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Learn the best money-saving tips for Christmas shopping online this holiday season!
And if you need some quick and easy ways to make extra money for the holidays, get paid to take surveys with Survey Junkie and Swagbucks!
Planning to do most or all of your Christmas shopping online this year?
If you said yes, you’re not alone.
According to a CreditCards.com survey, 71% of Americans said they plan to do most of their holiday shopping online, up from 51% last year.
And why not?
After all, doing your Christmas shopping online is convenient.
It can save you time and energy since you’re not having to trek around to different stores. And it’s also shopper-friendly if you’re concerned about health and safety.
Not to mention, you could save some serious money by doing your Christmas shopping online!
And with so many people struggling with how to afford Christmas this year, that’s a huge plus.
So, if you’re looking for some ideas on ways to save money for the holidays, you’re in the right place.
This post breaks down the best tips for saving time and saving money Christmas shopping online.
Read this post for more frugal Christmas tips:
15 Effortless Ways to Plan a Fun and Frugal Christmas on a Budget
Post Contents
Christmas Shopping Online: 12 Tips for Saving Money (and Time!)
If you’re trying to get your holiday shopping list done on a tight budget, these tips can definitely help with that.
You can try one of these tips or all of them. But the more you try, the more time and money you could save!
1. Make a detailed holiday spending budget
If you haven’t planned out your holiday spending budget yet there’s no time to waste.
First, make a list of everything you plan to spend money on during the holidays, including:
- Gifts
- Gift wrap and tape
- Cards and postage
- Decorations
- Food
Then, assign a dollar amount to each item on the list.
This step is one you can’t skip if you want to save money on holiday shopping. And it’s also super helpful for tackling the next step.
2. Decide where to do your Christmas shopping online
Gifts might make up the biggest chunk of your holiday spending budget. So if you want to save money on Christmas, then you need to be strategic about where you shop.
Once you’ve got your list of everything you need or want to buy for the holidays, make a second list of the stores where you plan to shop online.
For example, your list might include:
- Amazon
- Target
- Walmart
- Kohl’s
- Old Navy
- Macy’s
- Lowe’s
- Best Buy
You get the idea. The goal is to know exactly which stores you want to hit for online Christmas shopping.
This can help you save time so you’re not clicking around looking for deals.
And since you’re targeting your list of stores, you can more easily compare prices to find the best deals at the retailers you want to shop.
3. Check out each store’s online holiday sales flyers
Black Friday is officially the kickoff to the holiday shopping season.
With Walmart and other stores taking Black Friday events online and offering curbside pickup, it pays to get a sneak peek at what’s going to be on sale.
If you’ve got your list of sites you want to shop bookmarked, the next step is tracking down their Black Friday ads.
You can do this by visiting each site but that can take time.
Using a site like BlackFriday.com to track deals is so much easier and you can see Black Friday promotions in one place.
Also, keep in in mind that some stores might not wait until Black Friday to launch sales. Walmart, for example, is getting a head start on Black Friday this year with sales beginning the first week of November.
4. Sign up for a free trial of Amazon Prime if you’re not a Prime member
Amazon Prime Day is a great way to score extra savings if you’re trying to get a jump on Christmas shopping online.
But if you missed this year’s Prime Day promotions, don’t sweat it. There are still plenty of Amazon deals to be had.
I probably do 75% of my Christmas shopping online at Amazon because the prices are great and free two-day shipping is a money-saver.
For this year, I recommend getting a head start with online Christmas shopping at Amazon, since some things are taking longer to ship.
And if you’re not a Prime member, it’s definitely worth signing up for a free trial membership even if it’s just for the holidays.
⇒Sign up for a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime now!
⇒Or, give the gift of an Amazon Prime membership!
5. Install the Honey browser extension
Downloading the Honey browser extension is a super simple way to save money when Christmas shopping online.
Here’s how it works.
- You download the Honey browser extension
- Create your free Honey account
- Shop online like you normally would
- At checkout, Honey will scan the web for coupons, promo codes and discounts you can apply to your purchase
- Apply eligible discounts and save money
It’s really that easy!
You don’t have to do anything, other than downloading the extension and create your free account. Honey works to find promo codes at over 40,000 stores so you’re almost guaranteed to find deals on shopping.
Here’s something else that’s great about Honey: when you shop Amazon, Honey automatically looks for the lowest price on whatever it is you’re searching for.
So if you’re looking for the best gifts for busy moms, for example, Honey helps you find the best deals on Amazon.
And there’s one more thing that makes Honey awesome.
When you shop at 5,000+ partner stores, you earn Honey Gold. You can turn every 1,000 in Honey Gold you earn into a $10 gift card to your favorite stores.
If you don’t have Honey installed yet, head here to download the browser extension so you’re ready for the Black Friday sales!
