Dollars are tight, but there are still children and family to buy for this Christmas. Here are some tricks and tips that Geri and I have used this Holiday season to stretch our buying power this year. Some tips you may already know and love, but hopefully others will inspire you to saving greatness.

We’ve all done it…fess up!  We’ve bought that utterly useless gadget or trinket. Next year’s garage sale fodder, I like to call it.  Last summer when Geri, myself and a couple other close friends spread out all our useless stuff on my driveway for our now annual garage sale, it’s easier to see how much money we’ve wasted on things we really either didn’t need or didn’t use.

Garage sales will net you usually 25% of the original cost of the item. Imagine how much cash you’d have right now if you hadn’t purchased it in the first place? In these economic times, we all need to learn a hard lesson about impulse buying. And think of all the extra money you’d have over your lifetime? I’d be a wealthy woman.