Family learns how to find deals to stretch holiday gift budget
— -- The Zacek family of North Carolina learned how to really find a deal online, got the scoop on refurbished technology and was reminded that making a gift basket can be much cheaper than buying one.
Those lessons helped keep them on track to meet or beat their agreed-to budget of $500 to cover gifts for their family of four.
The Zaceks are participants in the Frugal Family Challenge, a project created by USA TODAY and ABC's Good Morning America Weekend. With help from a money coach and a technology expert, they set and tried to stay within a budget for Christmas.
Sue and Eldon Zacek originally planned to spend almost $1,200 on their children, 12 and 15, and each other. But with worries about job security — they work in the troubled banking and the auto-racing industries — they knew they needed to spend less.
Eldon, admittedly the spender of the family, agreed on a $500 total for the family, in consultation with GMA technology contributor Becky Worley and Olivia Mellan, a money coach, author and therapist.
After doing most of their shopping by last week, the family spent $265. That leaves about $200 for the children to spend on each other, their father and stocking stuffers.
"The family did great," Mellan says. "This shows what a family can do (when it) consciously plans holiday spending, slows down the process, sets realistic spending limits and talks to all the family members in advance about how they are cutting back."
"I'm amazed at these numbers myself," Sue says.
Eldon was able to buy his gifts using American Express card reward points. Eldon has a NASCAR consulting business — his contract expires at the end of January — and uses his AmEx card for business and personal expenses.
Because we're helping the Zaceks keep their gifts somewhat secret, we'll say only that one of Sue's biggest savings was on a gift Eldon asked for that retailed for about $1,800. Sue was able to find a comparable item for $600 from a different brand, but it was still well over what she could afford to spend. Worley taught Sue how to quickly search online for products with the same keyword attributes to find the gift at the best price. Sue was able to buy Eldon's more pragmatic gift for less than $100.
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