{"id":10317,"date":"2020-10-26T14:47:08","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T18:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.eztaxreturn.com\/?p=10317"},"modified":"2023-06-05T13:56:46","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T18:56:46","slug":"survive-the-holidays-without-going-broke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.eztaxreturn.com\/blog\/survive-the-holidays-without-going-broke\/","title":{"rendered":"Survive the Holidays Without Going Broke"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ready or not, the holidays are coming.\u00a0 According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/nrf.com\/resources\/consumer-data\/holiday-headquarters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Retail Federation<\/a>, shoppers are planning to spend an average of $997.79 this holiday season.\u00a0 While that\u2019s fine and dandy for some folks, not everyone can afford to dish out that kind of cash.\u00a0 Here&#8217;s how you can survive the holidays without going broke.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Create a holiday spending plan<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Don&#8217;t just run to the store and hope for the best, you need to come up with a plan.\u00a0 Go through your finances and determine how much money you can afford to spend during the holidays.\u00a0 Once you have a figure in mind, create a list of everything you\u2019ll need.\u00a0 Whether it\u2019s gifts, greeting cards or even stamps, everything needs to be accounted for.\u00a0 Every time you purchase an item off your list, be sure to deduct it from your budget.\u00a0 By keeping a running tally of your expenses, you\u2019ll be less likely to go overboard.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Give out homemade gifts<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Short on cash?\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry, we have a DIY gift idea that won\u2019t break the bank.\u00a0 Body scrubs are easy to make and you probably already have most of the ingredients in your pantry.\u00a0 A basic recipe includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>1 cup exfoliant (i.e. salt, sugar, coffee grounds, oatmeal or baking soda)<\/li>\n<li>\u00bd cup carrier oil (i.e. coconut, sweet almond, olive or apricot)<\/li>\n<li>A few drops of your favorite essential oil (i.e. eucalyptus, peppermint, lavender or sandalwood)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Once you decide which ingredients you want to use, mix them in a bowl until they&#8217;re well combined.\u00a0 We recommend packing the scrub into mason jars (a 12 pack costs under $10) and putting a nice label on them.\u00a0 You don&#8217;t even have to be a design expert, there are plenty of websites that offer free label templates.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Redeem your reward points<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If your credit card allows you to earn reward points during the year, the holidays are the perfect time to trade them in.\u00a0 Generally, reward points can be redeemed for gift cards, statement credits or used to pay for purchases.\u00a0 No matter which option you choose, you\u2019ll get great gifts for your loved ones at little or no cost to you.\u00a0 Redeem your points early, you don\u2019t want to risk your coveted item being backordered or out of stock.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Shop online<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Big crowds, long lines and the endless pursuit of a decent parking spot are all things you can avoid by shopping online.\u00a0 Aside from keeping your sanity intact, you can also save a lot of money.\u00a0 Just download a price comparison tool like InvisibleHand and begin shopping as usual.\u00a0 If they find the item you want at a lower price, they&#8217;ll give you a direct link to the cheaper product.\u00a0 On average, their users save about $7.55 at checkout.\u00a0 Before entering your credit card information, search for discount codes on coupon sites like RetailMeNot.com.\u00a0 With thousands of available deals, there&#8217;s a good chance you&#8217;ll be able to save even more money.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Get paid to shop<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Coupons aren\u2019t the only way to save money when you shop online.\u00a0 Cash back sites like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rakuten.com\/\">Rakuten<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.befrugal.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BeFrugal<\/a> will pay you for shopping at one of their participating retailers.\u00a0 All you have to do is start your shopping trip through them and you\u2019ll earn a percentage of your purchase.\u00a0 They\u2019ll even notify you of daily deals, double cash back offers and available coupons for increased savings.\u00a0 Your earnings will vary based on the store but anything is better than nothing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Give an experience<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Tired of buying the typical sweater or fragrance set?\u00a0 Take a walk on the wild side and give your loved ones an experience they\u2019ll never forget.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.groupon.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Groupon<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livingsocial.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Living Social<\/a> both offer great deals on getaways, concerts and other exciting events at deeply discounted prices.\u00a0 Depending on the listing, you can save up to 70 or 80 percent off.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Start saving for next year<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The holidays don\u2019t just sneak up on you, it\u2019s the same time every year.\u00a0 Instead of scrambling for cash at the last minute, start saving early.\u00a0 Open a separate account for holiday spending and make a contribution every time you get paid.\u00a0 By the time the holidays roll around next year, you\u2019ll have more than enough saved to shop without worries.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">File your taxes fast, ez and stress-free in 30 minutes or less.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ready or not, the holidays are coming.\u00a0 According to the National Retail Federation, shoppers are planning to spend an average of $997.79 this holiday season.\u00a0 While that\u2019s fine and dandy for some folks, not everyone can afford to dish out that kind of cash.\u00a0 Here&#8217;s how you can survive the holidays without going broke. &nbsp; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22484,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-save-money"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.13 (Yoast SEO v20.13) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Survive the Holidays Without Going Broke<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ready or not, the holidays are coming and shoppers are going overboard. 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