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I can’t believe the holiday shopping season is now upon us!

I love the holiday season, but what I don’t love is what a huge expense it is.

During this time of year, there are many people who break their budget or get into debt. I used to be one of those people.

We all want to give our family and friends wonderful gifts that they will love. But getting into debt to do so is not worth it. The thing is, these people, the people that love you, would rather do without if they knew it would be a financial burden on you.

I don’t believe that gift-giving should create a financial burden for people year after year. And, I also know that most people will still give gifts even though they cannot afford to. So, I wanted to share a strategy I developed a while back that has allowed me to pay for all my Christmas and holiday gifts without taking a penny out of our family budget and with money to spare!!

Although, it is a bit late to take full advantage of this strategy this year; It is the PERFECT time to start using this strategy to help with next year’s holiday season and for years to come!!

Grab your Christmas Budget Planner today to stay on budget this holiday season!!

How to Get Started

The trick I use to finance my holiday gift-giving is I use money-saving and money-making apps, cashback sites, survey sites, and many others to “earned” cash and gift cards to fund my holiday gift-giving.

What I do is, I let my balances build up all year-long and then cash out, usually around October or early November to pay for all my holiday shopping.

Plus, as the years go by, I keep finding more ways to “save up” so I usually have a good amount of money left over to do whatever I want with. I manage to “earn” a few thousand per year using this method, while only spending a bit of time every week and it is super easy!!

You need to check out “How to Build a Gift Closet to Save a Ton of Money on Gifts” where I show you another one of my tricks to save money on gifts all year long.

How I Pay For Holiday Gifts 

Here is a list of my very FAVORITE apps and websites that I use on a weekly basis. Some of these sites offer bonuses just for signing up, so you could start by earning $35 today, just for signing up with this handful of sites.

Receipt Pal – Receipt Pal allows you to earn points just for taking pictures of your receipts from all your shopping trips. Points are redeemed for gift cards.  I might spend 5 minutes a week snapping pics of my receipts and the points add up super-fast.

Acorns – Although I have just started using Acorns a few months ago, it has quickly become one of the easiest ways to save money.  Acorns is an app/website that electronically “saves your spare change”. Basically, it rounds up your purchases whenever you use any card that you have linked to your account. So, you just set it and forget it!!! You will get a $5 bonus for signing up through my link.

Ibotta – Ibotta is a rebate type app that rewards you for purchasing certain items.  It takes about 5 minutes a week to review the offers and unlock what I can use prior to heading out to do my weekly shopping. Earn $10 just for signing up through my link.    

Inbox Dollars – Inbox Dollars pays you for taking quick surveys, opening emails, watching short videos and much more.  I play the videos while I’m cooking supper or doing other household chores so the time I spend to earn is very minimal.

Saving Star – Saving Star is a website/app that rewards you for purchasing certain products.  It is super easy to build up your account balance because there are always offers for items I use regularly.  Just link your loyalty cards to your account and activate the offers you are planning on purchasing. It takes minutes a week!

Ebates – Ebates gives you cashback for online purchases from thousands of web retailers. I just downloaded the chrome extension and whenever I visit a site that has a cashback offer, I am notified automatically. All I have to do is click the “activate” button.  I do not have to spend any time searching their site for the retailers I am looking to shop at. Sign up through my link to get a $10 signup bonus after making a $25 purchase.

Swagbucks – Swagbucks is another program where you can earn “Swagbucks” just for doing everyday things like online searches, watching videos and taking quick surveys. They also have a chrome extension, so it is super easy to earn points. Earn $5 worth of Swagbucks by signing up with this link.

Check out 51 – Checkout 51 is similar to Ibotta. You earn rewards just for purchasing everyday items that are probably on your shopping list anyway. Snap a picture of your receipt to prove you made the purchase and earn cash.

You need to check out “One Simple Trick to Save a Ton of Money Shopping Online” to learn my super-easy way to save money shopping online all year long.

I also like to complete surveys when I have 5 or 10 minutes to spare every now and then. Surveys are a great way to make extra money in your spare time.

Here are some survey sites I recommend.

I always say planning is the key to saving money! So now is the time to start building your holiday gift-giving fund for the next holiday season!!

Need help getting out of debt? Sign up for my free get out of debt email course.

Do you know of any other sites/app that I can add to this list? Or do you have some awesome tips that help you pay for Christmas gifts? Please leave a comment to share with us!! 

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