In 2014, nearly $1 out of every $5 spent at a shopping
center or factory outlet throughout the year was done over the holiday season.
That puts holiday season-related spending ahead of the combined sales
of other holidays like Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's
Day, Halloween, Easter, and St. Patrick's Day, and puts huge pressure on
retailers to perform. In turn, they tend to pull out all the stops to attract
as many customers as possible to their stores, and with so many deals being
thrown around, it can be easy to overspend your budget.
Knowing that, we reached out to our team of Motley Fool contributors
and asked them for the top tips they use to save money over the holidays. Read
below and see if you can use their advice to save a few extra dollars this
holiday season.
Dan Caplinger:
For those who can't figure out what gifts to buy for a special someone, gift
cards have made it easy to pick a person's favorite store and let them make the
final decision on exactly what to buy. What many people don't know, though, is
that you can often obtain gift cards at substantial discounts to their face
value.
Gift card exchange services proliferated shortly after gift
cards became popular, as many recipients of gift cards found that they didn't
actually want to shop at a particular store and would prefer to receive cash
instead — even if it meant accepting less than what the card was supposed
to be worth. With these services, you can sell back unwanted gift cards to get
a certain percentage of their value back in cash, with the exact percentage depending
on demand for the store's products. However, most services also act as a
clearinghouse, allowing people to buy gift cards. The discount is
typically less than what the service pays to those who sell gift cards, but
it's still less than face value, and sometimes the discount can be substantial.
Todd Campbell: A
lot of people think "budget" is a four-letter, rather than a
six-letter, word, but just because budgeting isn't fun doesn't mean that it
isn't important, especially during the holidays. Retailers count on shoppers to
pony up for impulse purchases and they spend countless time, money, and effort
to ensure that their most profitable impulse items are located strategically in
their stores.
In order to beat retailers at their own game, spend the time
up front to write down the people that you'll be gifting this year and then
make sure to record your spending as you go so that you know when you've
reached your limit. Importantly, stick to the budget once you've made it. If
you don't, you could regret it once the credit card bills arrive in January.
Brian Feroldi:
While most retailers tend to lure consumers in with insanely low prices on
popular items, they bank on those same customers picking up far more than what
they came in for, which can lead to adding items to your shopping cart for
higher prices than you can find elsewhere. For that reason, I always make sure
I have my smartphone with me when I'm shopping so I can easily compare in-store
prices with those found online to make sure I'm getting the best deal.
It's extremely easy and fast to comparison-shop nowadays —
there are many free apps that can help you do that. Amazon.com, for
example, has a free shopping app called "PriceCheck" that makes it
easy to check the price of an item on their website. You simply open the app
and scan the barcode of the item you want to buy and it shows you the price of
the same item on their site. Sometimes it's lower, other times it's higher, but
I've personally used the app dozens of times to make sure I'm getting the most
bang for my buck on a purchase.
Jason Hall:
Millions of Americans will travel during the holidays. If your family is part
of that group, you may be able to save a lot of money by avoiding the airports
and driving instead this year. Since this time last year, gasoline prices have
fallen 25% on average. In many places, they've fallen even more.
Driving to your destination, if it's close enough, is almost
guaranteed to save a family of four hundreds of dollars, even if you have to
add a hotel stay or two. And while it may not be stress-free, you can at least
stop and stretch your legs while you cool your temper when the kids get unruly.
Selena Maranjian:
A great way to save money during the holiday season is to just spend less — by
paying with cash. Sure, credit cards are wonderfully convenient, letting you
charge just about anything you'd like at any time without having to go to the
bank, but there's a big downside to them, too: You're likely to spend more when
you use them.
A Dun & Bradstreet study found that people
spend 12% to 18% more when using charge cards than when paying in cash. McDonald's has
noted that sales at their restaurants increase by 40% when they start accepting
credit cards.
So consider setting some rules for yourself. You may want to
keep a charge card on you, but perhaps only use it to pay for necessities such
as gas or toothpaste. For most discretionary purchases, such as gifts and even
restaurant meals, use cash.
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