Christmas will always warm your heart, while loosening up your wallet as well! Sometimes we don’t realize just how much we really spend on decorations, gifts, and other “necessities.”

The first piece of advice that may help you is to start saving early. If you can save just $10/week for Christmas expenditures, then that should help eliminate the stress that may come if you tend to max out your credit cards during the holiday.

Next, many banks include a Christmas Fund wired to your account. This system takes a portion of your paycheck (however much you want) and places it into this fund. The account also is locked until a certain date (we recommend setting it to November 25). Not only will this help you save money during Christmas, but it will also help you remember to pinch pennies during the year.

Another thing that may help you is to look for bargains. Often, stores have sales racks. These racks are almost always positioned near the back of the store, making it farther from customers. However, these clearance racks usually contain perfectly brand new clothing at cheaper prices. Some items are marked down 50%-70% as well.

Shopping at second hand stores can also save you up to a third of the price tag. These stores have almost everything from clothes to toys to books. Dig through the racks and you can find sometimes brand new gifts. It won’t matter that the clothes and other gifts are second hand if they’re young enough. Keep in mind that children typically don’t want toys for Christmas though.

Using your imagination to create hand-made gifts can also save you a fortune. Search your local library for ideas and also this site. There are plenty of things that you can make by yourself in order to save money and fuel.