8 Ways To Keep Your Holiday Shopping Under $500
Written by
Caitlyn Moorhead
Edited by
Ashleigh Ray
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If you’re a shopper trying to keep your holiday shopping expenses to less than $500, it’s fully doable. Of course, you may have to make some sacrifices as you trim both your tree and your budget. Expensive holiday dinners, party-worthy outfits and those trendy outdoor decorations you’ve had your eye on are definitely out with this more savvy shopping experience.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t spread merriment — you just have to be more precise with your stocking stuffers. Great gifts don’t have to come with hefty price tags, or even come full price at all if you know your way around coupon clipping or discount diving.
By just making a few edits to both your holiday shopping and grocery store list this season, even Santa will be proud to see you save money. Here are eight spending habits and hacks you should add to your cart this holiday season.
Shopping Hack 1: Start With a Spending Plan
“The best way to do all your holiday shopping for less than $500 is to start with a spending plan,” said Laura Adams, personal finance and credit expert for Finder. “Make a list of every person you want to buy a gift for, assign a dollar amount to each one and add it up. If you’re overbudget, you’ll need to shrink your gift list, cut your generosity per person or both.”
Shopping Hack 2: Sign Up for Mailing Lists and Loyalty Memberships
“You want retailers to share updates on discounts and deals that will help you get the best price at the right time,” said Josh Zimmelman, managing director of Westwood Tax & Consulting. “However, you may want to consider using a second email address specifically for this purpose, so your inbox doesn’t get clogged up with solicitations and spam.”
Shopping Hack 3: Make Sure You’re Getting the Best Deal
“Don’t fall for big holiday sales without doing your research,” Zimmelman said. “A lot of stores will advertise Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales and other promotions during the holiday season, but not every promotion is actually a good deal. Some retailers will actually mark their prices up before a big sale, so it looks like you’re saving more than you actually are.”
Shopping Hack 4: Use Price Comparison Apps
“Price comparison apps (ShopSavvy, ScanLife and many more) let you scan barcodes, or take a photo and do a search,” said Tanya Peterson, consumer finance expert and vice president of brand with Achieve. “They will compare prices at thousands of brick-and-mortar and online stores. Then, if a better price shows up at another store, you might ask a manager if they can match the price. Other apps you can access on your phone (Mint, for example) will track purchases as you make them, and help you stay within that $500 limit.”
Shopping Hack 5: Buy and Give Discounted Gift Cards
“While you’re at your local warehouse store, shop for gift cards to restaurants,” said consumer analyst Julie Ramhold with DealNews. “Often you’ll buy four $25 cards that are worth $100 at face value, but you may only pay $80 for them. Those cards can then be split up to give to four different people, gifted as a whole package or even saved for yourself. Whatever you do with them, by purchasing them at this discount, your dollar is going further.”
Shopping Hack 6: Buy in Bulk
If you’re participating in gift swaps or need a few less expensive gifts for parties you’re planning to attend, Ramhold suggested heading to warehouse stores, like Costco, that sell multipacks of candles or Starbucks gift sets. “Then break those multipacks down to serve as gifts for multiple individuals — a set of three candles can be split to be given to three different hostesses, while a pack of two Starbucks gift sets can be split to serve as two gifts for a swap party,” she said.
Shopping Hack 7: Skip the Pricey Gift Wrap
“Paying for professional gift wrapping services can get very expensive, but even if you do it yourself, that’s still a lot of money on paper and ribbons, etc.,” Zimmelman said. “Get creative about your gift-wrap options, like using newspapers or other lower-cost options. Use holiday gift bags more often than wrapping paper, because they can be reused.”
Shopping Hack 8: Give Without Gifting
“In terms of time, depending on your skills and interests, you could make plans to shovel snow during the winter for a neighbor or family member, run errands for someone, make a dinner for a busy family or another task you know the recipient will appreciate,” Peterson said.
Cynthia Measom contributed to the reporting for this article.
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