Holiday savings sounds like an oxymoron, right?  But the holidays don't have to be a budget-breaking extravaganza.  Today's holiday post is the first in a multi-week series featuring holiday savings tips to celebrate the season without breaking the bank!  Apply them all and save $100s, if not $1,000s, this holiday season.

Tips for Holiday Savings

The first round of holiday savings advice is all about the holiday card!  Holiday cards have the potential to massively blow-up your budget and consume hours of time.  Last year we saved over $500 from our typical holiday spending by following these three tips on our annual holiday card.

Holiday Apparel

I grew up in the South.  Kudos to my mom, and all those southern mamas, for dressing my siblings and me to the nines, in matching holiday apparel every year.  We wore the fancy dresses for a total of maybe 3 hours - 1 hour to sit and look pretty for a family picture at some point, and another 2 on Christmas Eve when we went to mass.  We immediately removed them when we got home to 'be more comfortable' and not ruin them, though they were never to be worn again.  Those fancy frocks probably ran $50-100 each, plus shoes, stockings and hair bows, multiplied by 3 kids.  You do the math.

Burt's Bees Baby's Kids Holiday Collection offers a smart, affordable alternative.  Adorable, all-organic cotton apparel in coordinating color palettes across genders and ages (newborn to 7 years), it makes for awesome holiday photos.  Better yet?  It's super soft, comfortable, washable, and your kids can wear it all season long and even after Christmas is over because it doesn't scream 'Christmas dress.' 

Family Photos

In the past, especially when we have a new baby, we hired a professional photographer to do a newborn shoot and family photos.  Having just moved AND had a new baby, we were a bit tapped out at the moment, and the $300-400 for a photoshoot just wasn't in the budget.  Hubby encouraged me to take pictures of the kids.

A year of serious blogging, playing with my Canon Rebel DSLR nearly every day, and following lots of great tips from my favorite photography blogger, Click It Up a Notch have all done wonders for my photo skills.  I am still no professional, but I think these certainly pass as Holiday card worthy! And note - you don't have to put up your tree in October to get the perfect holiday card shot.  We just pulled out a few Christmas decor items, namely a tree skirt and felt holiday banner, to set the stage for our mini-photo shoot.

P.S. Last year, we used photos we took with an iPhone in the snow on Thanksgiving, so you don't need the year's experience with a DSLR either.

Send Ecards

Okay, so I know my Great Grandmother and Emily Post may be rolling over in their graves with this one, but hear me out.  I have a big extended family.  Huge would be a better descriptor.  My Mom is one of eight kids, and there are 17 first cousins on her side alone.  Then add my Dad's family, husband's family, our friends, current and former colleagues, the list was easily over 200 people, and that was with annual paring down.  Our annual holiday card mailing, between printing cards and stamps, cost well over $300, minimum.

Add to that the fact that our generation now moves physical addresses regularly, while most have had the same personal email address since at least college, and eCards just make logistical sense as well.  Last year, I made the switch.  I used Paperless Post and chose a non-free option, but it still only cost me about $20 to send them to everyone on the list.  As a bonus, I got so many replies from friends and family I otherwise don't regularly hear from, and wouldn't have with a paper card.

My one lingering hesitation was I like to keep a card every year (as do the Grandmas), and they solve that too.  You can order paper copies of your eCard as well!

So now that I've saved you a few $100s on apparel, another $300-400 for a photographer, and several $100s on cards and stamps, ready to do a little shopping?  You can shop the Ms' outfits below, or check out the full Burt's Bees Baby Kids Holiday Collection here.

Big M's Look (Size 5)

Lil' M's Look (Size 3)

Baby J's Look (3-6 months)

Looking for more ways to find holiday savings? Check out these 6 Gift Giving Ideas that Cost You Less!  Find both of these and more on my Christmas on a Budget board on Pinterest.

Related Post: 6 Gift Giving Ideas that Cost You Less!