Christmas Planning - Part II

So, you have the basics down for how I budget our Christmas. Now, even though you have budgeted out a plan you can afford it is time to try and cut corners from this budget and save even more money! This can be done with a little effort and working smart. Here are the ways that I save on Christmas

:: Our insurance company has a point system. We input the number of minutes we work out each day and the number of fruit and veggies we eat and we earn points from this. We can redeem these points for gift cards or merchandise. This actually adds up quite quickly, especially between the two of us. (If you're curious we have BCBSNC, check out their website if you have them.) I already have over $200 worth of amazon.com gift cards from this year alone.

:: Swagbucks is another site that I earn points called Swag Bucks from. You use it as your search engine like google or yahoo and earn random points. This can take a bit to add up, but it's free! They have also added trusted surveys to their site to earn more points. You get 30 points for joining (link at the bottom of the page), points for searching (random points and megaswagbucks on Fridays), points for surveys (points just for going there each day to check) and a bunch of other random things. I normally get the amazon.com gift cards because you get a code eletronically in your account. 450 swagbucks = $5 amazon gift card and these can add up throughout the year.

:: Disney Movie Rewards - do you have a lot of Disney movies around your house? Are the little inserts still in the DVD case? Check them and see if you have the codes to sign up on Disney Movie Rewards website. I had 1700 points and just cashed them out yesterday for a Princess three wheeled scooter! This will make the little one happy Christmas morning.

:: Gift baskets - I use a bunch of the free/cheap stuff I get to make Christmas baskets for people. I try to do them individually. Like I have someone in my family who loves coffee so the $1.50 off Millstone coffee coupons will get the little ones free (even though its says for a larger size) so I get a lot of these little flavored coffees and put in with some mugs and other stuff for a great gift basket.

More... to come!