Cheap Christmas Gift Strategies

For many people, the Christmas holidays can be a financial hurdle. We’d all love to buy fabulous gifts for everyone on our gift list, but this simply isn’t possible for many of us. Instead, we have to try to save money wherever possible.

But saving money during the holidays doesn’t have to be a drudge. Instead, you might find you enjoy these ways of cutting your budget without cutting the fun. Here are some ideas for doing just that.

Going to the mall at Christmas is fun, but it may not be the best place to find deals. When you see something you like in a store, you're likely to buy it without shopping around to see if other stores have it for less. This is where shopping online can be a real money saver. Comparison shopping sites such as Bizrate.com are great for helping you find the stores with the lowest prices on the products you want. But don’t stop there.

After finding the store with the lowest price on a comparison shopping site, see if you can find a coupon for that store. There are plenty of coupon sites online, or during the holidays you can search for holiday-specific coupons and Christmas discounts at Christmas Coupons 365.com. They list hundreds of stores with coupons and make it easy for you to find great deals on gifts for everyone on your list.

You can also search around for cheap gift suggestions. For instance, here are 5 gifts under $5.

Ok, let’s be realistic here. Not all of us have the skill to make beautiful quilts or great knitted sweaters, and that’s ok. There are plenty of other gifts you can make, even if you’re artistically challenged. And people really DO appreciate homemade gifts. If you can tie a knot and use a pair of scissors, you have the skill to make a simple knotted fleece blanket. Look up “how to make a knotted fleece blanket” on a site such as eHow and you’ll see this one is easy enough for a child to do.

If that doesn’t catch your fancy or you don’t know anyone who needs a fleece blanket, you can create a personalized gift on Zazzle. You can create mugs, shirts, iPhone and iPad covers, and much more on this site. These gifts don't exactly qualify as being homemade, but you can personalized them with your own photos, artwork and/or text, so they'll still have a personal touch.The prices here won’t save you a lot, but isn’t a personalized gift for the same price as a generic gift still a great savings? Sure it is!

This is a tough one, but if you’re someone who likes to give gifts to everyone you know, from the postman to your hair stylist to all of your family, friends, and coworkers, it’s time to consider paring down the list.

Are you still giving gifts to all the adult members of your family, even nieces and nephews and grandkids who are grown? Then maybe it’s time to suggest drawing names at Christmas. Rather than every person in the family buying gifts for all the other family members, everyone draws one name and buys a gift for that person only. That way, everyone still gets a gift, and you might save enough money to splurge a bit on that one gift, rather than sweating the cost for many gifts. Most families will appreciate this idea, as a large gift list is tough on everyone’s budget.

As for your postman and hair dresser, consider a small homemade bag of brownies rather than an expensive store bought gift. They’ll still appreciate the gesture.

Saving money during the holidays doesn't have to be a chore. You can still give great gifts and save money with a few simple changes.