6. Create an online Christmas shopping game plan
Successfully saving money on Christmas means having a foolproof plan for shopping online.
Whether you’re shopping Black Friday sales, Cyber Monday deals or any other times during the holiday season, these tips can help you score savings:
- Start scoping out deal sites like Slickdeals or BlackFriday.com early, since they usually have the advance notice on when Black Friday sales flyers are released
- Check sales flyers online to compare prices for popular items
- Match the sales flyers for individual stores to your holiday shopping list you made earlier
- Make a note of what time deals go on sale and whether they’re online-only or in-store
- Break down the cost of bundled items, like video game consoles and games, to make sure it’s a better deal than buying them separately
- Pay close attention to model numbers for bigger ticket items, like TVs
You can also join your favorite stores’ email lists to get advance notice for upcoming holiday deals. Even better, you could also snag exclusive coupons to save money on purchases.
Just keep in mind that you should compare prices first to make sure a deal is actually a deal.
7. Consider whether you want to use a credit card to shop
Using credit cards to shop Black Friday sales or any other time during the holidays can be tricky. You don’t want to overspend or end up with debt you have to pay down after the holidays.
I do use credit cards to shop during the holidays but I always pay the balance in full in January. My favorite card for holiday shopping is the Target Redcard.
Here’s why this card is so great if you’re planning to hit up the Target Black Friday deals:
- You get 5% back automatically when you make a purchase online or in-store.
- Cardmembers get free standard shipping on most items and free two-day shipping on eligible items.
- There’s no annual membership fee.
- Members get access to exclusive shopping offers.
I also love those special deals where you purchase an item with your REDcard and get a free $5 or $10 Target gift card. That’s money you can use for your next purchase or treat yourself to a little something for the holidays.
And even if you don’t have a Target REDcard, you can still score free shipping on orders of $35 or more!
8. Use cashback apps to save money Christmas shopping online
Cashback apps are a must-have if you’re doing all your Christmas shopping online this year.
These apps let you create a free account and link your debit or credit cards.
You shop online and when you make a purchase at a partner merchant, you earn cash for your purchases. Total win-win!
What’s even better is that you can match up cashback rewards apps with a rewards credit card to double up on benefits.
So if you’re using the Target REDcard, for example, you could get the 5% back you earn with your card. Then, you could get more cash back or points for gift cards using a rewards app.
If you need some suggestions, here are my favorite money-saving apps for shopping:
Rakuten
With Rakuten, you can earn up to 40% cashback with selected merchants.
Right now, the site is offering Black Friday sneak peeks for selected retailers so you can get an advance look at what’s on sale.
Rakuten is free to sign up for and use. All the big-name retailers are featured here, including Target, Walmart, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Amazon and Best Buy.
⇒Join Rakuten now and get $10 back when you make your first $25 purchase!
Ibotta
Ibotta is another great cashback app for the holidays if you plan to shop online.
This one’s good for saving money on gift shopping but you can also use it to scoop up savings on groceries and travel all year-long.
Some of the retailers you’ll find on Ibotta include J. Crew, The Home Depot, Target, Walmart and Kohls. You can earn cash online or in-store and withdraw it to a PayPal or Venmo account, or redeem it for gift cards.
⇒Snag the Ibotta app now and get up to $20 in bonuses!
Dosh
I love, love, love the Dosh app for earning cash back on shopping and dining.
This app is great for saving money on the holidays if you’re shopping online or in-stores. And you can also use the Dosh app to earn cash back on dining.
Dosh is free to download and super easy to use.
All you have to do is link up your debit and credit cards. You make purchases and Dosh applies cashback to your account automatically.
⇒Download the Dosh app to start earning cashback now!
9. Take advantage of free shipping promotions
This tip is really a no-brainer for saving money if you’re doing most or all of your Christmas shopping online.
Paying extra money just to have your items ship isn’t holiday budget-friendly. So it only makes sense to shop retailers that offer free shipping.
Amazon Prime is great for this. But if you’re shopping other retailers, read the fine print.
For example, some stores impose a minimum purchase amount you have to spend before free shipping kicks in.
That’s fine if you were already planning to spend that amount. But if you’d need to go over your holiday budget to get free shipping, it’s not so great a deal.
Here’s another tip: mark free shipping day on your calendar.
Free Shipping Day is December 14 this year and it’s the best day for doing holiday shopping online if you want free shipping deals.
You can find a list of participating retailers here.
10. Or save money by choosing curbside pickup
If you can’t find a free shipping promotion, you could still save money by doing your Christmas shopping online and picking up your items at the store.
Walmart, for example, charges you nothing to ship your items to the store. And with curbside pickup, you don’t even have to go inside.
This is an easy way to get what you need for the holidays and save money, without having to fight shopping crowds.
