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Money Saving Ideas for The Holidays or Any Special Occasion
Check out these money saving ideas for the holidays or for any day you deem special. Right now, with the economy the way it is, we all need to save money, not spend it. How do you afford gifts though if your money is tight? With the high price of gas, groceries, and other products we rely on daily, it’s hard to make ends meet. We are all being wedged into debt and more debt. Thinking about a new Plasma TV with 0% down? You may think again if you have read the economic predictions for the new year. You'll be coming up with your own money saving ideas if you have. As bad as things might seem, presents are still a huge part of any special occasion. They need not cost an arm and a leg though. The time has come to really think outside the box and come up with original money saving ideas that will help you save money and make it a better holiday season or special occasion. Keep in mind that you don’t have to give presents that cost a lot.
The major economic factors that are affecting us right now are: Shaky World Economy You can easily see why there is a major concern in spending money and looking for money saving ideas at this time. You can find great deals when the world looks bleak and give unique presents that will really be a hit. Some of them may take a bit more time to do, but it’ll be worth the effort if you have more money in your pocket to pay your bills. Money Saving Ideas1) Picture This - Everyone loves to get pictures as presents! You can easily make your own if you have a digital camera and working knowledge of your picture software program. With a little planning you can get the whole family together for this! First you’ll need to pick out what you will wear. If it’s for Christmas, everyone should plan to wear holiday attire. If someone doesn’t have any clothes that will work, a simple Santa hat from the dollar store will work well. Everyone should look nice though, so everyone should wear clothes that are a bit dressier than bluejeans and T shirts. Take picture at Home: Choose a room where you can move furniture easily. You’ll need the backdrop of a big wall draped with a white sheet if you want the picture to look more professional. If you don’t have a big wall to use, then choose a place inside or outside the house to take the picture. Something that looks nice is always more desirable. It’s a good idea to have a friend come over and take the pictures for you. Set a date and time. Everyone must attend! You won’t want to leave anyone out! Have them take at least 30 pictures so you can choose which one(s) you like best. You can’t really see what you’ve got until you upload them onto the computer so take a bunch! Sort through the pictures once you’ve got them and choose the best one. Print out your pictures on some high quality imaging paper in the size you have selected. 5x7’s or 8x10’s work well. After you’ve printed them out, then let them dry thoroughly. Cut them out and then purchase some inexpensive picture frames from any dollar store or super store. Take Pictures Away from Home: If you don’t have room in your house or yard to take a nice picture, pick a local park or other setting for the picture. A picture by the water is always neat, if you live near a beach, river, or stream. If you don’t want to make the effort to take a family picture, then choose a different picture. There are so many pictures to choose from on the internet. Find personal favorites of the person you want to give a present and do a search for those things. Do they love cats, dogs, historical buildings, sports, or water related items? Find the picture you want, buy it for cheap, print it on some glossy or matte imaging paper, cut it, and frame it. You’ll have so much fun with this money saving idea and it won’t take a lot of time or money. After all, a picture’s worth a thousand words! You can find thousands of great pictures for only a dollar here. Find Pictures Now 2) Don’t Eat It - Save your money for presents and stop eating out. Take your own food from home even though it’s more work for you. You’ll be amazed at how much you save when you don’t eat out a lot. If you have time on the weekends, make a casserole dish and take a serving to work each day. No, it’s not the most desirable way to spend your lunch or dinner break, but if your heart is in the spirit of giving, you’ll make it work. When you plan your dinners at home each night, try and bulk up on vegetable and carbohydrates and reduce your meat consumption. Meat can be terribly fattening, full of steroids, and very unhealthy for you. It also costs the most to buy. Think vegetables when you shop. These food money saving ideas will save you a ton of money and might even lose a few pounds in the process. 3) Net’s Figure it Out - Shopping on the internet not only saves you time, it saves you the effort and time of standing in long lines, and save you money on gas. There are so many good deals and money saving ideas online. A lot of them offer free shipping. Of course, you can always find cosmetics for just $1 at e.l.f. Look for more money saving ideas on the Holiday Specials page.
