Christmas 2007 on a Budget

Another year is coming to an end and the festive season is apon us once more, we are just getting over paying for last Christmas and the vicious circle of debt is about to start turning all over again.

Santa will have me in the poor house yet, my three children have written their little letters and sent them in a plume of smoke up the chimney, we almost had to call the fire brigade out, because when I said little letters to Santa I actually meant that each child had a tree chopped down and made into paper for their letters and that was just the first draught, getting back onto the subject in hand.

Christmas is very expensive and it is estimated that over 60% of people with young families get into serious debt every year and that those people are still paying off those debts in the up run to the following Christmas.

Saving money is difficult during the Christmas period and nobody really wants to cut corners at this time of year, because Christmas is the one day of the year that they want to be really special for their family, especially the children.

When people think of saving money, they think of substandard goods that look as cheap as they cost and fall apart within days of purchase, but that does not have to be the case there are many ways that you can save money over the festive season and get the gifts that your children asked Santa for in the first place, including the big brand names.

If you know the right places to go to then you can save hundreds of dollars and they are all in your local high street, take a stroll through your local high street, compare the prices of the different stores, Woolworths, JC penny, Sears and the like and find the lowest price of the items you are looking for, when you have found the lowest price possible, lets say one of the items costs $150.00 another costs $ 220.00 and the third costs $180.00 in total your items will cost at their lowest price $550.00.

The secret part is to forget about the large retailers, once you have your lowest price for your three items, go to the smaller stores, the small family run store, take your lowest price quotes with you and ask the prices for the items in the smaller store, they may be more expensive than the larger retailers but these stores are not run by managers the owners are usually the people on the front line, lest say that the small store gives you a total of $580.00 for the three items, $30.00 more than the larger stores, tell the owner that you can buy them and where you can buy them and the price, usually after some humming and hawing the smaller retailer will offer the items for about $10-$20 less than the larger stores, then let the haggling begin. Tell the owner you really only wanted to spend $400.00, nine times out of ten he will laugh at you, but be patient and say clearly "what would be your best price?" this is when it starts getting fun.

He will probably come down to about $520.00, stick to your guns at this point and offer $420.00 tell him that you will pay cash and remind him that if you pay by credit card he would lose at least 5% more anyway. Also remind him that you are buying 3 items, not just one, at this point you will see the engine start to turn in his head, whilst he is thinking about it ask him again "What is your lowest price?" He will probably offer you the items at this point for $500.

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That is a saving of $80.00 before the deal is sealed and the money handed over go for a small token which will seal your victory, if the items you are buying use batteries as him to throw them in with the deal and you will shake hands on it, it usually works.

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(NOTE) I personally use this method almost every time I go shopping, when starting to haggle with the owner, point out that you would rather give your money to a local company rather than a big named faceless corporation.

Don't be aggressive or the deal will fall through, keep the conversation friendly and jovial for a better chance of success.

This method works because the smaller business has less overheads and staff, they also need the customer more than the big names and of course you are talking with the stores owner, not a manager who has to sell items at the price they are told to.

On The Internet

There are many price comparison sites on the Internet, which scour retailers all over the country, to find you the best price possible for the item that you are looking for, you can save anything from 10%- 50% depending on the item.

Other money saving tips for Christmas

http://hubpages.com/hub/thejockspot_10_TIPS_FOR_A_STRESS_FREE_AND_SAFE_CHRISTMAS

http://hubpages.com/hub/thejockspot_Save_Money_This_Christmas

http://hubpages.com/hub/thejockspot_christmas__table_decorations

http://hubpages.com/hub/thejockspot_Make_Your_Own_Christmas_Decorations