11. Get free gift cards to pay for holiday shopping
Do you know what’s better than saving money on holiday shopping?
Not having to spend your money at all!
That’s where earning free gift cards comes in handy. But how do you do that?
It’s really simple, actually. There are a ton of sites that let you earn gift cards for doing things like:
- Taking surveys
- Watching videos
- Sharing your opinions
- Playing games
- Shopping online
Need some ideas for the best survey sites and apps to earn gift cards for the holidays? Here are my top picks.
MyPoints
MyPoints seems to be the rewards site that almost no one has heard of but they’ve been around for quite a while.
When you sign up with MyPoints (it’s free) you can earn points for shopping online or doing simple tasks, like taking surveys or watching videos.
You can then turn those points into free gift cards to your favorite retailers.
And if you need to buy gift cards to Old Navy, Macy’s, Chili’s or another MyPoints partner, you can earn cashback on those purchases when you buy them through MyGiftCards Plus.
You can get up to 30% cashback on gift cards from partner brands.
⇒Sign up for MyPoints now and get a free $10 Amazon gift card when you make your first purchase!
Drop
The Drop app is another great way to earn gift cards to top retailers with little effort.
With the Drop app, you link up your debit card and credit cards.
As you shop, dine out or book travel, you earn points. You can then turn those points into gift cards to major brands like Amazon, Netflix or Starbucks.
The Drop app lets you earn gift cards to the places you spend money the most and it’s totally free!
⇒Download the Drop app to start earning points!
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is another of my favorite apps for earning gift cards.
With Swagbucks, you can earn points for gift cards by taking surveys, watching videos, shopping online or just surfing the web.
You can turn your points into gift cards for Amazon, Walmart or even cash through PayPal.
⇒Sign up for Swagbucks now to grab a $5 bonus!
12. Don’t assume you’re always getting the best price
I can’t stress enough that when it comes to saving money at Christmas, it pays to do your homework.
Take time to compare prices for all the stores on your shopping list. Then compare prices for online and in-store deals to see if there’s any difference.
If you think something you plan to buy over the holidays might drop in price after the first wave of sales is over, there are a few things you can do.
First, you can just wait it out to see whether your hunch about the price ends up being right. If the price goes down, you can scoop it up for some savings.
(One useful thing you can do with Honey is to add Amazon items to a droplist. Honey will monitor those items and send you an alert if the price drops to a range you specify.)
The catch with that option is that you’re taking a chance that the item won’t end up being out of stock. In that case, you could buy the item anyway, then return it later and repurchase it at the lower price.
This can be tricky, however, since a lot of stores change up their return policy during the holidays.
For example, instead of being able to return an item for cash, you might only get store credit back. So check the store’s return policy first before you go that route.
A third option is to download a price matching app or use your credit card’s price protection feature if you’re shopping with a card.
A lot of cards have done away with this feature so an app like Paribus might be your best bet for saving extra money on holiday shopping.
Do you have any money-saving tips for Christmas shopping online?
This year’s holiday season might be a frugal one for you and your family if you’re living on a tight budget right now.
So that makes it more important than ever to make every penny count!
These tips can make doing your Christmas shopping online less stressful so you can save time and money, too.
Do you have an awesome tip for saving money on Black Friday or other holiday sales? Head to the comments and tell me about it!
And please show this post some love by sharing it!
Read these posts next for more money-saving ideas:
50 Fun and Frugal Family Holiday Traditions to Start This Year
121 Cheap and Easy Holiday Recipes for a Tight Budget
27 Easy Side Hustles You Can Do to Earn Extra Cash for the Holidays
DeShena@extravagantlybroke. says
So much great advice! That ‘honey’ sounds cool. I’ll have to check them out!
Rebecca says
Thanks! I’m surprised at how few people have heard of Honey–it’s so great for saving money, especially if you plan to shop Amazon for the holidays!
Nilakshi says
Great post on holiday shopping plans! Love the idea of using those cash apps. And I have never heard about honey browser extension before. Have to Check it out. Thanks for sharing these with us.
Rebecca says
Honey is great, it’s so easy to use and save money! Give it a try for the holiday shopping season this year and let me know how it works for you!
Patricia Turk says
Thanks for the tips! It’s always helpful to write out a list of everyone you need to purchase for and then set a price limit on them that your budget can accommodate for. I’ll look into Rakuten!
Rebecca says
You’re so welcome! Having a list makes holiday shopping so much easier. Definitely give Rakuten a try, it’s practically a painless way to get back some of what you spend at the holidays and all year long!
Crystal Statskey says
This is such valuable information. Love it and can’t wait to go shopping! 🙂
Rebecca says
Awesome, thank you so much! Good luck with your holiday shopping!
Ha nee says
These are some great tips! Right on time 🙂 Love em!
