More items are purchased during the Christmas Season than any other time. Most retail establishments depend on the strong appetites of the consumers during this time of the year.  The spending habits of people can make or break a business. It is very exciting to be one of the shoppers during the holiday seasons. When you look at all the pretty store decorations and sales, it will draw you in. If you are not working with a budget, go for it.

Shopping the Day After Christmas

If you want to really save some money, check out the stores on December 26th. You will find items for 75 percent off the ticket price. If you must have name brand items, you can get them at a fraction of the cost. The trend of shopping for Christmas after Christmas is catching on but slowly for some. Since many lost jobs or are dealing with major financial difficulties, the day after Christmas will present a time for getting the best for less.

How to Celebrate Christmas on December 25th and Shop the Day After

The majority of families will come together for Christmas dinner so, you will still be able to celebrate as a family.  A couple of months before Christmas, let everyone know that you will be planning a shopping trip on Dec. 26th.  Inform them that the exchanging of gifts will take place the evening or night after the shopping spree. Some many not want to participate, but that is okay. Old traditions are hard to break for some. Those that are interested will welcome the change. If everyone knows that they have a chance to save money and possibly get more gifts, it should go over well. Have some drinks and snacks available with music playing in the background during the gift giving.

According to the newest studies, the mess we call the economy will be around for years to come. Which means one of the best ways to have money in your pocket is to start saving it in your every day purchases. Here are a few suggestions from one frugal mom trying to stretch her budget

A Cash Back Credit Card

If you have good credit history, get a credit card with rewards, especially cash back. Basically, they are paying you for buying things. If you are paying off your credit card every month then you are getting the rewards for free. Once you’ve accumulated enough you can get the money back however your credit company has is set up. Cash in your pocket to spend on groceries, gas or maybe that new TV you’ve had your eye on?

Coupons

Coupons are free money if you use them. There are some companies out there that can help you literally cut your bill to next to nothing with coupons. I personally don’t use them but I do still cut coupons. Most people eat the same things over and over and if you know what you eat & cut those, you’ll save a ton without spending a lot of money on stuff you don’t need or won’t eat (which can easily happen if you aren’t careful with your coupon use!). Also many companies now offer coupons on their website so if you don’t find a coupon in your local Sunday paper, visit their website instead. The biggest catch is only to use the coupons on what you normally buy anyways!

Use Cash Back Shopping Websites

There are lots of websites out there and many of them are using rewards to get you to use them. This can be a great advantage if you are spending money anyway. I am signed up with one where I get points for every dollar I spend at certain sites. I can then turn those points into gift cards. Similar sites will let you get cash back after a certain amount of time. If you are spending money online anyway (and aren’t we all?) then this is a great way to get some back (and if you use coupons and a cash back credit card, you’ll save even more!). Once you get to the point where you can get it back, you can get quite a few different kinds of gift cards which can be used for many things like buying gas (free gas!) or maybe a new dress or even a night’s stay at a hotel!

So for those of you looking for a way to make some green while spending some green, try these methods. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Saving money on clothes really isn’t that hard, and if you’re looking to save on your upcoming clothing purchases, here are some tips that you can use.

Understand your Budget

Many people shop for clothes without having a firm budget, and end up spending much more than they should.  Go through your monthly income and bills, and decide on a set amount you can spend on clothes.  For some people who like to shop, this may be a smaller monthly or even weekly amount, so you can go on frequent shopping trips and enjoy yourself.  For others, shopping may be a quick, dirty, once-per-season trip, and you may want a quarterly budget instead.  Just make sure that you decide on a set amount you can spend, and stick to it!

Analyze your Closet

At least once a year, go through your closet and give away any items you have not worn in the last year.  Then count up what is left, by type and season.  How many pairs of heavier pants do you have compared to lightweight summer wear?  Work-appropriate blouses compared to club wear?  What about short-sleeved shirts?  What about sweaters?  You may be surprised to find how many of one type of item you have, but it’s a good thing to know.  If you know you already have ten pencil skirts, don’t even try any new ones and focus on what you don’t have.  This will help you direct your budget where you really need it onto things that you need and will wear frequently.

