I think the best way to save money is to plan. I don’t do a lot of Christmas shopping throughout the year but I will put some stuff away if I think it’s something my kids will still like in a year. I usually start shopping about 3 months before Christmas, but that doenst mean I havent stared to save towards Christmas shopping. Some of these deals are expired – but there are still things you can do right now to get ready for next Christmas! I want you to see how simple it is to save towards Christmas without doing a lot of stuff!

Here’s some of the ways I have “earned free money” to use towards Christmas shopping.

Daily Deals – I bought a “free” Mrs. Fields voucher from a daily deal site. I ordered something for my grandma with this voucher and only had to pay a few bucks out of my pocket and she got a cute gift.

Many daily deal sites will offer you a free credit when you join. Some only offer these credits during a few weeks of the year. Join these sites when they offer free credits! I was able to buy a $30 Shari’s Berry for $5 because I joined RueLaLa when they were offering a free $10 credit – I can even use this voucher towards shipping and tax. Another family member got a nice, yummy gift basket! I was also able to get my husband $30 worth of stuff from NFLShop.com for $5 with a $10 credit I had from RueLaLa! Click here to sign up with daily deal sites that offer free credits.

Google Offers – I bought a $20 ToysRUs.com gift card for $10. It’s an automatic 50% off!

Free Magazines subscriptions – For people that don’t need anything I know they like magazine subscriptions for gifts. I was able to use points I earned on Recycle Bank to get free magazine subscriptions as gifts.

Redeeming my points – If you have kids, you should be a member of things like Disney Movie Rewards, Huggies Enjoy The Ride, and Pampers Gifts to Grow. I was able to redeem my Disney points for a $20 Disney Store gift cards. I used my Huggies points to get a $15 Starbucks gift card. Last year I used my Pampers rewards for a $20 Sams Club gift card! (If you click here to join the Huggies program you will start with 10 points!)

****The stuff above is all stuff I earn on my own – I didn’t earn any referral credits towards these rewards. I just want you to know you can earn this stuff on your own!***

Referral Credits – Many companies will pay you a referral credit when your friends with your unique link. I will only refer stuff that I believe is a good product. I will never tell you about something just to make a buck!

Half Off Depot is a great deal site for many local deals. They will pay you $10 for every friend that joins and makes a purchase with your referral link. I had $70 in credits and I was able to buy 2 deals that I gave to our Dad’s for Christmas. The deal was $25 for a $25 Sears gift card and a $50 Restaurant.com gift card. (I do not think these deals are a good deal if you don’t have referral credits. You can buy the $50 Restaurant.com vouchers for $4 many times – so that is why I dont think it’s such a great deal.) I was also able to buy a $25 Walmart.com gift certificate and a $50 Restaurant.com for $5 after my credit. I used that credit to buy a Play Station 3 video game for my newphews. They always have coupon codes to save even more money on their vouchers.

Plum District – Last week Plum District had a $25 Target gift card and $50 Restaurant.com Voucher as low as $17.50 This price was available for all new members – plus you can earn $5 for every friend referral. Again, I am not a fan of the Restaurant.com voucher, but I got the Target gift card for $6.50 less than the value. They give new members $5 when you join.

There were also other gift card deals – $15 for a $25 Barnes & Noble GC, $10 for $20 at Overstock.com, $17.50 For A $25 Gift Card From Build-A-Bear Workshop or a $25 iTunes Gift Card for $17.50. So if there a gift card you needed – you could have bought it at a discount!

Throughout the year I use Swagbucks to earn points that I trade in for Amazon gift cards. I also take surveys from Opinion Outpost and they pay me via PayPal Or Amazon gift cards. Many of the retailers I shop at online let me pay with Paypal so I don’t even have to touch my bank account! (I made about $250 this year from Opinion Outpost – and I only did surveys for about 6 months this year!)

I also earn free gift cards from MyPoints – You read emails or shop through this site and earn points. You trade the points for gift cards. This is a simple way to earn free gift cards, but it takes time.

Then I do all my shopping through  Ebates or  Shop at Home -  just this quarter I have $14 in cash back from  Ebates and almost $20 from Shop at Home. I am earning cash back on the stuff I buy with the free gift cards I earned!

Just a reminder -  At Ebates – you will get $5 when you join and a percentage  back of your purchase! You will also qualify for a FREE $10 gift card for Target, Home Depot, or Barnes & Noble when you make an online purchase of $25 or more with in 30 days of joining!  They don’t always offer this gift card so you may want to join now, that way you will get the gift card if you do any shopping online.

Click here to read a few more ideas about how I save money for Christmas.

My family knows I love them and would buy them these gifts  even if I didn’t get a discount!

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