I love December for a litany of reasons but my favorite part is all the deals that pop up throughout the month. During the year, I’m pretty good about not buying stuff I don’t need, but come December, it seems like I’m buying something every other day. Sometimes I don’t even know who I’m going to give the gift to but I still buy it. I usually won’t spend more than $20 per gift, but you’d be amazed at the deals you can get for less than $20(I bought Monopoly the other day with free shipping and no tax for $5!)
In addition to the family time and work slow down, December also brings a slew of great gift card deals(you won’t want to sell these cards, trust me). There are tons of great deals out there but I generally only buy gift cards for the restaurants/businesses I already shop at and as long as I know I’m going to spend the money within 6 months or so it’s generally a good idea. Here are some of my favorite deals this holiday season:
Chipotle: Buy a $30 gift card and bring in your receipt before 1/31/13 and get a free burrito(Don’t forget to get double meat and guac to make it a free $10 burrito). I’ve purchased one gift card so far, but I’ll probably buy another one before the end of the year.
Target: Spend $50 and get a $10 gift card. Act fast though because the deal ends Saturday 12/8/12.
CPK: Buy a $100 gift card and get a $20 card free. Alternatively, if you have a Costco membership, they sell $100 CPK gift cards for only $80.
PF Changs/Pei Wei: Receive a $20 gift card for free when you buy $100 in gift cards. I’m not a huge fan of PF Changs but I do like Pei Wei since it’s literally the exact same food but half the price.
There are literally hundreds of similar deals around this time so keep an eye out and let me know if I missed any good ones. Alternatively, you can check out this list of all Holiday gift card deals.
Here are some of my favorite blog posts from around the web the past couple of weeks:
Beginning of December 2012 Exclusive Cash Giveaway and Favorite Posts on Modest Money
Why Rebalancing Your Portfolio is Like Buying a Carton of Eggs on Frugal Rules
Calling All Personal Finance Bloggers on Debt Round Up
What To Include In Your Net Worth? on Planting Our Pennies
16 Christmas Gifts for $10.00 or Less on Budget Blonde
The Power of Cash Flow on Leigh’s Financial Journey
Massive Cash Back – Blue Cash Everyday® and Preferred® by American Express on Money Life and More
5 Home Buying Tips That Matter on One Smart Dollar
Fiscal Update – Nov 2012 – GDP Slow Down on Freedom Thirty Five Blog
Safe in The Cloud on The Savvy Scot
What to Get Your Husband for Christmas – Ideas for Every Budget on Work Save Live
That’s it, enjoy.
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Personal Capital lets you see all of your accounts in one convenient place. Sign up now for free.-Harry @ PF Pro
Thanks for including us, Harry!
Don’t know if they still do, but Costco used to have a lot of those gift card deals for some nice places. I know we’ve gotten them for Roy’s for work events to save the company 20% on the bill!
No problem. Yea that’s true. The national deals are for 20% off CPK and Jamba Juice I think. But regionally, they have a lot of deals for places like Roy’s and even local groups of restaurants. Not everyone has a Costco membership though 🙁
Thanks for the mention! Glad you liked my comparison 🙂
No problem. You know how I love AMEX. I have 5 cards and with all the sign up bonuses, sync deals and small business saturday I’ve probably gotten a few thousand bucks free from them over the past year and a half.
Thanks for the mention Harry, it is much appreciated. I hope you will provide a great financial tip and be a part of the tip carnival.
No problem, and it’s on my to do list!
Thanks for the mention Harry! We like to take advantage of some of the gift card deals as well.
Awesome. I haven’t seen as many great deals this year but the Chipotle one definitely stood out. Ah I just remembered there is a Target Buy 50, get 10 deal that I’ll have to add.
There’s usually a lot of great local deals too though. I actually just picked up a $20 gift card for $10 at Rubicon Deli(one of my favorite sandwich spots in SD).
Monopoly is actually a really good gift idea. Teaches people about managing money and real estate lol. I wish more US companies would operate their businesses in Canada as well. At least Target said they’re expanding their stores to here next year :0) Thanks for the mention 😀
Yea good point 🙂 Nice, Target is a good store, my gf loves it.