Getting ready for the holidays can be a stressful experience for everyone, including our men and women in uniform and those who have served in the past. Here are some pointers to take some of the guess work out of your holiday shopping, including some veteran-friendly places to shop, some discounts to be on the lookout for, and some general tips on how to stay within a budget and keep stress at a minimum.
Visit Veteran-Friendly Places to Shop
- Make sure that you are taking full advantage of the military discounts that many stores offer year-round; you can find a comprehensive list of stores that offer year-round military discounts here.
- What better place for a veteran to shop than with a veteran-owned business? Here is a list of veteran-owned businesses where you can find some great discounted gifts:
- Bottle Breacher
- Founded by a former Navy SEAL and his wife, this company offers bottle openers and other beverage accessories made from decommissioned ammo.
- You can find discounted products for the holidays on their website.
- Black Rifle Coffee Company
- This veteran-owned company offers high-quality coffee along with other coffee-related products.
- This company’s website offers holiday bundles and specially discounted holiday items for the holiday season.
- Combat Flip Flops
- Founded by three Army Rangers in Kabul, Afghanistan, this company supports growing communities and fair-trade opportunities by selling products sourced and made in conflict areas.
- Check out their sale section for discounted gift ideas.
- Liberty Socks
- Founded by an Army disabled combat veteran, Liberty Socks sells socks sourced and made in the USA.
- Liberty Socks offers a 10% discount to all U.S. active military and veterans.
- Grunt Style
- Founded by an Army veteran and staffed mostly by veterans, this company supports “beer, bacon, and freedom” through selling patriotic apparel and accessories.
- Grunt Style is offering a “12 Days of Christmas Sale” from December 10 – December 21 with new deals on select items each day.
- Knuckle Draggers Union
- This veteran-owned company offers patriotic apparel.
- You can find good deals in the closeout sale section of this store.
- Bottle Breacher
Look for General Holiday Savings & Stores That Offer Military Discounts
- Many stores offer countdown discounts before Christmas, some starting as early as Black Friday. Some companies where you can find these discounts are:
- Apple – Apple offers a 10% military discount when you enroll in their Veterans Advantage Program.
- Amazon – “Twelve days of Christmas”
- Each day there are discount offers in a highlighted department.
- Runs December 2 – December 13
- AT&T – AT&T offers a military discount on wireless, video, and internet services.
- Walmart – “20 Days of Deals”
- New deals every day
- Runs December 1 – December 20
- Samsung – Samsung offers exclusive military discounts on select products including televisions, tablets, phones, appliances and more.
- Sprint – Sprint offers discounted rates through the Sprint Unlimited Military Plan and includes a 50% discount on all additional lines.
- Target –
- Save $25 on purchases of $100 or more-or-
- Save $10 on purchases of toys of $50 or more
- T-Mobile – T-Mobile offers a military discount called the T-Mobile One Military program and includes a 20% discount on the first phone line, half-off each line after that, plus for a limited time, half-off select Samsung phones.
- Best Buy – “20 Days of Doorbuster Deals”
- New deals every day
- Runs December 1 – December 20
- Kohls –
- 20% Discount on purchases over $100
- Runs through December 24
- Lenovo –
- Doorbusters up to December 13
- Wayfair – “Big Holiday Sale”
- Up to 70% off on select items in all departments.
- Sales run until December 26.
- Etsy –
- On Etsy’s Christmas Sale page, you can find marked down items from a broad selection of Etsy stores.
Know Your Christmas Shopping Days
- Black Friday – Probably the best-known holiday shopping sale day, the day after Thanksgiving you can find deals in pretty much any store anywhere, if you’re willing to put up with lines and crowds.
- Cyber Monday – Cyber Monday has become almost as popular as Black Friday, when online stores offer great savings for holiday shopping. What you may not know is that Cyber Monday has been extended to “Cyber Week” in many stores, and this trend is expected to continue to spread in coming years.
