When buying Christmas presents, it is important to keep in mind cost and ways you can save money. The holidays can become super expensive, even when you don’t intend to get people super nice gifts. Often times, people just have a lot of people to get small gifts for (which adds up fast, trust me.). That’s why The Fordian is breaking down the 5 best ways to save money this holiday season.

• Never buy anything that is not on sale
  • This is something I 100% learned from shopping with my mom. Although I was once was annoyed at this restricting mindset, it really does help with cutting the cost of your overall holiday. Almost every item has a sale at some point during the holiday, so make sure to keep an eye on those prices.
• DIY Gifts
  • This is a classic one but still holds to be very true. If you are really struggling to find a well-priced gift, nothing is better than a homemade present. Whether it be a painting, drawing, photo album, sewed blanket, etc, the person receiving the gift will for sure appreciate the time and effort put into it.
• Make a budget
  • If you go into the holidays apprehensive about what you are going to be spending, it is the perfect time for you to set yourself a budget. Setting a budget will help you set realistic goals for each of your individual gifts and help you stay on track to saving money.  
• Try to cut out the extras
  • Were all guilty of spending a little extra money here and there on things we really don’t need. From the Starbucks drink before work to the weekly dinner at a restaurant, everyone has something they are able to “cut out” of their usual spending just for the holidays to leave a little extra room in their wallet.  
• Make an Amazon Prime account
  • If you do absolutely any holiday shopping (or regular shopping honestly, it’s the best) on Amazon, you need to get an Amazon Prime account. Amazon is a great source for cheap holiday gifts. They have practically everything! If you set up a prime account (which come with a free 1-month trial), you can get free, two-day shipping on all of your orders. This is super convenient when it comes to holiday crunch time. If you don’t like it, you can cancel before your free month is up!