Ok, I apologise; I used the “C” word in October. But I’m a single parent, and I don’t have huge wads of cash to wave around just now – so my Christmas shopping began a while ago. I thought since I’m doing my best to save money where I can, I would share some of my money saving tips with you…
This is a cashback site which essentially pays you to shop. So if you want to buy something from XYZ website, instead of going to XYZ.com you would go to the Top Cashback site and find the site you’re looking for, then click their link to the site. Then when you spend your money on XYZ website, a percentage of your spend is paid back to your Top Cashback account. It’s only a small percentage in most cases, though you can get more cashback from your first shop on certain sites, or through buying insurance etc through them. But even the small amounts can add up, if you use it every time you shop. I use the site throughout the year, and save money ready to use at Christmas… or in the January sales!
If you can remember to use the site every time you shop online, the cash sitting in your account can soon add up – and then you can have it paid out to you either straight to your bank, or via Paypal or other ways.
When S was invited to a pirate fancy dress party last month, I bought her pirate costume using Top Cashback.
As well as earning cashback through their site, you can register your card with the site to earn cashback at shops – though this is a fairly new thing, so the choice of shops is limited at the moment. They also have a section where you can “snap and save” where you submit a photo of your receipt for certain products and earn cashback. And there’s an app for your mobile which you can use in certain shops to get cashback.
Amazon has daily deals on their site any way, but in the run up to Christmas they often have lots of extras where you can save money – especially on Black Friday (November 25th – make a note in your diary) These days you can get all sorts of things on Amazon, and you can usually find some pretty good deals too.
The thing about daily deals is that it’s only a good deal if you were going to buy it any way. It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of bagging a bargain, but try to stick to what you were planning to buy for each person.
Ebay is a great place to buy Christmas presents, and you can often find things cheaper here than in the shops. Of course it’s also great for limited edition or one-off items. Scrolling through Ebay – especially if you search for mis-spellings of your favourite brands – can really help you to save money.
Bulk buy Stocking Fillers
This one works best if you have more than one stocking to fill, or if you can get together with a couple of friends to do your shopping. Party Pieces has loads of great stocking fillers and they’re cheaper if you buy a few at a time. Last year I also managed to get some extra bits in their sale so we had some novelty napkins for our Christmas dinner!
Plan ahead!
Of course, the biggest tip I can give you is to plan ahead. At the time of writing it’s around payday for a lot of people – and there’s only one more before Christmas. Make a list of the people you need to buy for, and buy as many gifts as you can, as early as you can. I do my shopping in mid-season and end of season sales throughout the year, especially clothes for S and nieces and nephews. If you’re always shopping around for a bargain, you won’t be stuck in the week before Christmas, having to pay a higher price because you don’t have time to shop around or because other places have sold out of what you want. I do this with food items too, and have a box above a kitchen cupboard where I store long-dated Christmas goodies.
NB this post (as with the whole site) contains affiliate links. This means that if you click one of my links and go on to buy from the site, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
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