With the holidays soon approaching, this means the season of shopping and spending money is approaching as well. Some people have so many people in their lives to give gifts. To that it starts to get hard to manage bank accounts. Being able to have an efficient way of keeping track of money as well as being able to find alternatives to getting everyone gifts is the best thing to figure out before we hit the holiday shopping.

Black Friday

Everyone knows the day of major discounted items, known as Black Friday. Black Friday is always Friday after thanksgiving. Black Friday became a thing in 1869, however in this day of age Black Friday has a sale all week instead of just on Friday. Following Black Friday is cyber Monday. Which is  online discounts for the people who couldn’t make it in store however the discounts online are typically not as good as you would get them in store.

These two days are very good for the people who have to get their loved one something expensive for Christmas. But don’t have that much money to spend on them. Instead of buying things full priced closer to Christmas. It gives you time to wrap the presents as well as getting them cheaper then you would normally. The only con to buying gifts on Black Friday means crushing your kid to giving you their Christmas list earlier then expected.

Alternative to buying items

If someone just doesn’t have the money to spend on everyone for Christmas, it is okay because there are alternatives to buying every single person a gift.  Instead of buying gifts, there could be homemade gifts made instead.

Another alternative to buying items for all of the friends is hosting a secret Santa. Hosting a secret Santa can help save money by not having to buy every single friend a gift.

It’s also a fun way to enjoy the holiday with others instead of being so focused on the money being spent on gifts. You can spend the day enjoying being with the loved ones you have around you. Making the holiday gifting easier and more inclusive for the whole group. It fosters connection through thoughtful, tailored gifts (especially with wish lists) and provides a fun, festive tradition.

Christmas 2025 spending rates

This 2025 Christmas season, the spending rate is expected to be $1 trillion.

(Source U.S. census, Non seasonally adjusted retail sales)

Sales from November to December is thought to be grown between 3.7% and 4.2% over last year.