Before you know it, the holidays will be here. If you need a plan to avoid going broke, you aren’t alone. Giving feels amazing, but if you aren’t careful, the financial aftermath of indiscriminate spending can be a disaster.

Here are seven strategies to save money and enjoy a debt-free Christmas this year. 

1. Identify a Monthly Savings Goal With This Easy Formula

Relying on the paycheck before Christmas to cover your holiday spending isn’t going to cut it. Preparation is the key to staying debt-free this Christmas. Decide now how much you plan to spend on gifts, and make a plan to save that money.

For example, if it’s early September and you decide your Christmas budget is $500, then you need to save $125 per month for the next four months. When Christmas rolls around, you’ll have the $500 ready to go — no credit required! 

Automate Your Savings With Empower

The best way to follow through on socking away your monthly savings goal is to make it as easy as possible. Empower’s AutoSave feature does exactly that. When you identify a weekly savings goal, Empower analyzes your spending patterns and automatically moves spare money to your savings account. You’ll reach your monthly target without even thinking about it. 

Free Workshop – Join our free Simplify Money Workshop

The *only* way to save money is to spend less than you earn. That means you need to decrease your expenses or increase your income.

We want to help you do both.

Join our FREE Simplify Money Workshop to learn the fundamentals of growing wealth. Because when you can spend less than you earn, your money has no choice but to grow. You will build your savings and pay down debt. 

What’s more? We’ve got a bunch of free money-hacks to share with you:

  • Hacks to lower your monthly bills
  • Hacks to spend less on debt
  • Hacks to start investing
  • Hacks to increase your income by $20/month (with no extra effort)

This workshop has everything you need to accomplish the cardinal rule of personal finance: keep your income over your expenses.

Join our free 5-day Simplify Money Workshop, and start growing your wealth today.

2. Use Money-Saving Apps

Another way to ensure you hit your Christmas savings goal is to make your money go further with money-saving apps. 

When you score cash back on everyday purchases, you get more for less. The money you save on groceries and gas? That can help pay for Christmas! 

Earn Cash-Back on Groceries with Ibotta (and Get a $20 Bonus!)

Saving money on groceries is easy with Ibotta. Before you shop, simply check out the app’s cash-back offers and add them to your cash-back grocery list. When you’ve completed your shopping, upload a picture of your receipt to earn cash back on the offers you added to your grocery list. 

Ibotta is a simple way to save on groceries. Try it for yourself. Download Ibotta for free and score a $20 welcome bonus. 

Want to hear even more ways Ibotta can save you money? Check out our Ibotta explainer video, here!

Grab your $20 Welcome Bonus when you download the Ibotta App with this link

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Save at the Pump with Checkout 51

Checkout 51 is another money-saving app that earns you cash back on gas and groceries. It works pretty much the same way as Ibotta: Select the offers you want, make your purchase, and upload a picture of your receipt to get paid. 

Over 5,000 gas stations offer cash back through Checkout 51. Download the free Checkout51 app and start saving at the pump today!

3. Lower Your Bills

Another great way to stockpile Christmas cash is to spend less money! It seems obvious, but if you’re like most people, it’s a struggle to actually cut costs. 

What if you already use cash-back apps and you’ve already ditched your latte habit? You may think your remaining expenses are fixed, but you could be wrong. You might be able to lower your bills.

Get a Better Deal on Internet, Phone, and TV with Trim

If you’d love to score a better deal on your internet, phone, or TV but don’t have the time to wait on hold with every provider, Trim can help. They’ll contact your providers and negotiate a better price on your behalf. 

Best of all, you don’t pay unless they save you money. If Trim cannot lower your bills, you pay nothing. But if they do save you money, you keep 66% of your savings for the first year, and 100% of your savings every year after that!

Please note that Trim takes their payment immediately. For example, if Trim saves you $10/month, they will request their 33% fee ($40) right away. But you keep 100% of the savings after that. 

Trim is good at what they do. The average Trim user who uses all of the Trim features saves $1,498/year.

Sign up for Trim today to lower your monthly bills for good!

Save on Home and Auto Insurance with Insurify

You’ve seen the funny insurance commercials: “If you call today, you could get a better rate with your same coverage.” The only problem is there are too many insurance companies to call.

Here’s the solution:

Insurify is your one-stop shop for lowering your home and auto insurance expenses.

Head to Insurify and plug in your home insurance or auto insurance information. The Insurify price comparison tool will compile a list of the best rates on the insurance coverage you need from the top insurance providers. Needless to say, this is a much more efficient way to shop for insurance.

What’s more? Insurify is a fully licensed insurance broker. So you can close the deal then and there. Insurify will even cancel your old insurance policy for you.

Compare your home and auto insurance at Insurify, make the switch, and save money every month.

Take Control of Your Energy Provider 

With everything going on in the energy market, from rising rates to potential power outages, lower costs would be welcomed. 

Xoom Energy, a retail energy provider in 19 states and the District of Columbia, offers competitive, budget-friendly energy plans. 

Xoom purchases electricity and natural gas from the open market and sells it to you at a competitive price. 

It’s easy to switch to Xoom with no interruption of services. Pick an energy plan that aligns with your values, needs, and budget.

Choose a fixed rate to receive a consistent energy bill throughout the year. Less variation means it is easier to budget for it? 

Or if you don’t want to be locked into a fixed-plan contract, choose the variable plan that changes with the energy market. 

Choose an energy plan that fits your needs and enjoy the benefits of AutoBill pay and a customer loyalty plan in the United States. When you are ready to control your energy plan, check out Xoom Energy to see if they can save you money and sign up for the plan that’s right for you.

