Now, the point. Since my job has forced us to take Furlough Days this year, and has pretty much banned the term overtime, my Christmas budget is a strict one this year. You see, in the past, I would budget for gifts. That’s it. No tree, no ingredients for orange pecan cookies (my mouth literally watered when I typed that, I will be sure to post that recipe this winter), no décor, and no “well this is only 3 dollars and would be really cute” impulse buys. Let’s just say, my menu for January consists of pretty much only peanut butter sandwiches and ramen noodles.
No more I say! Since I have started couponing earlier this year, and now that I have learned A LOT more about doing it yourself, I think I am in a good spot come December.
I have already done some shopping, but I haven’t bought anything on a whim. The gifts I have gotten thus far have all been purchased using coupons or gift cards (that I earned through Swagbucks or Expo TV). I have spent a total of about $14 out of pocket for 4 gifts.
Here 2 of 4 things I have gotten: Mom- You already know this gift but if you don’t want to see it stop reading here.
1- Bushnell 5-day weather forecaster-
I actually have one of these myself and I love it! It sits on our entry table (you will see it in my entry way make over reveal sometime soon). The back lighting is really neat. It changes colors to indicate temperatures so you can see what it’s like outside just by glancing instead of walking over to read it (Green=50-60 degrees, Orange=70-80 degrees, etc.). Anyway, if you want to check out details click here.
The price for this bad boy= $99.95.
How I did it: Back in August-ish Walmart had this on clearance for $50.00 (there was new packaging coming out, silly marketers). Coincidently, Bushnell had a mail-in-rebate offer happening at the same time. Here’s the kicker, the rebate was “Buy a 5 or 7 day forecaster and get a $50 mail in rebate.”
So I paid $50+tax out of pocket at Wal-Mart, BUT I got the $50 back about 3 weeks ago in the mail.
(This is actually how I got the one we use at our house too)
FINAL COST: about $1.15 in tax!
2- Land’s End Slippers-
Cost: $25.50
Since I have been using Swagbucks I have accumulated about $50 in Amazon e-gift cards. I ordered these off of Amazon, and since Swagbucks it totally free, I have also gotten this gift for, that’s right, FREE.
I don’t want to share the others because those people might read this blog, and I don’t want to ruin all my hard work and spoil it!
Good luck gift hunting, and as always, if I come across any great gift deals I will be sure to fill you in!
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