- Green Monday – Green Monday occurs on the second Monday of December; this savings day was started by eBay when they noticed an uptick in sales on this day, mostly due to people trying to get their shopping done in time for Christmas deliveries. Since then, other stores have picked up and more continue to jump on the trend
- Free Shipping Day – This idea was launched by a small business owner who wanted to boost sales by offering free shipping in time for Christmas. Occurring on December 14 this year, this idea has been picked up by many major retailers.
- Super Saturday – The Saturday before Christmas is known as the day when shoppers flood the brick-and-mortar stores for last minute Christmas shopping. While it’s not as big of a savings opportunity as Black Friday, most retailers do offer minor discounts from this day up through Christmas to encourage last minute spending.
- After Christmas Sales – While after-Christmas sales are a great opportunity to get things on your wish list that you didn’t get, it’s also a great opportunity to plan for the coming year. If there’s any gifts you missed this time around, after Christmas is a great time to see if you can get it on sale to save it for next year. This is also a good time to shop a year ahead for Christmas decorations, wrapping paper, and other holiday accessories.
Know and Follow Good Saving and Spending Strategies
- Make a budget
- Review your income and expenses and choose a limit for Christmas spending; then divide that further into a budget for each person on your shopping list.
- Don’t be afraid to share budget plans with friends and family; you might be surprised to learn that others are trying to save as well.
- If using a credit card, pay attention to and take advantage of cash back rewards.
- Create a budget for ALL holiday expenses, not just gifts (this includes travel, events, food, parties, etc).
- Start planning early
- Make a gift list.
- Create next years budget based off this years and start saving during the year or start buying early and spread out the gift buying throughout the year.
- Try setting up a separate holiday account and set up an auto-transfer to put money into it.
- Save free giveaway items received throughout the year from other purchases (i.e.promotional beauty or sample food items); they make great small gifts or stocking stuffers.
- Save gift cards throughout the year by using rewards or completing surveys using apps such as Swagbucks, My Points, or Cash Crates.
- Shop smart
- Compare prices.
- Research competing brands and products before buying.
- Use shopping apps.
- Use a shopping deal finder to find deals; some good blogs and deal finders to keep an eye on are Neal’s Deals, Retail Me Not, Dealhunting, and Couponcabin.
- Buy online and look for free shipping.
- Shop for deals on Groupon.
- Don’t forget to try the dollar store for items such as decorations, wrapping materials, and stocking stuffers.
- Ask about price-matching; many stores will lower their price if you can show that it is lower at a competing store.
- Reuse gift bags and boxes from the year before.
- Shop with a friend or spouse; you can take advantage of sales such as BOGO deals by buying together.
- Do some of next year’s Christmas shopping right after Christmas during the after-holiday sales.
- Ask about discounts when you go to stores; you may learn about a discount that is not obviously being advertised.
- Look into downloading a coupon app such as National Retail Federation, Shopular, and Retailmenot.
- Avoid impulse buys; when it comes to bigger purchases, walk away first and give yourself some time to think before you buy.
- Be cautious about Black Friday and other pre-holiday sales days; make sure to stick to your budget and gift list or you could end up buying stuff you don’t really want or need just for the sake of a deal.
- Try just using cash when shopping in person.
- Think of alternatives to normal gifts.
- Try gifting something handmade or custom-made (crafts, baked goods, personalized pictures or art).
- Offer a gift of time or assistance, like babysitting or help around the house, or just time together with a loved one doing something you both enjoy.
- Try a secret Santa with friends and family (this is where each person draws a name and buys a gift for that person).
- Try a group gift (pool money and give a gift jointly).
- Try secondhand shopping.
- Look for free holiday stuff to do with friends and loved ones.
- Try buying experiences rather than material goods.
- Minimize
- Pare down your shopping list; you can still send cards and baked goods to people you want to recognize and give a season greeting but you may not necessarily need a gift for everyone.
- Stick to one or two meaningful gifts per person rather than several smaller things.