10 Ways I Saved Money in December

Every month, I do a recap about the different methods I used to save money the previous month. Some are new, some are tried and true. Here’s what I did in December:

December can be one of the spendiest months of the year, with Christmas gifts and activities potentially taking up a large chunk of budget. Here’s what I did this month to reduce spending and save money.

1. Sold Things Online. I love decluttering my home, and this debt free journey has inevitably led me toward minimalism, as I’ve decluttered the house looking for things to sell to add to my debt snowball. Christmas is the perfect time to list things for sale online since everyone is shopping for gifts. This month, we sold a 12V ride on John Deer tractor and a pair of Hunter boots. These two items alone brought in $225 for the snowball!

2. Used a Sinking Fund for Christmas. I save for Christmas all year long with a sinking fund. Each payday, I put $100 aside, and save it specifically for Christmas gifts. When December rolls around, I have a nice pile of cash to spend guiltlessly on gifts. Christmas is not a surprise, nor is it an emergency. And guess what? It’s the same day every year! Plan for it with a sinking fund to eliminate the stress from your holidays! Read all about how to set up and manage sinking funds in this post.

3. Budgeted for Christmas. Even with a sinking fund, I could have easily gone over budget if I didn’t make a plan for that money. I made a list of all the people I needed to buy gifts for, then allocated a specific budget for each one. I used a new app this year that I really loved, called Christmas Planner. And guess what? Even with all that planning, I still forgot some people. Like my secretary, teachers, and even my niece! After Christmas this year, I made a note of everyone I purchased gifts for, so planning gifts for next year will be even easier. Even though I forgot a few people, I still had extra wiggle room in the budget. All it took was some rearranging, and after all was said and done, I still had $53 left in the Christmas budget. Win!

4. Didn’t Host Christmas Dinner. I’m pretty lucky that my sister-in-law hosted Christmas this year. She had an elegant spread with beef tenderloin and lobster ravioli and so much delicious food. Being able to avoid hosting an elaborate Christmas dinner really helped us cut down on Christmas expenses this year, and I am so grateful about that.

5. White Elephant Party at my Mom’s. Born more out of necessity due to the finances of some of the relatives on my Mom’s side of the family, my Mom has been hosting this annual White Elephant Christmas Eve party at her home for years. It’s always my favorite party of the year, and we limit the value of the gift to $20. Participating in this white elephant gift exchange eliminates the need to buy gifts for so many on that side of the family, and really helped lower our cost.

6. Zero-Based Budget. This is something I do every month and it is an absolute necessity (if you ask me) to winning with money and getting out of debt. It seriously revolutionized my life! Read all about my zero-based budgets here.

7. Intentional about Fuel for the Car. I always fill up on gasoline at Costco, which is by far the cheapest gas around. This month, the price dropped to $1.79! Less than $2 a gallon! What?

8. Cash Envelopes. Cash envelopes are a great way to reduce the amount of money you spend in any given category. I use cash envelopes for the categories where I tend to overspend: Eating Out and Fun Money. When the money in the envelope is gone, it’s gone. No more spending

9. Signed up for Ebates. At the urging of one of my IRL friends, I signed up for Ebates. He signed up before he did his Christmas shopping and earned $300 back in rebates!! All you do is shop through Ebates at your favorite online stores and you’ll earn cash back on qualifying purchases. Ebates is simply a great way to earn rebates on budgeted-for items you are already planning to purchase. If you sign up through this link, I will earn a referral fee, and you’ll get a free $10 to spend on your first purchase! These rebates are a great way to add a little extra money to your debt snowball.

10. Put my Rocksbox Subscription on Hold. Y’all. I have been trying to cancel this monthly subscription FOREVER. But they make it soooo difficult. You can only call customer service to cancel during certain times, and they must have received your current box before you can cancel. So you have to time the cancellation during the magical time that they receive your current box before they send your next box. Honestly, who can do that? I figured out this month I can put the subscription on hold. Hallelujah. Then, I’m going to send my current box back, and cancel the subscription while it’s on hold. More than one way to skin a cat! This will save me $20/month and add another $240 a year in extra money. Every bit adds up.

Did you try anything new in December to save money? I’d love to hear down in the comments below!