Five Ways to Stretch Your Dollar When Holiday Shopping #ChaseHolidays

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Chase Ultimate Rewards. All opinions are 100% mine.
Today I have the opportunity to team up with Chase Ultimate Rewards, to share another tip on stretching your dollar this holiday season. I am all about sharing different ways we can all save and stretch our budgets. We are all at different places in life, with different income levels and budgets. I want to be able to give you many tips and tricks to help you in whatever season you are in. I haven't talked a lot about credit cards here on the blog, but I am excited to share a bit today. We all know there was a time when I had to stay clear of credit cards. Now I am in a better place. I have acquired that self-control and have since learned how to make the credit cards work for me, instead of the debt owning me. We use credit cards for emergencies only, or when I know I have the cash to cover them. For example, we have a few bills that are paid with our credit cards, but are paid off at the end of each month. We do this to allow our credit to continually build. This Christmas, we had saved $300 for Christmas shopping for the littles. I had my money set aside and decided to get our shopping done with time to spare. We were able to combine sales and our points that we accrued with our credit card that has Chase Ultimate Rewards to maximize our Christmas shopping budget.
Ultimate Rewards, which is available to - Chase Freedom, Chase Sapphire and Ink from Chase cardholders, is a program that lets you earn points whenever you spend. You can earn points to redeem for your choice of rewards including travel, merchandise, gift cards, and even cash back. You can also receive other perks like VIP access at concerts and travel on any flight (without blackout dates or restrictions).
Ultimate Rewards allows your credit card to work for you. You can stretch your dollars during the holiday shopping season by either redeeming rewards for holiday gifts for loved ones or using your rewards credit card, so you earn points while shopping. We were able to take advantage of these benefits this holiday season. We have a Chase credit card with Ultimate Rewards and were able to do all of our Christmas shopping online, using our card. We were able to shop for sales, accumulate rewards, and stretch our holiday budget this season. We also made sure that we had cash to cover our purchases, so we could pay off our spending at the end of the month. Being smart with our shopping and spending, allowed us to make our budget work. I have compiled five quick tips to help you stretch your dollars this holiday season.
1) Set a Budget- It is the foundation of all spending. We must know how much we can spend, so we don't go overboard. Decide as a family how much you will spend. If you are going to use your credit card's rewards program, make sure you will have enough cash to cover whatever you spend. Set a budget and stick to it!
2) Shop the Sales- By shopping sales and comparing prices, you can find the best possible deal for whatever item you are looking for. We did the majority of our Christmas shopping online. Some stores offer discounted prices for shopping online.
3) Use Coupons- There are so many coupons and money saving apps out there, which can help you stretch your dollars. Combining coupons with a sale will maximize your savings!
4) Know the Rewards- Know what rewards you are eligible for, if you are using a credit card to purchase items. For example, if you travel a lot, take advantage of accumulating points for travel. You can buy the stuff you would normally buy, while racking up points at the same time.
5) Be Smart With Your Spending- When you are using a credit card to purchase your gifts this season, make sure that you have the cash to cover it. You do not want to rack up a hefty credit card bill, just to reap the rewards. That wouldn't be saving you in the long run. Having the cash to cover your purchases, means you can take advantage of your credit card's perks, while staying out of debt as well! Win! Win! We did this exact thing this year and it was great! We shopped, racked up some rewards, and paid it all off within a few weeks time.
Check out UltimateRewards.com - to see what benefits you can start taking advantage of this month. Be smart and make sure that everything you buy fits within your budget. Shopping responsibly will allow you to save money and stay out of debt this holiday season, allowing you to start the year off right!
XO Danielle