10 Things Frugal People Never Buy During the Holidays
Written by
Martin Dasko
Edited by
Ashleigh Ray
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The holiday season is often associated with spending money and going all out to embrace the spirit. But even though it can be exciting to surprise your loved ones with the perfect purchases, you don’t want to end up in massive credit card debt when January comes around because you got too festive and overspent your budget.
Instead, check out this list of items frugal people never buy for the holidays and consider cutting out some of these expenses yourself.
Too Many Decorations
While it’s fun to decorate your home, and many holiday movies glamorize the idea of doing so, it’s expensive. You can’t deny how much money goes into decorations. If you go all out, you can quickly rack up credit card debt, because it’s easy to overindulge in trying to get into the spirit.
Here are a few ways that frugal people will save on holiday decorations:
- Re-use a Christmas tree instead of purchasing a new one every year.
- Opt for simple lighting so your utility bill isn’t through the roof.
- Make decorations on a budget.
- Keep a minimalistic approach to your holiday decorations, so you don’t end up with an abundance of clutter.
- Limit your number of one-time use purchases.
Last Minute Travel Accommodations
As tempting as it is to escape for the holidays, holiday travel prices can be exorbitant.
If you want to visit family during the holidays, you’re going to want to either book your accommodations far in advance or move your holidays around. For example, you can save money by celebrating Christmas a week early, when flights aren’t as costly and packed.
Those last-minute travel plans could significantly impact your budget, and you could struggle to find decent accommodations.
New Holiday Outfits
During the holidays, you’re likely to get invited to various events. You may want to purchase a new outfit for every occasion or consider buying a silly Christmas sweater.
Even though these seem like a good idea, frugal people know it’s not worth buying an outfit for only one occasion, because it will just sit in your closet for the rest of the year.
Impulse Gifts
You may want to get the best gift for everyone on your shopping list, but it’s not worth putting yourself into debt.
Frugal people will create a shopping list so that they know what they’re looking for when they’re in the store or on the website. This will help prevent your purchasing impulse gifts that weren’t in your budget.
As much as you want to treat everyone, you have to prioritize your own finances first — it’s not worth going into debt to buy gifts.
Extended Warranties on Purchases
One of the more common upsells during the holiday season is the extended warranty on a purchase. While this may seem like a decent investment, frugal people don’t spend the money when they don’t think it makes sense.
Trendy Seasonal Products
Every season, there seems to be a new trendy gadget or electronic that people are clamoring for. Frugal people will realize this trend may disappear within a few months, so they avoid buying into the hype.
By practicing delayed gratification and waiting to make a purchase, you can save money when the trendy seasonal product gets replaced by something else by February.
Elaborate Gift Accessories
A frugal person may opt out of spending money on gift-wrapping services and ribbons for gift packages. You can take the time to wrap the gifts on your own or choose a simple package. The people on your shopping list will likely appreciate the simplistic approach or a homemade touch.
Overpriced Holiday Markets
The holiday season is filled with markets and festive activities. Some of these markets are worth the money, but many are just an excuse to charge people to look at a few decorations.
For example, a frugal person will look into the entry cost and what the beverages go for before choosing which holiday market to attend. You don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars just to walk through some lights when you could’ve done this for free in your neighborhood.
Unnecessary Gifts for Everyone
As fun as it is to be a part of a gift exchange, frugal people realize that they can’t purchase gifts for everyone. Think twice before writing out your shopping list so that you don’t overcommit to the gift-giving.
You could also put the other person in an uncomfortable position if you got them something and they never got you a gift. This is why frugal people set expectations by not trying to please everyone they know with gifts during the holiday season.
Expensive Food That Goes to Waste
If you host people for a holiday party, you’ll want to ensure that you purchase enough for the expected number of guests. Frugal people avoid overdoing it on expensive food that only goes to waste. You could also consider a potluck to help save on the costs of holiday meals.
Closing Thoughts
The holiday season is strongly connected to spending money, but it doesn’t have to be this way this year.
You can choose a minimalist approach focusing on homemade gifts, so you don’t end up in debt. It’s critical that you do whatever you can to set a holiday budget and then stick to it.
Nicole Spector contributed to the reporting for this article.
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