift cards can be a great present if you think the gift-receiver knows their taste better than you do, but you want to avoid giving cash.

With gift card retailers such as Cardpool, which sells unused gift cards at reduced rates, you can give the gift of greater buying power without spending more yourself. It’s a win-win situation: The gift receiver has more options for their present, and you save a few bucks on a whole range of gift cards. I highly recommend it.

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Sign-up for Ebates and take advantage of cash-back offers. Ebates is an online shopping rewards website that gives you a certain percentage cash-back on purchases that you make through their links. I’ve used the site personally, so I know that it works. And best of all, when you make your first purchase of $25 through them, you’ll receive a check in the mail for $10. That means you’ll not only save a large percentage of your purchase in cash-back, but you’ll also get that $10 savings upfront.

Consider how it works: Ebates is currently offering 6% cash-back on purchases through Amazon, among offers to many other stores. You’re almost certainly going to buy something online in the next month with the holiday season upon us. Given that, you should take advantage of all the deals you can and capture that savings.

Remember, of course, that you should not spend money just for the sake of ‘saving.’ But if you’re going to make a purchase online anyway—online sales are already up 25% today as compared to last year--then Ebates offers some really great deals.

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Use sites such as RetailMeNot to find coupons to enter at the site check-out. I have less experience with these sites than with Cardpool and Ebates, but there have been times when a quick Google search before checkout has saved me 15% or more on certain purchases.

RetailMeNot is an example of a whole host of websites that exist to provide you with coupon codes. If those codes don’t conflict with other deals—remember that you can often only take advantage of one deal at a time—then there is little reason to leave the savings on the table.

A similar site is hip2save.com, which also focuses on in-store deals. You should be careful with these promotions, however, to not spend for its own sake and to not get sucked into an unnecessary purchase. These resources are outstanding for purchases that you would have made anyway. If they cause you to make more purchases, then they are likely costing you money. (See my article on Groupon for a more complete explanation.)

For the above tactics, as well as for in-store purchases, it is important that you maintain a tight list of items. Compile a list on your phone or on a sheet of paper, and keep it on you at all times. Try your hardest to not stray from it. Remember—there is much more to the holidays than the financial aspects of gift-giving, but the financials do have some importance. Use the above tips and tricks, and you will be well on your way to a successful holiday season.