We’ve covered all sorts of ways to save big time on holiday goodies and celebrations here at Thrifty Mommy – here are six new bonus holiday saving tips…

Don’t waste money on gifts you can’t send – the post office will have a heart attack if you try and send gifts like perfume or items with batteries (both are considered hazardous materials). Don’t even bother.
Get one gift in bulk and go nuts – wine retailers, for example and other retailers who specialize in one item only (say chocolate truffles or poinsettia plants) will give you a nice friendly discount if you …read more

For holiday gift giving, kids sometimes need a little push. I’m not a fan of giving gifts galore, but that’s mainly because I’m interested in more meaningful and less expensive holidays. That said, I also think it’s smart to include your child in what gift giving you do participate in, because kids tend to get, get, get during the holidays, so a little giving can go a long way at forming their mindset about the holidays. Also, this creates a good opportunity to discuss money and budgeting issues.

How to pull it off:
Give each child a set budget for gifts. I …read more

Many families end up celebrating Christmas all year round due to major bills built up during the season. Christmas may be one day a year, but families spend so much it becomes an all year hassle. This year vow to do things differently.

PLAN AHEAD: Think about how you want your Christmas to look. Do you want piles of gifts of maybe a little more celebrating by planning family activities and making more meaningful memories. To get some ideas about how to have a less commercial, more meaningful Christmas read the following:
I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas: Gifts, Decorations, and Recipes …read more

Dayspring has 75% off their Christmas cards, ornaments, calendars, and gifts.  Now would be a good time to stock up on Christmas cards for next year.  Or perhaps you meant to get a Baby’s First Christmas ornament, but forgot.  Stop by Dayspring and check out their selection.

Thanks to Dawn at Frugal for Life for the comic.

     
Shop at Big Lots and save big money.  I shopped at Big Lots tonight and was amazed at all the deals they had.  For instance, they have this Barbie house for only $40.  I also saw a Cinderella house on clearance for $40.  Christmas trees and Christmas decorations were 30% off.  I bought a 3 lb box of Cheez-It crackers for $3.99.  There were many other deals.  Stop by Big Lots and save.

Just to let you know a great bargain alert, Dora the Explorer, Fairy Wishes Dora is on sale at Amazon for $9.99. That’s a 75% savings.
I saw this somewhere else and couldn’t remember where I saw it and then I went searching for a good deal on Amazon and came across it again. So I thought I would let you know.
Click on the picture below to see the Dora doll and other great deals from Amazon.

As promised, here is my post about regifting.  If you haven’t done so already, please vote in this month’s poll. 
I hope you enjoy these regifting tips.  Check out Regiftable.com for some laughable stories on regifting.  You may learn some not-to tips there as well.  If you don’t want to regift, but don’t want to hurt your pocketbook, try this certificate from Regiftable.com.  You can make a certificate for something you want to give someone, such as free babysitting.  I’d love for someone to give me some free babysitting or housecleaning. 
1.  Don’t give partially used gift cards.  This is a tacky one for sure.  I …read more

Today I was reading some posts at Cooking Gadgets.  Arieanna has a post showing the top 10 gifts for bakers.  I saw some items that I’d never seen before, including a pan for brownie edge lovers.  (By the way, I like the middle.)
If you’re looking for a new idea for someone on your Christmas list or if you’re buying for a baker, then you should check out her top 10.

It’s the season for shopping and many of us will do our shopping online.  There are so many websites out there that are phony.  It’s easy to be taken advantage of.  Just about anyone can open up a website and start selling stuff.  Before you click the buy button, be sure you’re informed.
Here are some tips for online shopping:

Whois.net is a site that lists the person or company registered the site and when it was registered.  Stay away from sites that were just registered.  They are probably phony sites.
Epinions.com and bizrate.com are sites that rate companies and their customer service.
Protect yourself by …read more