10 Tips to Get Cash for Christmas!

Do you need to find the money for Christmas but don’t know how you’ll do it?

The average Christmas spend is $1,000 to $2,000 for most countries with Aussies totalling over $10 billion alone on gifts.

With Christmas only a few months away we know it’s stressing some families out.

Here we share how you can easily get $2,000 without changing too much or putting in too much effort.

In the second part of the post, we share all the ways to get what you need for Christmas discounted or free, including travel.

This post does contain affiliate links to products and services we use. Read the full disclosure here. 

Tips to Make Money for Christmas

Our biggest tip, is for everything we suggest here and the money you save or make, put it in a designated Christmas fund!

It’s easy to have a small amount absorbed into what you do every day so make sure you transfer it to your Christmas fund.

1. Set up a Regular Payment – $600

It’s the 1st of October as we write this, but when you read it, it could be less…

Check out the countdown below. Knowing how long you have left, start saving for Christmas now.

$10 a week between now and Christmas will give you $120 which isn’t a lot but it’s better than nothing.

If you can up that to $50 a week you’ll have $600. Or use the tips below to get the cash you need.

2. Utilise Discounts – $100+

We have a list of Aussie freebies here and tips to get discounts on everything along with a list of coupons and discounts for Aussies.

Get up to $200 off with HelloFresh, spread across your first 6 boxes for new and returning customers. Conditions apply.
45% off your first box with Marley Spoon and further discounts.

Up to $140 off Dinnerly, spread across your first few boxes.

Plan for the sales coming up such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday in November. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter too.

We share loads of tips plus a list of exclusive discounts for you in every issue. Just add your email below

3. Online Surveys – $500+

Most readers have told us they make $2,000 to $5,000 a year from online surveys, which is what I do too.

Check out the best online survey sites for Aussies.

We know you’re probably sceptical of online surveys.

The highest-paying one in Australia that we regularly get $10+ surveys from is Octopus Group.

Their surveys are accurate with how long it will take and they pay an hourly rate of over $16.

It is free to join Octopus Group and we wrote a full review of Octopus Group, both good and bad so you know everything.

Save up the points or cash to cash out in December or start cashing out now and putting it in your Christmas fund.

4. Sell Anything – $500+

We’ve made over $10,000 in a month buying things to resell.

Facebook Marketplace has been our favourite along with the niche buy sell swap groups on there.

It’s free to list whereas eBay takes so many fees.

Reselling is one of the easiest ways for us to make extra cash provided we follow my system, stick to what we know, take good pictures and aim to list things where we make $50 or more in profit.

Look around your house and list anything you don’t need for sale.

It’s amazing how much stuff we have when we look for it.

5. Cash In Reward Points – $100+

Flybuys are having some big promotions at the moment so check your points and either keep saving them or cash out now to put the money towards Christmas.

Activate all the offers as soon as they come in and check everywhere you can for bonuses.

Download the app and check it to see what offers you have.

Don’t spend just for the sake of chasing points, but do shop smart.

Check your Woolworths Everyday Rewards and any other VIP/Loyalty program you are a member of.

It’s surprising how much we can have sitting there which can be used.

Some banks offer bonus cash back and other offers now too so make sure you activate all of them as well.

If you haven’t already, check out this list of VIP and loyalty programs (many with sign-up bonuses you can use now for Christmas), plus this list of Aussie freebies.

Don’t forget when you’re shopping to use these tips to get discounts on everything!

6. Rent Out A Room – $2,400

If you have a spare room you could rent it for $200+ per week to a boarder or the same per night on Airbnb.

With 12 weeks until Christmas, that would be $2,400!

Check the price of Airbnb listings in your area (and follow the T&C’s), or consider listing on Booking.com and similar now too.

Price your room accordingly, have everything you’d expect on hand such as soap, towels, and linen.

Be specific in your listing and use the tips in my article, how to make money with Airbnb to ensure success.

7. Mystery Shopping – $100+

Most mystery shopping we have been offered was clothing or food between $20 and $50.

Do a few shops to get both cash and items you can use for Christmas.

Find out how to make money as a mystery shopper.

8. Market Research – $100+

Market research companies typically pay $100 for an hour of your time giving feedback on a product.

