SAN ANTONIO — There are only 18 more days left in the holiday shopping season, but that also means 18 full days of chances to blow your budget.
Right now many are struggling with inflation, student loans and massive credit card debt. But there are ways to save money so you can get the gifts you want to and still afford to donate to charity.
"What I'm hearing from consumers, is that it's very dizzying, It's confusing right now to figure out when to shop, when not to shop, what to buy when," said shopping expert Trae Bodge.
She said follow these holiday shopping tips...Keep a list of your recipients with a gift ideas and a budget for each. Make sure you stick to that list. Avoid selfish shopping which can result in overspending. And set a total spending cap.
"Because if you only have so much to spend, you'll shop much more mindfully that way." said Bodge.
Looking to give to charity this holiday season but a little short on dough? Check out the free browser plug in called "Give Freely."
"It works like any regular deal site. It'll serve up offers that you can click on to save on your order. And once you place an order, a portion of your purchase is donated to your favorite charity." Bodge said.
There are over 1.1 million charities to choose from and when you download "Give Freely", they will give $10 to the charity of your choice just by downloading it!
Three out of four holiday shoppers, or 76 percent, plan to seek deals and shop savings events, which is higher than last year's 69 percent. A third of shoppers plan to spend more on holiday purchases this year. 58 percent said that's because they want to, and 42 percent saying they have to because of inflation.
"So it's going to be a very interesting season because people are going to be actively concerned about their budgets and also looking for ways to save," Bodge added.
Check out Trae Bodge's website truetrae.com for more shopping tips, as well as her Instagram.