Four Easy Ways to Save or Make More Money Before Christmas

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I don’t like math, but I did some this morning; and there are only 12 weeks left until your kids get up in the morning and tear through the house at the crack of dawn waking up everyone in their line of fire to open their Christmas presents. It’s all well and good unless you haven’t even thought about how you’re going to pay for Christmas just yet. It’s my favorite time of year, September through Christmas; and it’s for good reason. I so love the feeling of the holidays. I love the changing of the weather (or the idea that maybe, potentially, perhaps, if we are so very lucky the weather might actually cool off a bit in Florida).

I don’t know what your Christmas budget looks like. I know what I spend, and I know that the average is a lot lower than I thought it was, but I don’t live in your house so I don’t know. However, I do know that many people need a little time to save up some extra cash to make sure Christmas can happen without any issue. That means you have 12 weeks to start saving if you have not already, which means it’s time to get down to business. We have a few great ideas you can use to make money quickly and efficiently as Christmas rapidly approaches. We like simple approaches, so bear with us.

Have a Yard Sale

I know it seems like something that you know already, but now is the perfect time to do this. We make our kids go through their eight billion toys in each of their rooms every year before Christmas and put things they no longer want or play with in a couple of boxes so that we can donate them. We tell them that Santa will not visit and bring toys since they already have so many as it is, so they need to give what they no longer want or need or care for to other kids. if you don’t want to donate them, you can sell them in a yard sale.

You can even take it a step further and you can sell them in a virtual yard sale. These are big on Instagram and Facebook. You post items, you let people offer to buy them and then you collect their money and they collect their items either in your home or at a prearranged location around your area. It’s very simple, and it’s worth some big bucks depending on what you have.

Get a Second Job

You don’t have to go out and get a second job at night or something that takes you out of the house, but why not get a second job for a few months? Why not work as a virtual assistant at home, or tutor kids online or do something like that where you can make a few dollars on the side and put it away for Christmas? It’s a great way to make a little additional money so that you have more to spend when the holidays arrive. If you have a skill or some free time, you can do this. You might not make a ton of money, but you might make enough to make Christmas shopping easier and more enjoyable.

Make a Change

If making more money is not an option for you, how about putting some away? I know so many people who go out for a coffee in the mornings on their way to work and then buy lunch every single day. How about you do this; make a change in your own life so you can make an even bigger change in the lives of your kids during the holidays?

If you spend $3 per morning on coffee 5 days per week, that’s $15 per week you can put away instead of spending. If you spend another $7 every day on lunch, that’s $35 per week you’re spending on lunch. Together, that’s $50 per week you could put away. With 12 weeks to go, that’s $300 you could put away and spend on Christmas gifts. Why not do that? You can eat leftovers, make your own coffee or do whatever you need to do to save some cash.

Call and Ask for Lower Bills

Call your cable company and cancel it. Call and ask your cell provider for a smaller and less expensive plan. Call your credit card company and ask for a better rate. You can do about a million things that might make your bills lower and your life more affordable all year long. Then put that savings away every month and use it to spend more during the holidays – or shop without actually going into debt when it’s time to do your holiday shopping.

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