My $50 Christmas – Did It Work?
So I’m guessing you all have been sitting on the edge of your seats for weeks now wondering if I was going to pull off my $50 Christmas. Right?
Well, you can sit back and and take a deep breath because the moment has finally arrived.
The results are in.
Ladies and Gents, I believe I pulled it off! I believe that this Christmas will be my first ever $50 Christmas.
{Insert wild applause here!}
{As well as a sigh of relief after last year’s $50 Christmas FAIL.}
I’ve been making my list and checking it twice and crunching my numbers and unless I suddenly remember that I didn’t buy any gifts for my husband or something, I think we actually even came in under budget! (Which just means that I have a head start on next year’s Cha-Ching Christmas Club!)
I have to say that I think I made some of my family members nervous with this whole crazy idea. It was my turn to buy a present for my older brother Todd this year. He had the hardest time giving me a list. I soon figured out that he just wasn’t sure how he could ask for anything that would fit in such a small budget. I quickly assured him that he had nothing to worry about. My Christmas fund was well stocked with money that was set aside from rebates throughout the year. (I think he breathed a sigh of relief.)
I hope that my ‘crazy idea’ has inspired some of you to make the most of rewards sites and other ‘found money’ throughout the year. I hope you’ve been encouraged that a little creativity can go a long way in stretching your money.
Most importantly, I hope you don’t feel like you need to have a $50 Christmas. Success is measured in attainable goals that you set for yourself based on your circumstances and your needs. If you’ve found creative ways to stretch your budget at all, then I say, “Way to go!” That’s fantastic.
Now enough celebrating. I’ve got some wrapping to do!
***
Update:
Some of you wanted to know more specifics on how I accomplished this goal. I won’t go into every little detail, but I thought I’d give you a general idea of how I made this work for me. Keep in mind that I had a year of planning behind me!
Swag Bucks: I did about half of my shopping using Amazon gift cards that I earned through Swag Bucks. (Those of you signed up through my link helped me out with that. Thanks!)
MyPoints: I used my reward points to get some free Starbucks gift cards!
Pinecone Research: My husband earned $3 per survey and we added that to our stash.
Rue La La, Groupon, Gilt, One Kings Lane: I posted about all of these sites in the past and ways to earn credits for them. Each one of them came in handy for at least one gift this year. (Unfortunately the free credits are no longer available, but you can still earn credits by referring friends!)
Shop It To Me: I earned some Gap gift cards through their referral program and used them to help buy a gift.
Rebates: The money that I set aside from rebates throughout the year covered those gifts that I needed to use cash on. This was probably about a quarter of my shopping.
Drugstore shopping: Shopping at CVS and Rite Aid took care of many of my stocking stuffers this year.
Freebies: A few of the freebies that have come in the mail will also find their way into my sons stockings.
Hallmark Coupon: I even took advantage of the $5 and $10 Hallmark coupons that I posted a while back to buy some fun presents for almost FREE. (Be sure to check your magazines to see if you have any. I believe they don’t expire until 12/24!)
Dr. Oz Giveaway: Remember that crazy Dr. Oz giveaway that had us all frustrated because the sites kept crashing? Well, I kept attempting to win that $50 Target gift card by filling in my information over and over for about an hour while I worked on other things at the computer. I was shocked to later discover that I actually won! That was a fun surprise and definitely helped with my $50 Christmas!
Shopping the sales: And of course, I shopped the sales to stretch our dollars even further!
And finally (and most importantly), we were cautious in what we spent money on this year. We have a few quality items that we got for our boys this year, but we didn’t go overboard.
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I love this post & am so glad that you were able to make your $50 Christmas goal! Everything on this list is a great idea (& some that I use) but I especially agree with the very last paragraph. This is why it is so hard for us to find great gifts for our 3 kids because many of them would be forgotten about very quickly. We learned quick that even though there isn’t a mountain of gifts under the tree, the kids are happy with the things that they *really* wanted/needed.
Thanks for sharing that, Jess! So true.
I’m curious to know what you got your sons for Christmas Gifts that you mention they would have more entertainment & play with? Thanks
I would like more info too. My daughter and I are doing the 4 gift idea. The president and Michelle do this too…something to read, need, wear, want. We are worried…they keep talking about how Santa leaves a roomful of presents and you can’t even walk. They will get 8 gifts…one being a big gift…American girl doll for granddaughter and Lego set for grandson. We have not told them…we thought they would not notice but are now worried. They are 7 boy and 8 girl.
I have lost my ipod nano, 6th Generation and want to replace it with a used one. Do you have any ideas (except for ebay, Amazon or Craigs list where I might buy one cheaply? I have a docking station I believe I can use a 5th of 6th Generation in. Thanks for any help.
You might be able to get a recycling credit for your old one. I don’t have any ideas for other places to get one, but there are lots of ways to get free Amazon gift cards and their credit cards (pay them off every month) can rack up points pretty quickly if you pay your bills with them.
ebates.com is a great free way to get cash back just by going through their site link to your favorite stores. Extra cash for referrals.
My goal this year is to spend $0 on Christmas. I have a family of 5 with 3 small boys. I am consigning, craigslisting, and using gift cards I’ve been carrying around (1 since my wedding almost 12 years ago). I am also shopping craigslist and consignment. My kids will be getting just a few presents I know they will use. I think I will use your ideas for next year to earn gift cards.
I love the idea of doing Christmas well. More meaning and less commercialism is just what I need.
Challenging yourself like that was a great move! I have also been using some of these methods to help with my Christmas shopping, but I actually use a survey site other than SwagBucks. I haven’t had great luck with it because it takes so much time to accumulate points.
The site I use is called GTM and if you’re interested, I could point you in the right direction. No BS it’s way easier and pays far better than Inbox Dollars, SwagBucks or MySurvey.
I would be interested in the GTM site. Coukd you please provide the website. Thanks in advance!
I would be interested in this site as well!
There is another way that you can save! There’s an app called “shop kick” and if you go out to local stores such as walmart, target, walgreens, cvs, etc. it’s gives you kicks for scanning items or even walking in the store(gotta have the app open and running). And once you get so many you get free gift cards! And it’s not just for those stores there is best buy and other great rewards in the app. Check it out!!!
When you find a deal at CVS or Walgreens that is going to be a Christmas gift (unless it is free with ECB s) do you take the money out of your Christmas fund to cover the cost?
Yes I do, Tina! I typically don’t pay more than a couple of dollars at those stores, so it doesn’t affect my budget too much. 🙂
YOU did an AWESOME job this year.
I wanted to say THANK YOU for helping me save SOOOO much this year too!
I enjoy checking your site AT LEAST a couple of times per day!
I have already started on next Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you!
Congratulations!!! That is simply amazing!
I saw a clip about your website on the news and have been following you ever since. I am slowly learning the ways of rebates and good deals and hopefully I’ll get the hang of it enough to save some money myself next year.
Amazing! Great job!
I would love to hear what specifically you bought and how you managed it. The nitty gritty details might give us all ideas on how we can do the same thing next year!
Good idea, Lindsey! I’ll update the post with some of those details.