Shop Out of Season

While you may not always be able to resist buying something new in the latest style, if you are on a budget, plan on shopping for the year ahead.  Watch for sales at the end of a season, most department stores will heavily discount seasonal items.  If you buy classic cuts and materials and avoid obvious trends, you will still look great.  You can always accent these items with great, trendy accessories with all the money you have saved!

Is one of your 2010 resolutions to save more money?  Learning how to really use coupons in an organized fashion is a fantastic way to keep more money in your wallet each week.  Here are two tips to get you started on saving.

Get Organized

The biggest impediment to shopping with coupons is keeping them organized.  There are two different schools of thought on this.  Many major coupon sites suggest you get manila files for your coupons, and store them whole, without clipping.  Then each week, as you go through store ads, you can pull out files and clip as necessary.  Though this approach saves time, you may not always have your coupons available to you when you are out shopping and see a great, unadvertised deal.  Plus, those files can get bulky and clutter up your house fast.  Instead, I recommend buying a small, inexpensive accordion file (Target carries ones small enough for your purse for around $3 apiece.)  Divide your categories for what makes sense for you mine are broken out into “produce”, “snacks”, “meals”, “pet food”, etc.  Then spend a couple extra minutes with your Sunday paper clipping and organizing your coupons.  Don’t be brand loyal when you clip, you might find a great sale on a brand you’ve never tried, and you’ll kick yourself later for not having the coupon that makes the sale even better.

Start Exploring Store Programs

Many drugstores have loyalty programs, where they offer bounce-back coupons on advertised sales.  You can then match up your clipped coupons to these programs for the biggest savings.  Sometimes, you’ll even wind up getting a product for free, or making a small profit on the deal.  For example, I recently had a $2 off coupon for Nivea lotion.  CVS put it on sale for $5.99, and offered a $5 Extra Care Bucks reward on the product.  So instead of spending $5.99 for lotion, I spent $3.99 out of pocket, and got a $5 bounce-back coupon to use the next time I came into the store.  In other words, I got paid $1.01 to bring home the lotion.  It’s a great way to try products you’re interested in but don’t know a lot about, or to stock up on gifts for the holidays.  The trick is to set aside an hour on Sundays to really go through your paper to match up deals with the coupons you already have.

There are lots more ways to take advantage of coupons, but these two tips give you great payoff with only a small time investment.  With practice, you’ll slash your shopping bills way down and keep more of your money where it belongs with you.

We all know that the Coach Outlet, and the Coach store in itself is fairly expensive.  What happens if you want to start saving today, and you don’t want to pay full price?  I wanted to give you some pointers on how you can save some big bucks by making your purchase online.

Start your search on eBay: Yes, eBay is going to have a wide array of coupons, and what you’re going to find with stores, including Coach is that they will have a ton of coupons.  I’ve found some that give you 20, and even 40% off your order.  This is a huge savings, and can potentially save you at least $100+ on your next order.  Just make sure that you do your shopping on their website to maximize your savings.

Sign up with their e-mail: Coach has a great email newsletter that you can sign up with that can be found at their main website.  By joining, you’re going to get exclusive deals, and offers.  This is a great way to stay in touch with the company.  Since many companies like to reward those that are loyal, it doesn’t hurt to join, because it’s 100% free!

Do a recent search: I’ve already mentioned this, but if you do a recent coupon search on either Google’s search engine, or even their blog search, this is going to show you the most up to date coupons.   You will find that if you search on the search engine itself, you may find some outdated results that won’t work.

I’ve found that if you want to make the most out of your savings, you’ll want to shop online.  This way, you can test, and try coupon codes to see what really works.  It’s a great way to save 20% easily.