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Holiday PlanningHow To Save Money On Your Holiday Gift Shopping
by:
Robert Landis
With the rising price of gas and heating oil, as well as rising interest rate charges, saving money is at the top of everyone's will list this holiday season. Here are several tips on deed the most out of your gift purchasing
dollars this holiday season.
1. Set a budget. This seems like a simple step, but many a folk fail to do this before starting their holiday shopping. Numbers the total figure you can afford to spend on gifts and then divide that number by the total number of folk on your list. This gives you the average figure that you should spend on each person. Try and stay inside
this limit for each person on your list.
2. Compare Prices. With the internet, it is easy to compare prices on most products. Several websites even as offer consumer
comments which can give you valuable information on quality, ease of use, consumer
service, and overall ratings for many a products. Several of the better websites for this are nextag.com, epinions.com, pricegrabber.com, and shopping.com.
3. Go to websites that give major discounts. These websites offer products at discounts of 50% or more. Selection and quantity may be limited but, if they have what you are looking for, you can save a lot of money. Several of the better websites for this are www.overstock.com and www.incrediblediscountgifts.com.
4. Shop at Thrift stores or Consignment Shops like the Salvation Army stores. You can find unique items at bargain prices, but be sure to check the quality of all merchandise. Remember, all items are sold-out
"as is" and there are no returns.
5. Do your own gifts. Family members and friends will appreciate the time and thought that you put in to the gift, especially if it's personalized simply for them. Several ideas are exposure collages, scrapbooks, and framed photos or personalized gift baskets filled with the recipients favorite coffees, teas, candies, jams, and baked goods.
6. Watch for Sales, Coupons, and Discounts in your local paper and online. On the cyberspace simply type in "Coupon Code", "Sale", or "Discount" into search engines like Google or Yahoo.
7. If you must shop with Credit cards, use only credit cards with low interest rates. Shop about for the lowest rate cards and stay away from high interest department store cards.
Just about the author:
Henry martyn robert Landis is a freelance writer based in House of york PA, specializing in Personal Finance topics. All articles are free and may be reprinted without permission.
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