Rebecca says
Thanks!
Nadia Malik says
I have found out that online deals are getting better every year. The only thing with that if there is a problem with the product, returning it is a hassle. I love Paribus as it can do damage control for me after I have made the purchases :). All great tips.
Rebecca says
Yes, that’s so true! I’ve found myself not returning things I purchased online simply because I don’t want to have to deal with the hassle of trying to send them back. Paribus makes things so much easier for saving money on holiday shopping and always getting the best price!
Shantel Chambers says
This is a very detailed and thought out post. I love every tip. I can’t believe the holidays are almost here again! I’ll keep this in mind while I shop. Especially with #7! Thanks!
Rebecca says
Thanks, Shantel! The holidays snuck up on me this year a little but I’m ready for the shopping (and hopefully, money-saving) to begin!
Krissy says
These are all wonderful tips! I always find the best deals of the year during Black Friday and have a savings fund all year for it! Amazon Prime is awesome for Black Friday shopping! Thanks for sharing!
Rebecca says
Thanks, Krissy! Glad you found these holiday shopping tips helpful! Amazon is the best for shopping any time, in my opinion, but it’s especially great for Black Friday. 🙂
John says
Always great tips! I gotta say I still love my ibotta app. I’m looking at that honey extension too. I’ve seen it everywhere lately
Rebecca says
Thanks, John! You should give Honey a try, especially if you’re planning to use Amazon for Black Friday shopping. The droplist feature is great for tracking price changes.
Ilaria says
Thank you for sharing these tips! They’re really useful 😍 I’ll try to keep them in mind, maybe I’ll avoid some crazy spending this year 😂
Thank you so much 😊
Rebecca says
You’re welcome! I hope you can use these holiday shopping tips to save some money, though I totally get how easy it is to spend, spend, spend!
The Financial Freewill says
Great Tips! Love the detailed planning and Amazon Prime options. Research supported by your plan can save you lots of time and frustration and help you save money!
Rebecca says
Absolutely! Planning ahead can make holiday shopping so much easier!
Ashley says
This is such a such a wonderful list. I love ibotta and about every year I save I save 200+
Rebecca says
Thanks, Ashley! There are so many holiday shopping tips you can try so I wanted to focus on the ones I use personally!
Britt says
When I first discovered the Honey extension, I couldn’t believe that I had never seen it before! There are great savings just waiting with the click of a button, so why not???
Rebecca says
I agree! Honey is a great way to save money without having to lift a finger!
womens clothing australia says
A lot of online stores have the option to send your purchase as a gift to someone. In most cases they even gift wrap it for you and packing is all done for you.
Rebecca says
Yes, this is a great tip! Thanks for the reminder, Amazon does this.
Org with Morg says
Thanks for sharing! I absolutely LOVE Honey and Rakuten as well…it’s awesome that you can just install the extensions on your browser and they do the rest of the work 😊
Rebecca says
Honey and Rakuten are great, right? I love financial apps that make saving money on holiday shopping or anything else easier!
jasmin says
Very helpful post, especially the budgetting portion of it. As I’ve gotten older, one thing that I do not look foward to is spending too much money on gifts. 😂😂😂
Rebecca says
Thanks, Jasmin! I agree that spending too much money on gifts takes some of the joy out of the holidays. I like to focus more on experiences than things as I get older.
Janja says
I think the most important tip is to make a list and not just shop around because there are discounts. If you start thinking about things you need few weeks before and start writing it down it will make a lot easier to only buy things you really need and save money. Wonderful post!
Rebecca says
That’s a great tip! It’s so tempting to spend money for the sake of spending just because something is on sale. I am behind on making my shopping list this year, that’s something I need to tackle so I can make sure I don’t overspend at the last minute.
Sharon Green says
Great post! I love all your tips! I’ve used most of them for a couple of years now and will never be without my Amazon Prime!
Rebecca says
Thanks, Sharon! I love Amazon Prime too and I’m always surprised to meet people who don’t use it–it’s so helpful for saving money!
POOVANESH PATHER says
Such great tips. Good suggestion to plan your spending. That’s one simple way of sticking to your budget.
Rebecca says
Thanks, Poovanesh! Planning your spending can be very helpful for staying on track with your holiday budget.
Karissa says
These are great tips! I’m super excited to try the Honey shopping extension . And I love the Black Friday tips – I recently learned often times Black Friday sales aren’t as good as they seem to be so I’ll be paying close attention to them this year!
Sophie Turner says
It’s actually a great and useful piece of info. I am satisfied
that you simply shared this useful information with us.
Wayes says
Hi Rebecca, Thanks for some awesome tips. Nowadays, people often search online for the best product review before purchase. I think this is very important.
Here you have detailed some good tips. It will definitely help peoples.