Christmas on a TIGHT Budget

Some of you have asked...so...
Here it is: my guide to financing Christmas (and a wedding, and birthdays) on a very tight budget. 
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First of all, Christmas. This one is easy, since we know it's coming every year. I literally always have a list going, and anytime any of my kids mentions something they'd like to have, it goes on the list. It doesn't matter how big or how small; it's on the list. It also goes on my Amazon Prime wish list (if it can be purchased on Amazon). I start making my Christmas list for the following year as soon as I'm finished purchasing for the current year. I currently have 14 items on my list for my kids for 2018. 
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The same principal was applied to the wedding, and is applied to birthdays (for Michael). Sean and Susan typically will get money for their birthdays, but Michael wants gifts to open, so he gets items off his wish list. 
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My confession: I love to spoil my kids at Christmas. Birthdays have a much smaller budget, but Christmas is beyond extravagant. It's not even really a budgeted item. 
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This year, I estimate that I purchased approximately $1000 in gifts for my 3 kids. Nine days prior to Christmas, we also financed a good portion of Sean and Susan's wedding (about another $1000). How? Well - it's simple. I don't really pay for things...at least not in a typical way. 
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Here's what I mean: 
Of the $1000 for Christmas, I actually spent about $250 in cash; same for the wedding. Out of $2000, I only had to come up with $500. That's still a lot of money, but not as much as I would have spent, and I got a lot out of it. Again, how? 
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Apps. That's right, I earn extra money through apps. The ones I currently use are: 
Ibotta
Fetch Rewards
Receipt Hog
Walmart Savings Catcher
Rally (benefits through work)
Swagbucks
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The first 4 are apps where I scan my receipts and get points that I can then cash in for Amazon gift cards or PayPal cash. Rally is one that I get just Amazon gift cards with. And Swagbucks is both, but I don't generally use the app; I use the search engine and occasionally take surveys and earn points on the laptop. 
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Honestly, you can't just play at any of these and expect them to pay off. I work them all like they're my second job. But they ARE like my second job, because when I combined them all, I earned over $1500 in gift cards/PayPal cash this year. And that put a lot of smiles on the faces of my kids. 
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A few things to note: 
1. I still shop for bargains. I don't ever just buy something on Amazon. The reason I put things on my wish list is because, if you leave an item on your wish list long enough, the price will come down. Often significantly. This year I was able to get multiple Legos for Michael for 2/3 of the original price; I just had to be patient. 
2. I shop throughout the year. I have actually already purchased a gift for Christmas 2018. I will buy early, but only if I know I won't have to return the item. It's not a good deal if I can't return it if necessary. 
3. I try to make sure that I know how much I'm spending versus how much "app income" I will have. That way, I'm always sure to be close to my buffer amount. 
Which leads me to...
4. Christmas IS coming. Always. So I set aside a little cash every month so I'll have that $250 buffer. The buffer prevents me from having to mess up our normal budget to cover one day of extravagance.
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This year I had to really work the apps, since we had the wedding too. My expenses: shoes, shirt, belt, pants for Michael; vest rental for Michael; dress and shoes for me; dress, veil, hair clip, garter for Susan (side note: I love having a daughter!); shirt and tie for Sean; various decor items; wedding cake; wedding photographer; dinner and hotel (1 night) for newlyweds. Spoiler alert: I got her dress on Amazon...but other than that, everything was a cash transaction, so I had to earn app income and transfer to PayPal so I'd be able to make the local purchases and pay the vendors. Additionally, we borrowed what we could (a good amount of decor; a jacket for Adam; shoes for Sean) and I have wonderful friends, so our wedding coordinators donated their services. Total estimated spent out of pocket? $250. 
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Sean and Susan were engaged in August, which gave me a little time to save some extra money for wedding expenses, but not the full amount. However, we had some money in savings that we felt could be used here, so we "borrowed" about $150 from savings to make up the difference. 
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Well! There it is! That's how I make the big things happen. Going a little crazy for Christmas makes me happy. I've been financing Christmas through "app income" for about 5-6 years now, and I can honestly say it's one of the smartest things I've ever done. This year, I'm adding more apps, with the intent of investing some of the "free" money. Stay tuned!