1) With all the “Early Black Friday” sales it’s hard to tell when you’re getting a good deal or if companies are inflating the prices before putting them “on sale.” This is why I use a free price tracker called CamelCamelCamel; it’s made for tracking prices and price histories on Amazon, but you don’t need to purchase from Amazon. Amazon typically runs the same deals and promotions as other box stores so if your item is on sale at Amazon, it’s typically on sale at your preferred store also. CamelCamelCamel is available as a browser extension or you can copy the Amazon product link and paste it on the https://camelcamelcamel.com/ website to get email alerts when your item reaches the price you want to pay.

 

2) Let’s talk holiday price matching! Target is my favorite as it’s super simple and easy to get money back. Their 2024 price matching begins on November 7th and you can request a price adjustment anytime the price drops until December 24th. I use the CamelCamelCamel price tracker shared above to alert me that a price has dropped and then contact Target for an adjustment. I’ve saved over $100 on Christmas gifts with this method. Here’s the Target holiday price matching policy: https://help.target.com/help/targetguesthelparticledetail…

 

3) It’s stupid easy to overspend on gifts because you can’t remember what you already bought or because of fear that you didn’t get enough or missed buying a gift for someone. A few years ago, I made a spreadsheet for myself that tracked all of my holiday spending, which has literally cut my holiday spending in half! I’ve recreated it in google sheets to share with you to help rein in overspending. The best part is you can make a copy of it to reuse it year after year AND use it for any other special occasions (Easter, birthdays, etc). I like to print out a copy of it before wrapping gifts so I can remember who gets what and to make sure I didn’t forget anything. The spreadsheet is free but you need a free google email account to access it. You don’t need special permission to use it, just make a copy to save it to your own google drive. Get it here: https://docs.google.com/…/1iDsinxZc4c4SNipdIKmD…/edit…

 

4) Credit cards are never fun to talk about, but the right one can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. My favorite cash back rewards cards with no yearly fees are the Amazon Prime Visa and the Target Circle Card (an in-store only card). My favorite cash back card with a yearly fee is AmEx Blue Cash Preferred credit card; it gives back 6% on groceries with each purchase (up to $6k a year), 3% cash back on gas and tolls (I use that card to pay my EZ Pass bill), and there’s a promo that makes both Hulu and Disney $2.99 a month for a year. They also have special offers from select stores that you can add to your card like virtual coupons for extra savings!

 

5) Last but not least is cash back browser extensions. You create a free account with the cash back service and just click a button to activate a discount when you go to a supported website. For example, say you’re shopping on Target.com; the browser extension will pop up telling you the cash back amount you’d get by clicking on their button to accept the offer (typically a percentage of your purchase price on select items – like 5% cash back on toys and home items) and then you just shop as normal. After you checkout the service confirms the purchase with the store you bought from, and you get money back. Easy peasy! My favorite cash back extensions are Rakuten, CapitalOne Shopping and Honey (which also has a price tracker).

 

#ad Some of these are referral links:

– Rakuten: www.rakuten.com/r/CHRISS16743?eeid=28187

– CapitalOne Shopping: https://www.capitalone.com/…/mone…/capital-one-shopping/ I’ve saved over $3k with this one

– Honey: joinhoney.com/ref/pszxi7k

 

I hope that helps you have a merrier holiday season without the financial hangover in January!