Here are lots of tips and ideas to save money and encourage respect for the environment.
Give presents
1. Get a notebook. Carry a small notebook with you wherever you go. Use it to keep a list of gift ideas for people. When you’re ready to shop, look at the notebook and plan your trips based on where you can get the most items. Cross off items when you receive them, and write down items you bought for people when you’re out in pencil, so you don’t “over-buy” for people.
2. New, old and homemade. Consider giving each person a small new item, something homemade, and something gently used. Our society is centered around a “buy it new, use it once and throw it away” mentality, and this will encourage the giving away of new and used items.
3. Sources of used articles. Check consignment stores, Craigslist, thrift stores, eBay, and freecycle. For used books, try local used book stores and alibris.com. Visit paperbackswap.com to swap your books for other people’s books; just pay the postage. Most bookworms don’t care if a book has been used before. With this method, you can get a ton of books for your reader for the price of a new paperback or two, maybe even entire collections from your favorite authors.
4. Homemade items. If you’re handy, do crafts. If you photograph, make an album or frame some prints or make mugs, puzzles or other items from sites like Winklflash. If you sew, consider making fabric shopping bags or gift bags from leftover fabric or old clothing. If you’re handy around the house, hand out some certificates for your skill (carpentry, computers, whatever). If you cook, canning, canning applesauce, making cookie mixes, crackers, popcorn balls, snack mix or other snacks. If you hunt, make some jerky or sausage. If you brew, make some nice 6-packs or bottles of wine with neat labels. Everyone has skills… turn them into gifts! If you’re younger, offset and give out coupons for free babysitting, snow shoveling, lawn mowing, or household “work hours.”
5. Green gifts. Buy garden supplies and seeds and a gift card to the garden center. Buy compact fluorescent (CF) bulbs and help install them. Get them a programmable thermostat. An electric blanket keeps your loved ones warm and allows them to turn down the thermostat at night. Buy an energy audit for someone. Smart power strips are great for stopping “phantom power” from things like chargers and computer peripherals. Buy someone a bike, new or used, if you could and would like to ride with it.
6. Gifts to support frugality. Get them a subscription to Dave Ramsey’s My Total Money Makeover or tickets to one of his shows. During the holidays (Thanksgiving), Dave puts his best-selling books up for sale. He buys some cookbooks for someone who eats out a lot and wants to save money. Give them cooking lessons or coupons to teach them how to cook. Get them some new or used books on financial management or self-improvement. Book suggestions would be “The Total Money Makeover”, “The Millionare Next Door” and “The Complete Tightwad Gazette”. Buy board games, outdoor gear/toys, playing cards and a Hoyle card rule book and teach them the old “real” poker.
7. Savings on wrapping. Every year $2.3 trillion is spent on packaging and labels, and all of it is thrown away. Recycle paper bags and Sunday comics for wrapping, or make cloth gift bags of various sizes from scraps or “bought by the pound” clothing from garage sales or thrift stores. These bags can double as shopping bags and cleaning rags in a pinch. Buy the reusable shopping bags and put your gifts in them. Pay a child five cents each to make cute labels out of construction paper and some stamps. Save a few large cardboard shipping or shopping boxes and stuff them with crumpled up newspaper or those pesky peanuts, then bury a small gift inside. Someone can use the big box to take their loot home or recycle it.
Entertaining
The holiday season sees many parties and guests stopping by. Here are some ideas to keep the fun going without spending a ton of money.
1. Bring a Plate. When you have a party, ask everyone to bring a plate. Also ask them to carpool to save gas and make parking easier. Give a special gift to the rideshare driver / designated driver.
2. Cheap alcohol. If you’re serving alcohol, larger containers are usually more affordable per unit, as long as they don’t spoil. Some case and carafe wines are ideal for parties. Strongly flavored drinks can discourage excessive consumption. Have a pot of hot (spiced) cider on the stove to sweeten the air and give people something interesting and non-alcoholic to drink.
3. Say cheese. You can get a jar full of fairly reasonable crackers at warehouse stores. The same goes for cheese spread and big blocks of cheese. These are always good, inexpensive snacks to grab or serve. Make your own vegetable and shrimp trays to save some money.
4. Cookie Party! Invite some friends over for an all-day cookie party. If everyone uses the ingredients, they can get the larger sizes and save on the cost. You can also split up expensive ingredients like nuts and candied fruit. You can make jarred mixes (cookies, coffee/drinks, etc.) at the same time. Pick up some funky cans every time you see them, and you’ll have some real homemade gifts.
5. Look at expensive items. Meats, seafood, produce, dairy, and nuts tend to be expensive when entertaining. I’m not suggesting you just serve bread, but plan your menu around less expensive meats and produce and you can save big while still entertaining in style. For example, save some chicken from your chicken dinner and make a buffalo chicken dip.
6. Keep the freezer and pantry stocked. You never know when people will arrive or run out of time to cook. Having frozen snacks and appetizers on hand, and bags of chips, salsa and cheese dip on hand means you always have a snack for that unexpected guest or when the family can’t get dinner together.
home life
Holidays are stressful times. Here are some ideas to save money, go green, and lay a good foundation for next year.
1. Plan and pre-cook. Take a day over the Thanksgiving holiday and block off a couple of hours to plan your next month: what foods you want to prep ahead of time, when you want to shop, what “milestones” you want to meet, like getting to the post office by December. 5th. Print this roadmap and put it on your refrigerator. Every Sunday afternoon, clear the list and make an action plan for that week.
2. Reuse and Trade. When you take out your decorations, separate the ones you no longer use. Children who have moved may really like it as a gift.
3. Dim the lights. If you set up exterior lights, put them on a timer and/or reduce the number of lights. This will save on electricity. Put your tree lights on a timer too.
4. Eat first. When you go shopping, eat at home first. You will be more settled and you will not be encouraged to eat in a restaurant.
5. Additional Cash. While you’re cleaning up before the holidays, do a bunch of stuff you don’t really need or use. Take them on consignment, sell them in the classifieds, on Craigslist, or on eBay. Take a seasonal part-time job to help cover additional costs. Or make a donation to a mission or thrift store and save the paperwork for taxes. Sometimes the mental cleansing that goes along with cleansing is more valuable than cash.
6. Green Tree. Get a plantable tree. Yes, it will cost more, but if you have a spot in your garden, or can find someone else to buy it and plant it after the holidays, it will be twice as green!
7. Family gift cards. For older kids, they might appreciate gift cards to popular clothing stores and department stores for games and the like. If everyone waits until that sad week after Christmas, everyone can find great deals and have a wonderful post-Christmas shopping spree. This helps boost fallen spirits. Pair it with some restaurant gift cards you’ve received and you can have a great day and save some money.
8. Schedule Game Nights. Rekindle old friendships by scheduling game nights with family and friends. This will strengthen family and friendship ties, provide fun and affordable events to look forward to, and give structure, hope, and purpose to the first quarter of the year, which is often the most financially and emotionally stressful time. Make sure you don’t spend too much time or money on these events – the point is to have fun without spending a ton of money!
9. Plan for next year. The week between Christmas and New Years is a good time to reflect on the past year and make some goals for the year ahead. Spend some time on savings blogs like Simple Dollar for even more ideas on frugality and environmental awareness. Take a blank piece of paper and make a list of 10 things you would like to do next year. Think of these categories: personal, financial, family, environmental, religious, professional, physical, education/development.
The key to making these tips work for you is a plan! Get that notebook and get started!