Everyday Cheapskate: Readers Share Creative Post-Holidays Tips and Tricks

I have so enjoyed the unique holiday tips and tricks you, my dear readers, have sent my way during the holidays. Over and again I find myself saying, "Wow! Why didn't I think that?"

A few weeks before Christmas, I was boiling mad at myself when I opened boxes marked "Christmas" to find supplies of cards, tags and gift wrap purchased on sale, then promptly forgotten. By then, I'd repurchased so many of the things I had already. You can be sure I've already noted where my bargain-priced holiday paper goods are on Oct. 31 of my 2025 calendar, along with a printed copy of this column! You'll understand as you read on.

MAKE MEMORIES

Once Christmas is over for another year, I scrapbook all the photos and handmade cards we receive. It's great to look back over the years at all our friends and relatives as they grow. So much creativity goes into some of these cards. The scrapbook is with all my other photo albums, so I don't have to wait until the Christmas decorations come out of storage to see them. -- Vicky

CANNED BOWS

I use the large Christmas popcorn tins (cleaned and dried) to store my Christmas bows. I use one for red, another for green and the other two for gold and mixed colors. I can stack them in storage and my bows stay new-looking all year. I reuse these bows for several years. -- Gwen

TREE SKIRT

I purchased a round Christmas tablecloth at the local thrift store for 75 cents. I laundered it and have been using it for the past three years as a tree skirt. It is large enough that I just fold it in half and wrap it around the tree holder, meeting in the back. It is reusable, beautiful and easy to clean. -- Darlene

GIFT OF PHOTOGRAPHY

We have wanted family portraits for a long time now, so last summer we told our family members that we were going to make an appointment for a family photo session. The photographer took photos of individuals, small family groups and our large family. We told everyone we would pay for the session, and we called it a Christmas gift but said it was something that we wanted for ourselves. Everyone loved the idea. They were able to purchase any pictures they wanted from the studio. When Christmas rolled around, I still had the urge to give gifts, so I simply bought everyone a picture frame. -- Melissa

FILED UNDER HALLOWEEN

Like many people, I buy my Christmas cards and other paper goods after the holidays when they are on sale. Instead of storing them with my Christmas decorations, I put them with my Halloween decorations. When I open the bin in mid-October, I have at least eight weeks to write a well-considered greeting to each recipient and still get them mailed on time. -- Rosemary

GREEN BAG FILLER

It was Christmas Eve and I was frantic to finish wrapping gifts. I used a lot of gift bags but had run out of tissue. Then I remembered all the Kohl's and JCPenney ads that had run in the newspapers. They were all the right colors: red, green and white. I ran them through my paper shredder and had free filler for my gift bags. My recipients were very impressed with my "green" wrapping. -- Jo

ORNAMENT STORAGE

I have lots of small, breakable ornaments that I've collected over the years. They easily get lost in tissue and the commercial ornament boxes are too large and bulky. A friend gave me a great idea -- egg cartons. I save my egg cartons and put the ornaments in each cup of the carton. They stack nicely in my Christmas storage boxes with my other decorations. -- Betty

FAMILY TREASURE

My sister-in-law created a cookbook for Christmas this year. She's asked everyone in the family to submit five dessert recipes. Next year it will be a different category. She is compiling the cookbook this year and will only need to print out the new recipes each year in the future. -- Tracy

TREE HANDLER

We have an artificial Christmas tree that requires bending out the branches after it is set up to make the tree look bushy. I keep a pair of inexpensive cotton garden gloves in the tree box so handling the branches is more comfortable. I also use the gloves to squeeze the branches closed before putting it away. -- Margie

GIFT OF LAUGHTER

A few years ago, we decided to be creative with Christmas gifts for our two adult sons. We went through boxes of things they'd left behind, gathering some of their old childhood "treasures" like "Animaniacs" figures, an old neckerchief, metronome, a college mug and prom mementos. We wrap them as Christmas presents. One of our sons conveniently left behind a birthday gift in August. He got it again for Christmas. One year I found school papers from their very early years of school. I put them in three-ring binders and wrapped them up. The boys loved reading their work from second and third grade. We've had more laughs and fun with these "free" gifts than with the gifts we purchase. -- Leslie

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Mary invites you to visit her at EverydayCheapskate.com, where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommended products and services. Mary invites questions and comments at https://www.everydaycheapskate.com/contact/, "Ask Mary." This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book "Debt-Proof Living."