The talk about people getting depressed in January, not always because of the cold weather but because of the credit card bills that are coming in.
Here is something I have learned to avoid the big bills…
Shopping at the second hand, thrift stores or online at Kijiji or Craigslist. Keep reading…
I am a big proponent of this. Not just because it is environmentally friendly but you would be amazed at what you can find, just takes a little digging.
Have you received a gift from someone that you don’t like or the colour is all wrong? What do you do with it? You keep it because it is a gift from someone special and you don’t want to return it. Then it sits in your cupboard for a while and when you do your spring cleaning, guess where it goes, into the “give away” pile. So your brand new gift ends up in the 2nd hand store, where people like me are looking.
You never know what you will find. I have friends who go to the thrift store and says that they can’t find what they were looking for. I always seem to find what I need or what sooner or later. I needed a gift for my daughter. I lucked out and found a craft set in its original packaging that was a fifth of what it was at the store. Saved $16.
A friend of mine shops the second hand store all year looking for treasures. A gift from Santa doesn’t have to be in its original packaging. For Christmas, my daughter wants Rainbow Loom(elastic for making jewelry and trinkets). I found a set with tons of rubber bands in a special craft box for $3. That would have cost me a lot more to buy brand new. The only thing we did to make it look better was to organize the rubber bands into the correct colours. 
I found Adidas Cleats for my son for which would have cost over $30 new, no dirt on them, never been used for $8.
You would be amazed at what you can find.
Realize that you may never find what you want or need there but if you are patient, someone will be getting rid of it eventually. I wanted to make my own yoghurt and needed a double broiler but wasn’t too sure I would continue to make or it would be too much trouble so I didn’t want to buy a new one. It took about a month and about 3 trips to the second hand store and I picked up one for a few dollars. I made yoghurt for a few years so it was worth the few dollars. Imagine if I bought a new one and only tried making yoghurt a few times, I would have been really upset for spending a few tens of dollars on a new pot that sits in my cupboard.
Another thing is if you have a budget, you could get more items on their Christmas list for less money. Have fun with your shopping. Remember most people are just happy to receive gifts no matter what it is, new or not!
