This week I’ve been focused on what I can do to my holiday spending as frugal as possible.

Not necessarily cheap, but I’ve been more focused that the last few years on the best ways I can maximize saving money on stuff I was going to buy anyway.

1. Create an email account for loyalty cards and coupons and use it when you buy gifts.

Lots of companies offer you a discount code, especially on a first purchase, if you sign up for their mailing list. So create an email address for this and use it when purchasing your gifts this holiday. This applies online and in stores.

2. Install Rakuten, Honey, and CapitalOne Savings on your browsers and let them sort out the best coupons and deals for you.

If you do most of your shopping online these days (and who doesn’t), it’s sheer madness not to have these things installed. Once they are installed, there is pretty much no work on your part and they will just popup if there’s a cashback option or a coupon code available. I’ve saved over $1,000 using these apps over the years with no effort on my part.

• CapitalOne Shopping (if you spend $10 within 30 days of installing, we both get $40 in Rewards)
• Honey
• Rakuten

This is also your reminder to check on these apps, if you already use them. I am often guilty of forgetting to do this and found $65 in rewards sitting in them as I checked them to write this article. Rakuten does a great job of just automatically sending them to you. CapitalOne shopping requires you to request a gift card and Honey sends your money to you as a PayPal credit.

3. Seriously reconsider what you buy small children.

Perhaps this is a little controversial, but small children really don’t need much and I don’t think kids have much of a clue what you’re getting them until they are around 6-7 years old. Also, they have tons of stuff. I’m still very salty it’s so difficult to just get a savings bond these days because that would be my go to gift for all kids until they are well into elementary school.

Since that’s not an option, I am big on books. Which can very, very cheap. I have yet to meet a friend or family member who was like ‘why are you so cheap only giving my kid a book’? Also, reading is super important for the development of kids brains.

I like to find the weirdest books possible, because, let’s be real, especially with very small children, I am attempting to entertain the adult reading it as much as the parent. I sometimes splurge on books like Don’t Eat Me, Chupacabra and Get Dressed, Sasquatch! but it’s just as easy to find a nice picture book in the $4 to $5 range.

I totally get it can be hard to not overbuy for them because lots of kids stuff is cute and fun but in the grand, massive scheme of stuff I’ve bought my niece and nephew, I genuinely hear the most about the Chupacabra from them.

4. Spread out your purchases.

Alright, it’s mid-November so this is a little harder to do now, but the holidays will also come next year. It’s likely there are a few folks on your gift list who are always on your gift list and if you buy a gift every month or so, it can take the sting out of things. Especially if you’re buying mid-range $50-75 gifts for these folks. Several of those at once in December is a big chunk of change. One a month is probably easier to cash flow.

Alternatively, if you’d rather buy everything in one go, you can setup a holiday savings plan in advance. Bubbling Brook has a suggestion on how to save for Christmas in three months.

5. Buy resell gift cards.

You can use gift cards two ways – either gift them as is or plan your shopping and stock up on resell gift cards to use when you are out shopping.

In the UK, there’s CardYard to buy discount gift cards. In the US, there’s Raise.

Also, if you are a gift card giver, check your balance with CapitalOne Shopping or Honey to see if you can just use the rewards to order a few gift cards.

6. Stock up on a few basic gifts when they are on sale.

If you know the holidays involve several events where you should bring a little housewarming gift with you, prepare in advance. Stockpile things like wine, candles, and candy over the course of the year when you see a good deal. If you’re a rewards member at Bath and Body works, it’s easy to save some money on candles. This could be a good time to look at a wine subscription. If it’s easy to cancel after the first order, you might be able to save a nice amount of money on a box of several wines. By planning ahead, it’s easier to save money than needing to grab something in the moment.

7. Make a list. Check it twice. Especially on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday.

There are a few people on my Christmas list that I actually exchange a wish list with and we do one big cousin Secret Santa where we all put our wish list on the app. Armed with this knowledge, I wait for the right day to buy, which is often the weekend after Thanksgiving. Black Friday savings are pretty legit and it’s probably the weekend to get the best deals before the prices skyrocket back to normal until after the holidays.

The idea of a list as a whole is super useful, especially if you have a larger group to buy for.

8. Think locally.

Sometimes there are really inexpensive things you can gift that the recipients will love because they cannot get them where they live. For example, my best friend loves Double Decker candy bars. They cost me like 70 cents, but she can’t really find them in America. So a few of them always make it into her Christmas gift.

9. Buy wrapping and scotch tape in January.

One of the expenses that’s easy to overlook is the cost of wrapping materials. You can find all of these things at the Dollar Tree or Poundland to get through this year, but you can also stock up in January to get massive rolls of really nice quality when the stores try to get rid of their stock in January. The same is true of Christmas cards.

10. Check out discount sites for events and experiences.

I find that with those closest to me, I’d rather make a memory together than buy a thing. For instance, my dad is the one who first started taking me to the theatre, so it’s not uncommon that I try to get us theatre tickets. When I was in high school, we had season tickets to the PaperMill Playhouse, so when I have cash, I do try to splurge on whatever is playing there during the holidays, but if things are tighter, I check TodayTix and if I’m in the UK, Central Tickets (though that’s often more last minute).

Also, if you’re a big arts family, it’s worth checking the local theatre scene too. You may have a local arts centre or a high school or university that’s putting on some great productions likely at a fraction of the cost of large commercial theatres.

And if the arts aren’t your thing, websites like Groupon, Living Social or Wowcher have tons of dining, spas and other activities.

What do you do to save money during the holidays?