Lower Your Debt’s Interest Rate 

Are you  paying high interest rates on credit card debt? You may be able to reduce your interest costs with a Balance Transfer Credit Card.

When looking for a Balance Transfer Credit Card, look for a card with a low interest rate. Some cards offer 0% interest for 12-18 months (your rates will depend on your credit score).

When you are approved for your card, all of your other credit card debt balances will be transferred onto your new card. Then you have 12-18 months to tackle your debt hard while paying little to know interest.

If you are considering saving hundereds (or thousands) in unnecessary interest payments, check out these Balance Transfer Credit Cards at Credit Land

Free Workshop – Join our free Simplify Money Workshop

The *only* way to save money is to spend less than you earn. That means you need to decrease your expenses or increase your income.

We want to help you do both.

Join our FREE Simplify Money Workshop to learn the fundamentals of growing wealth. Because when you can spend less than you earn, your money has no choice but to grow. You will build your savings and pay down debt. 

What’s more? We’ve got a bunch of free money-hacks to share with you:

  • Hacks to lower your monthly bills
  • Hacks to spend less on debt
  • Hacks to start investing
  • Hacks to increase your income by $20/month (with no extra effort)

This workshop has everything you need to accomplish the cardinal rule of personal finance: keep your income over your expenses.

Join our free 5-day Simplify Money Workshop, and start growing your wealth today.

4. Pick Up a Side Hustle to Earn More

If cutting costs isn’t enough to get you in financial shape for the holidays, you still have the option of earning more money. The right side hustle can be the difference between just getting by and crushing a savings goal. The good news is you have a lot of options at your fingertips.

Become an Instacart Shopper

Instacart shoppers (a grocery delivery side-hustle) have never been in higher demand. During the COVID-19 pandemic, high-risk people can’t grocery shop for themselves. Instacart solves their problem by dispatching personal shoppers to pick up and deliver their groceries. 

Get paid to help someone get their groceries — join Instacart today.

Teach English to Kids with VIPKid

If you’re looking for a fun, engaging side hustle with reasonable pay, VIPKid might be for you. The VIPKid program allows you to teach English to children in China  from the comfort of your home. They do all the lesson plans for you. All you need is a computer with a mic and camera, a stable internet connection, a Bachelors’ degree (it doesn’t need to be in English), and a willingness to help. Teach off the lesson plan provided, and earn $20+ an hour with VIPKid.

Apply to VIPkid now to ramp up your income.

5. Use These Apps to Save on Gifts

Cash-back apps are an easy way to earn free money when you shop for Christmas. These are some of the best:

Capital One Shopping

Want to save time and money when shopping online? Capital One Shopping is for you! It’s a price comparison tool, coupon code finder, and rewards platform all in one. My favorite feature is the browser extension — when you shop online, Capital One Shopping automatically finds you active coupon codes and prompts you to activate loyalty credit offers (credits can be redeemed for free gift cards to Amazon, Walmart.com, and thousands of other retailers). When you shop Amazon, it will look for better prices, so you can be confident you are getting a great deal. 

Get the free Capital One Shopping extension here and start saving on gifts.

Dosh ($1 Bonus)

With Dosh, earning cash back is easy.  You don’t upload receipts, select offers, or anything else. You just download the app, connect your cards, and shop normally. Dosh earns cash back when you shop (Walmart, Thrive Market, Sephora, Finish Line) , dine (Instacart, Pizza Hut, Dunkin’) and travel. Once you’ve accumulated $25, you cash out via PayPal or Venmo. 

It’s time to stop leaving free money on the table. Sign up for Dosh and nab a $1 bonus.

Rakuten ($10 Bonus)

Rakuten pays you to shop at hundreds of retailers. You’ll earn cash back on purchases you make through the online portal, but the browser extension removes that step, making it dead simple. Whenever you visit a partner retailer’s site, you’ll get a notification reminding you to activate your cash back offer. Rakuten also has in-store offers. The savings really add up! 

Join Rakuten and earn cash back on your Christmas purchases. You’ll get a $10 welcome bonus when you make a $25 purchase within 90 days of joining. 

6. Grow Your Money with a CIT Savings Builder Account

Now that you know how to design a Christmas savings goal and find the money to fund it, you need to decide where to put it. Why not stash it in a free high interest savings account? You’ll earn higher-than-average interest (APY) on your deposits, giving your savings a little boost. Remember, every cent adds up.

Open a CIT Savings Builder Account with a $100 deposit. Set up an automatic $100 monthly deposit to grow your savings fast and earn a competitive interest rate. See CIT’s live banner below for the current rate APY. 

Savings Builder

Ready to ramp up your savings? Open a CIT Savings Builder Account today.

7. Talk to Your Kids — and Really Listen

As Christmas draws closer, find out what your kids want. As parents, we sometimes assume that the route to a happy holiday is buying the biggest and most expensive gifts. But that might not be what our children really want. 

If your kid wants a paint by numbers kit instead of the Xbox you thought you had to buy, then go with that and consider yourself lucky! A bigger price tag doesn’t always mean better. Don’t feel like you need to spend more, and whatever you do, don’t go into debt. 

If that means this will be a smaller Christmas, it’s OK to talk to your kids about that, too. Use it as an opportunity to teach them about money and the power of being debt-free. 

Earn Credit Card Rewards, Debt-Free

Rewards credit cards are a fantastic way to earn cash back on every purchase. Of course, it only works for people who will pay off the card in full every month. Interest charges cancel out the value of any reward.  

But since you have a strategy to stay debt-free this holiday season, you can confidently make all your purchases on a rewards card that earns cash back. 

Check out Credit Land to find the best rewards credit card for you and get more value for your money.

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*Capital One Shopping compensates us when you get the Capital One Shopping extension using the links we provided*