Ways to Save $1,000 by Black Friday

It’s not even Halloween yet, but you should be thinking about Christmas. That is, you should be figuring out now how you can prepare your budget for the winter holiday season. Consumers spent an average of $730 on gifts, food, decorations and more for the winter holidays in 2013, according to the National Retail Federation. And a survey by deal site RetailMeNot.com found that consumers plan to shell out an average of $1,500 on gifts this year. If you plan to spend within that range, there are several ways to start trimming expenses now so you can fund your holiday purchases with cash rather than credit. In fact, we came up with several cost-cutting moves that can help you save $1,000 by Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when you can get the best deals on many of your holiday purchases. Plus, we rounded up ways you can earn extra cash to boost your savings even more.

The actual savings and earnings in the examples below will vary (especially depending on which ones will actually work for you). But they do demonstrate that it is possible to find an extra $1,000 in your budget over two months.