3 Ways to Find Extra Money For Your Christmas Shopping

With Christmas only a few weeks away. you have probably set a budget, created a gift list, worked on your holiday calendar and looked at some ways to save for the season. If you haven’t , well there is no time like the present to take care of those things. We are going to go a step further. Are you at home? If you answered yes, perfect. If you are not at home get a mental picture in your head of home. Ok, great let’s start, Take a look around, scan the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, living room, closets and garage or the section of the house you use for storage..

Alright, so why did I have you do that? I read a Nielsen survey which found that the average household has 52 unused items originally worth $3,100.

We are going to take inventory and put all those things to good use. We are going to divide our items in to 3 categories: Gifts, Sale, Donate.

Gifts- Remember the gift list you started, this is one of the reasons we have one. How many times have you went shopping, bought something that you just had to have only to come home and never take the tag off of it or remove it from the box. The other side of that is how many times have you received something that you have no use for? Yes we are talking about Re-gifting. I am not going to go into the pros and cons of re-gifting but I will say this, if it is clean, new and I can’t put it to use. I normally re-gift it. I feel that it would be a better fit for someone else rather than just sitting in a closet somewhere.

For instance, my Significant Other gave me a Gift Card to a store I do not shop at for our first Valentine’s Day together. I went to the store a few times to see if I could find something I liked or needed. I never did. Seven months later, I gave it to my mom as one of her birthday gifts. She loved it and he didn’t mind. I know not everyone agrees with this. I also make these decisions on a case by case basis. Some items I have purely for sentimental reasons. Use your best judgment.

Sell- In the next section we will talk about earning money for you to use during the Holiday season. One of the ways will we will do that, is to sell some of the stuff you do not use or as Adam Baker of Man vs. Debt says Sell your Crap. Chances are you have items in and around your house right now that could easily bring in at least $100. These items include clothes, books, CDs, DVDs, toys, games, electronics, exercise equipment, antiques and so on.

Donate- This is the perfect time to donate your items. Thrift stores, Food Pantries, etc can put your items to good use. It is also close to the end of the year so your donations will most like be tax deductible.

Spend some time going through all the places we named earlier. As you are doing this, be mindful of what items you can put into each category. Create a gift closet for the items that can be used as gifts for Christmas, Christmas Parties or for Hostesses. Create an area for items that aren’t suitable for gifts but can be sold. Finally create an area for the items that you can donate.

Let’s talk about selling your items.

I mentioned Adam Baker of Man vs Debt earlier. He created this phenomenal book with tips and guides for you to get the most out of selling your stuff. So, I won’t go into tons of details because really he is the authority figure on this. Even if you do not have any intention of doing this to help you have a debt free holiday season. His tips will come in handy anytime of the year when you are looking to de-clutter and earn extra money.

You have a few options when it comes to selling your stuff. There is Amazon, Craigslist, Ebay, Yard sales and Consignment shops. It may be getting too cold to hold a garage sale. You can still utilize the other options.

Just be sure to take a variety of good pictures, write a descriptive eye-catching title and a good ad… and read Adam Baker’s Sell Your Crap!

Another option is also Consignment Shops. If you have certain items like antiques or perhaps even craft-type products you’ve created, you may be able to sell them on consignment through antique stores and tourist destinations in your city. Consignment Shops are no longer just limited to the items we talked about; they are also really great for clothes.

National Association of Resale Professionals has a great directory here to find these types of stores. Certain stores may take a larger commission, but they may also move your merchandise faster. As such, don’t limit yourself to selling items in just one store.

This is one section of the Stress Free Debt Free Holiday Guide, For more tips, Download your Complimentary Copy Today Below

Andrea

Andrea is the Chief Chick of Smart Money Chicks. After filing BK twice (once because she panicked, second time because the pro messed the first time up), she realized that it all could have been avoided if she understood more about how her Finances worked and the options available. At that point, she wanted to help as many as she could never make the same mistakes again. Our Promise is that all the content you read on here is created or edited by Andrea