Monday, November 5, 2012

Christmas on a Shoestring

Christmas time is one of my favorite times of the year! I love every aspect of the holiday season. However, it can be extremely stressful when you're living on a shoestring budget. How will you afford gifts for everybody on your list? Where will the money for a Christmas tree come from? Holiday decorations? The food?

I know that many people give homemade gifts and I love that idea, but, even making gifts at home costs money. We don't have material that I can whip into homemade clothes or other treasures. I'm not a crafty person. I've tried and my mistakes end up costing more than throwing a gift basket together from the thrift store! 

Here are my top five ways to earn money for a Christmas on a shoestring.

One of my favorite solutions is using the trade in credit on Amazon. We've traded in old school books, video games, and movies. I try to always have enough to earn at least $30 or more in Amazon gift cards. It's a wonderful way to de-clutter without leaving your home!! 

I also use Swag bucks. It's an amazing way to earn extra money. It takes me awhile to earn $5 Amazon gift cards just by searching so I've started doing all the surveys and watching the commercials on the website to boost my earnings. 

Are you really gifted at making something? I make gluten free cheesecakes and other pies. I've been able to pay for our entire Christmas gifts just from my baking. Always make sure you are charging enough to make a profit though!!

Offer Mom's Day Out. Many stay at home parents want an afternoon to get things done or to go to doctor appointments without their children. Advertise for a weekly drop off time. I personally don't charge much because I want it to be affordable for even parents on a shoestring budget. 

Hold a yard sale or take items to consignment stores. No, you won't make a ton of money. However, I'm in the camp of even if I only earn an extra $10 that's better than nothing. Plus, if you work it just right that $10 can buy you several items that you could use as gifts!

Tune in tomorrow for my next installment of Living on a Shoestring where I'll talk about stretching your holiday budget without earning any extra money.


This post is linked to:
Welcome Home
Better Mom Mondays

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love your blog! I have been following your Shoestring Budget posts. We live on a shoestring budget too!

As for Christmas money. I always have a large yard in the fall. I always earn enough for my Christmas shopping! Most yard sales are held during Spring/Summer but there are plenty of bargain shoppers out there in the Fall too. Since there are so few yard sales in the Fall, I always have a HUGE turnout. I don't settle on a date in advance. I watch the weather to see when a nice weekend is coming up and plan for that weekend. This works very well.

Good luck with your lay off! I hope your husband is back to work soon!

Melinda

Anonymous said...

I am a grandma raising a couple of grankids. My water/electric bill went up 100 dollars this month. It is 590$ and that's not counting whatever the gas heating bill will be. It will definitely be shoestring this year.

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