It’s official. Kids are back in school. This is the time of year I start putting money away for Christmas and looking for great deals to get discounts on toys. September may seem early, but have you ever tried shopping on Christmas Eve? Not fun and not cheap!

With four kids, even a tiny budget per child still adds up. Though our oldest is a teenager (who wants clothes & electronics!), our three youngest are still into toys. If you’ve shopped for toys anytime recently, you know those things aren’t cheap!

For our children, we only buy new toys on Christmas and Birthdays. The rest of the years, we find cool things at the thrift stores that they love just the same. So I want Christmas to be a big deal, even on a small budget.

So here are a few of my top tips for Saving Money and Finding Deals for Christmas:

Christmas Gift Planning – Saving Money & Finding Deals for Christmas

If you are trying to find those perfect gifts for kids or money to buy them with, here are the tips to help you find deals for Christmas!

Knowing how to find the deals:

There are so many stores, each with its own sales cycles. To top that off, many stores like Target have one-day deals around the holidays! Most parents can’t scour each website to find the best price for each toy.

To find the best deals, you need the advice of an expert at your fingertips. Whether purchasing a Lego Advent Calendar or learning how to coupon, Laura at PrintableCouponsAndDeals has you covered!

Know EXACTLY what toys you are looking for

This one sounds simple, but this is a crucial tip for saving money for Christmas. One of the easiest ways to waste money is not to have a set list. You wind up seeing something on sale you weren’t planning to buy, spending so much more than planned!

If you are looking to buy legos and you happen to find some lego deals, by all means, buy it. But if you see a sale on video games that isn’t on your list, skip it!

Sticking to your list (and checking it off as you go) will keep your budget in check!

Buy Toys on Clearance Through the Year

If you’ve ever wandered the aisles of Target, you’ll find end caps in every department full of clearance! If you know your child wants chubby puppies for Christmas and you see one at 70% in August/September, grab that deal!

Target isn’t the only store that has regular clearance. Walmart has an entire aisle (or three, lol) of clearance! Just remember to keep that list on your phone or in your wallet. It’s only savings if it’s something you would have bought either way.

Earn Gift Cards to Pay for Christmas

This has been my secret for years on being able to afford Christmas! There have been years that had we not had those gift cards; the kids would not have had Christmas.

There are several sites to earn money, but my favorite (and where I’ve earned the most!) is Swagbucks! You can earn gift cards in so many different ways!

The easiest is to attach your debit/credit card to Swagbucks. It’s not a have-to by any means, but an easy way. You automatically earn points at all sorts of places. If it is on their list, it automatically applies to your account!

Other ways are games, survey questions, trivia, shopping (money back), videos, and more! You even get a bonus of $3 for the first $3 in points you earn!

You can sign up (it’s free, and you earn money!) here: Sign up for Swagbucks and Start Earning Today!

When selecting gift cards, try to purchase ones that are universal for multiple stores, like an eftpos card, or to a major retailer that you can buy a variety of items from, such as Walmart or Target gift cards.