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It's the holiday season, y'all!

As promised from the first gift guide, I have compiled a few tips that can help with all of the holiday spending. The cost of gifts can really add up as your buying for friends and family. Make sure you're taking advantage of the deals that stores provide, and catching those sales! Here are some other tips to help you make sure you're getting the most bang for your buck.


1) Set A Budget, and Stick to It! Ask yourself how much you can afford to spend, and set budgets per person. This will prevent crazy shopping sprees and a large amount of debt at the end of the holiday season. Don't forget to include travel, food, and decoration expenses! The holiday season can add up, make sure you're prepared!


2) Sign Up For Emails
I have dedicated an email address to just email subscriptions for brands and companies that I tend to shop with frequently. Companies such as Bath and Body Works, World Market, Target, Kate Spade, and Old Navy have awesome deals for their email subscribers. Not only are you informed first when sales occur, but they send promotions just for their subscribers! I've saved tons of money because of these emails.


3) Search for Coupon/Promo Codes 
When buying things online, always Google search for coupon codes! Sometimes you can find on sites such as Ebates and RetailMeNot, codes for free shipping or 15% off. Also, sometimes you can find codes for free gift with purchase and so forth. I was skeptical when signing up for Ebates. I figured it too good to be true. Getting paid to shop online? But it really does work! I've earned $155.91 to this date just for buying things I was already going to buy. I really suggest looking into these sites. They even have mobile apps for you!

Ebates: http://www.ebates.com/
RetailMeNot: http://www.retailmenot.com/


4) Store Credit/Debit Cards
Another thing that shoppers may be skeptical about are the in-store credit/debit cards. I'm very reluctant to open credit cards, but store debit cards don't seem so bad to me. I currently have a Target Debit Card as well as Nordstrom Debit Card. Both extremely useful and have their own perks! Target's Debit Card (Red Card) gives you 5% off all purchases at Target and Target.com, as well as free shipping! That can add up to tons of savings! The Nordstrom Debit Card allows you to earn points as you spend, and they reward you with a note at the end to redeem at the store or online.
There have been identity theft issues with the Target Debit Card, but at this point it has been resolved. If you are weary about the store cards, you may not want to jump into this just yet.


5) Target Apps
I'm sure there are quite a few of us that are Target shoppers. Do you know about the Cartwheel app? Cartwheel is an app provided by Target to offer discounts off of certain items in stores. You just create an account and choose from a long list of discounts. You apply those to your "Cartwheel" and when you purchase the item, you present your phone to the cashier and they scan it! I have save $27 since using Cartwheel, and the savings just add up! You can even combine the Cartwheel discounts with other coupons, and your Target Debit Card! See? We're getting somewhere now.


6) Start Early!
Maybe none of these other tips work for you. Maybe none of them apply to the gifts you need to purchase. THAT WILL HAPPEN! My last tip for you is to start early. The earlier the better! This allows you to spread the costs of gifts over a longer period of time, as opposed to all at once. Yes your home may be filled with gifts way before Christmas, but if it saves you money...why not?!