The festive season is all bells and holly when you’re a child. There’s that excitement of Christmas morning, opening presents with loved ones surrounding you, and enjoying as many delicious treats as you can get away with.
As an adult, that picture stays the same. However, the part you play changes, and the financial stress can be overwhelming. To help take the pressure off, here are five tips to save money on Christmas gifts in 2020:
Shop The Sales
It’s possible to find incredible deals on expensive items if you’re willing to do your Christmas shopping out of season when the sales are in full swing. Look for old stock clearances and shops that have regularly occurring specials, like cookware sales and end of financial year deals.
The best way to find those once-in-a-lifetime sales is by keeping up with brands you like so you can get to know when they get new inventory and when they mark down old stock. Social media is a great place to keep track of what’s happening.
Get Crafting
With the internet comes a plethora of great resources for the aspiring crafter. You can create custom crafts based on your recipient’s interests, just be sure to select a DIY project that suits your skill level. Sweet and simple is great when you need to create gifts for a number of people.
If you’re only gifting one person, go all out and take on an intricate project. The top tip for success from experienced crafters? Start earlier than you think you need to. You always want time to spare when you create your own gifts – last-minute late nights rarely yield fine craftsmanship.
Give Experience Gifts
Some of the most appreciated gifts are those that allow someone to enjoy something they normally wouldn’t treat themselves to. A massage, horseback riding, or extreme sports like skydiving are popular choices.
The thought behind the “experience gift” is to help someone expand their horizon or finally have that one experience they’ve always talked about. It’s a cost-effective way to encourage someone to take a big step towards exploring something new and possibly adopting a whole new hobby.
Start Shopping Earlier In The Season
The festive season sees prices everywhere taking a steep upward climb. The only way to beat this is to complete your Christmas shopping around six weeks before Christmas. That’s mid-November. Even if you get through half your Christmas shopping by then, you will have split the expenses over multiple paychecks, adding another layer of ease to the whole experience.
If this sounds impossible, you may wish to consider ordering gifts like gourmet Christmas hampers online. For that matter, you can surprise the young kids in your family with a Disney Subscription box that has official Disney accessories. That way, you never have to handle the presents at all – the company will simply.
No Crafting Creativity? Create Edible Gifts
Edible gifts are thoughtful and creative. Bottled brandied cherries are an incredible gift. So are home-baked cookies. Both of those ideas are fairly inexpensive and easy to gift to someone. They can be dressed up in beautiful packaging to have a super appealing end result, conveying your thoughtfulness. The time and energy it takes to create something, whether it’s crafted, baked, or preserved, is a gift in itself.
2020 has been an unbelievably challenging year for everyone, financially and mentally. Collectively, as a unified global community that has taken the same strain all around, it is reasonable to want to cut the pressure and have a humble Christmas that emphasizes the importance of connection and appreciating those we value and love.