7) Bake N’ Shake - You can always bake your way out of buying a present. Cookies and dessert bars are always a popular hit! I’ve never known anyone who was unhappy with a plate of home baked chocolate chip cookies! If you don’t want to make cookies or dessert, make chex mix. My family always got chex mix from at Christmas. Chex are relatively cheap to buy, as are the pretzels. The only thing that may cost more are the nuts. Opt for plain peanuts instead of mixed nuts and you’ll save a bundle. Another holiday or special event idea is to make cheese balls or make dips and combine them with Wheat Thins, Bruschetta, or Wafer Crackers. You can get some fantastic dip ideas for free on the back of cracker boxes. Just find recipe you like while you’re in the store shopping and take some extra time to jot it down. You can always look for recipes on the net! There is a recipe for a wonderful cheese and artichoke dip on this page. 8) Go BOGO - Buy in bulk. Wherever and whenever you find good deals, look for ones that have ‘buy one get one’ or ‘buy one get one half off’. When you buy two or more of the same thing, you’ll usually save money. Look for BOGO deals. They're one of the best money saving ideas out there! 9) Think Boxes - If you really think outside the box, then use them. If you can only afford a small gift for someone, then find a couple of different sized boxes you can wrap them in. Wrap the little gift in a little box. Then put the little wrapped box inside the next sized box and wrap that one too. Keep going and use as many different sized boxes that you can. Its always a LOT of fun to open gifts that are a box in a box. The recipient of your gift won’t even care that the gift is small. Once they finally get to it, they’ll appreciate it more just because of the effort you took to make it fun for them. Boxes in boxes are great money saving ideas. 10) Think Old - Antique stores are having sales too! You can find some wonderful old jewelry, glassware, and other trinkets in the stores that you can’t find in super stores. If you’re looking for a unique gift, they are a true treasure trove full of individualized presents that are great money saving ideas. 11) Plan It - If you plan ahead to get all or most of your shopping done in one day, you’ll save a ton of money on gas and time. Take as few trips to shop as possible and get the most out of them while you’re there shopping. Money saving ideas and good deals are not hard to find right now, so be open to new ideas for presents while you’re shopping. Start out super early too, so you’ll have time to squeeze it all in. 12) Play It Again Sam - Re-gifting is perfectly acceptable, as long as you don’t give the person who gave you a gift back to them. That's a big 'no no'. If you’re not using something you bought and it seems suitable for someone else, then wrap it up. Or if you’ve bought some things for yourself that you didn’t end up using, you can wrap those too. Think about the person you are giving the gift too though. The more time and thought you put into presents, the more they’ll be appreciated! 13) Think BIG! - If you've ever clipped coupons, you know how valuable they can be, especially on double coupon days. Did you know however, that you'll get more coupons by simply buying bigger national papers, like the NY Times, instead of your local edition? The bigger the paper's circulation, the more value you'll get for your money. When you clip your coupons, skip over the products you don't buy. It's a waste of your valuable time clipping coupons you won't ever use. Simply clip out the ones you know you'll end up using and keep them in a small file box in your car. That way you'll never leave them at home by accident. 14) Think Bags! - On my son's last birthday, a good friend brought him a huge bag filled with lots of fun stuff. I thought, my goodness, there is so much stuff in this bag, it must've cost a fortune. There were things like glo sticks in all sorts of styles, coloring books, and crayons, toys, and some fun decorative stuff for his bedroom. My friend told me later, that she'd bought everything from the dollar store and only spent $20 on it. I was floored. So the idea is to give big bags of assorted things from the dollar store for younger kids. They think 'Wow'! Its a great way to get out on the cheap but still satisfy the younger ones. There are tons of money saving ideas for presents in the dollar store! 15) Crafty Huh? - Crafting gifts is a great idea to save money. There are so many crafts you can do that don't cost a lot. Making your own cards, crocheting blankets, building things, and other ideas are plentiful on the net. Since I don't have a crafty bone in my body, it's hard to give specifics. My best suggestion is to do a Google search for crafting ideas. There are a million to choose from! Hopefully you can come up with some great ideas when you don't have a lot of money to spend! Spending a little more time looking for the best deals is well worth it. There are a ton of money saving ideas you can get if you just look for them. Our time is precious too, but so is thoughtfulness. Gifts that come from the heart can't go wrong!How to Save Money in the Coming Year Money Saving Coupons – Grocery Prices on the Rise Work At Home – Save Money with Site Build It! Go Green and Save Money on Gas! Eco Friendly Tips to Save Money Now! Conserve and Use Less Fresh Water The US Economy - Are American Babies Sucking It Dry? Look Great - Free Samples - Save Money Holiday Specials You Won't Want to Miss! Website Building Cool Tools
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