9 ways to stay frugal with gift giving at Christmas and Birthdays

It has been a whilst since I've had the opportunity to write but with Christmas fast approaching I thought it would be a good time to tackle the subject of being frugal with gift giving on special occasions such as Christmas and Birthdays.

If you are interested I’ve written a number of articles about ways to stay frugal which you can read about here.

What ways can I stay frugal?

1. Buy gifts ahead of time. In what way?  Make a list of friends or family you need to buy for in the year and purchasing items in the after Christmas sales. A good example in early spring a lot of the clothes shops have lovely hats and scarves which were for sale at £16-£12 marked down to £4 or £5. If there are friends and family that appreciate this type of gift I will purchase this for them. It works with a lot of different items such as video games, films, tech, etc. 
2. Stick to a budget! Make sure you have a budget that you want to spend per gift for friends, family, etc. Don’t exceed the limit but quite often if you know where to look and use apps that might help you to reduce the price and get discounts.
3. Use unorthodox sources. Sometimes Ebay can have a good bargain and you can buy it new (not used) by clicking buy now instead of having to bid on it and it can be used with money off vouchers sometimes.
4. Use websites that track deals. In the UK we have something called HotUKdeals where you can get lots of good deals that allow you to spend less and remain frugal but still get alot for your money. There maybe an equivalent in your country.
5. Make presents - I'm not the craftiest person but sometimes making something from the heart such as a photo album works is better than a gift that is bought.
6. Purchase light presents like necklace or watch especially if it needs to be sent overseas.
7. Try to find unique, handmade items where possible, they are more special and often very reasonably priced.
8. Keep an eye on Amazon throughout the year as often you can find good items on sale.
9. In general throughout the year and keep mindful of what could come up on sale and make sure you purchase this gift when this time comes up.

Hopefully, you found these tips useful and if you have any tips and suggestions of your own feel free to comment.