Save Money All Year Long

Vacations

Only 5 to 10 percent of an airline’s seats are reserved for frequent fliers, so if you want to get restricted frequent-flier tickets―the ones that eat the fewest miles―book about 11 months before your trip, says Tim Winship, founder of Travelocity, a site that provides information on mileage award programs. If you are paying for your seats and are willing to risk bad weather, it’s much cheaper to travel to popular destinations during “shoulder” seasons (just before and after peak travel times). Shoulder trips―February in Europe, April in the Caribbean and ski country―can save up to $400 per person for a one-week vacation. Check sites like Travelocity, Expedia, and SkyAuction for deals. And you can save if you book your hotel and flight as a package. Kari Swartz, a travel expert at Expedia.com, says that customers who book a package to one of its top 50 domestic and international destinations save an average of $193. You may also be able to get discounted tickets through your company’s corporate-travel program or through SideStep, which compares prices on different travel and airline sites.
 
 

Holiday Items

The most obvious sales on holiday cards and gift wrap comes on December 26, when prices drop by 50 percent. On that day, suggests Deana Ricks, coauthor of Cheap Talk With the Frugal Friends, buy plain, one-color wrapping paper that you can use for any occasion, as well as items like seasonally colored Hershey’s Kisses and M&M’s that you can freeze and use for other holidays―red for Valentine’s Day, for example, and green for Saint Patrick’s Day.