Some are done from home, others on the phone but most are in an office.

Learn how to make $100hr doing market research.

9. Offer Services- $500+

Check out Airtasker, Gumtree and similar sites to see what odd jobs people need to have done such as delivering items, setting up furniture, connecting TV’s etc.

Offer your services for ironing, babysitting, cleaning, lawn mowing or anything else you want to take on.

This time of year requests for domestic services increase and you could easily make some money with friends and family connections.

Read how to make money with Airtasker to see what I did.

Most of these services pay between $20 and $50 per hour.

A few hours a week could easily make some good cash you can put towards Christmas.

10. Rent your car out $300+

If you don’t use your car all the time, UberCarShare could be a good option for you.

Sign up, list your car and make money when people book it.

Be aware, people do not care about your car the same way you do.

You will need to keep it clean, fueled up (many users return it empty), check your insurance and be prepared for scrapes etc from the extra use.

More Ways to Make Money

Try 22 ways to make money on the side in 2022, read how I made $33,277.57 on the side in 12 months and 43 ways for single mums to make money for more ideas.

You get a daily email with a theme and things to do that day to make or save money both immediately and change your finances long-term.

Tips to Save Money for Christmas

Making money for Christmas is one thing, but what if you could get things for free, utilise discounts and make your money stretch even further?

You might be able to use your Christmas fund for something else instead! Here are some tips and loads of discounts for you.

1. Plan It Out

What do you need money for? Who are you buying gifts for and what gifts are you buying?

Are you travelling and how much do you need for that?

Write down all the gifts, travel, food, decorations and other expenses you need to budget for.

Decide what you are willing to spend and how you will do it then stick to it.

With travel, consider travel insurance. You can get 10% off travel insurance with Freely using our code Thrifty10 at the checkout.*

Gifts

Use a free app to organise your gift list then look at ways to do presents cheaper such as using sign-up bonuses, freebies, entering competitions and giveaways anywhere you see them etc. 

You can find a huge list of sign up freebies here that you can use for gifts or to get gifts discounted.

Alternatively, cash in your points from different loyalty programs to use towards gifts.

Can you make gifts or do you plan to?

Work out what items you need and how you can do it on a budget. We’ll share some easy, budget-friendly DIY gifts soon.

Travel

For accommodation, we love Booking.com both for staying and you could look at renting your place out to make money while you’re gone.

For your own accommodation, shop around, compare prices and make sure you get the best deal on everything you do.

Sign up for cashback programs and clear your cookies or use an incognito tab when searching.

Our favourite is Shopback.

2. Get Discounts

Why pay full price when you don’t have to? Shopping around once you have everything planned out will save you heaps.

Plus, if you’re spacing the shopping over the next few months it won’t feel like such a big financial drain.

Be sure to keep track of it all though so you don’t accidentally buy too much for one person and nothing for someone else.

Read 9 tips we use to get discounts on every purchase plus how to get a discount on everything.

3. Use Cashback Programs

Your first step needs to be getting the apps and Chrome extensions installed.

They can notify you when you are on a site eligible for cash back and how much you will get. The ones we use are:

Shopback: Get cash back and earn extra money with Shopback.

Join Shopback for free and get a bonus after your first purchase through them too.

Honey: Slightly different, Honey offers cash back but also scans for discounts and coupon codes. Join Honey for free here.

Swagbucks: Best known as an online survey site, they also have a cash back program with the cash being awarded in points you accrue and cash out. Join free here.

4. Create Traditions

The important things to my kids are the ones we do every year, and our traditions.

What traditions can you do? Look at the events on in your area such as Christmas carols, Christmas markets and festivals then choose some to have as your traditions.

All up, if you did all of these you would have well over the $2,000 needed! How are you paying for Christmas?

For more ways to make and save money follow us on social media:

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*If you use the link on this page to purchase travel insurance, we will receive a fee from Freely, a brand of Cover-More Insurance Services Pty Limited ABN 95 003 114 145 (AFSL 241713) (Cover-More). We do not act for Cover-More or Freely. The information provided is only on the availability of Freely products. We do not give advice & the information provided is not intended to give an opinion or recommendation regarding the product. For information on how to contact Cover-More or Freely refer to the PDS, FSG & TMD which can be found here: freely.me/au.