Holiday Shopping that Puts Money Back in your Wallet

The most wonderful time of the year is quickly approaching! But with the arrival of the holiday season comes more expenses and often, expenses that are beyond your budget.

If I know I have an opportunity to buy items on sale, put money back into my wallet and collect rewards during the holiday shopping season, I make sure I do.

This year, I’m preparing to maximize my rewards this holiday season with my American Express AIR MILES Credit Card. I’m planning ahead and going to purchase all of my holiday shopping on my Amex Card and using my AIR MILES Collector Card at participating Sponsors so I can rack up AIR MILES reward miles for a trip next year.

That’s the best part about my Amex AIR MILES Card, I can earn reward miles faster! Cardmembers earn miles twice when shopping at participating AIR MILES Sponsors across Canada with their Amex AIR MILES Credit Card and their AIR MILES Collector Card.

Here are ways you can make the most of your money, get rewards and put money back in your wallet!

Shop Online

A recent survey of 2,000 shoppers found that more than 95 percent of respondents would shop online this Christmas season, with 48 percent of those polled noting that they’d purchase at least half of their holiday gifts online. Especially with Black Friday shopping slowly making its way into the Canadian market, you can find many deals online and you don’t even need to spend time in a packed mall.

Avoid the long lineups at the stores by shopping online at . It’s a great alternative to avoid the busy stores while browsing the best merchandise from Amex AIR MILES Sponsors. In fact, make a purchase at airmilesshops.ca from November 12 – 19, 2013 with your Amex AIR MILES Card and earn 125 Bonus reward miles. You can learn more here:

Smart Gift Shopping

Getting a Card that has perks at your favourite shopping stores is something you should always research before you chose your Credit Card. For example, I can do all my Christmas gift shopping at participating Amex and AIR MILES Sponsors:

Clothing:

No matter what the kids say, they don’t need more toys – they need some clothes too! I’ll be shopping at Old Navy, Roots and Sears for some new gear for them. For the grownups, I’ll be sure to check out L.L.Bean, Land’s End and Gap. Maybe The Shoe Company for myself!  Make sure to check before you make your purchase; until December 31, you can earn 4x AIR MILES reward miles AND get Free Shipping on Orders $50+ at Old Navy and Lands’ End.

Books/Music: 

For these items, I tend to shop online for gifts. So I’ll be sure to shop at Indigo and Amazon, and receive Bonus reward miles.

Home items:

Whether it’s a new coffee maker, bed sheets, Christmas decorations or a new Christmas tree, I’ll be looking at Sears or Michaels to purchase items, paying attention to the possibility of earning bonus reward miles.

Toys and Tech gadgets:

Tech gadgets are always a huge gift idea for the holidays so I’ll be sure to shop at Toys R Us, Staples, Apple Store and collect double the reward miles. If you shop through airmilesshops.ca at The Source, you can earn 10x AIR MILES reward miles!

Stock Up on Groceries

Do your Christmas feast shopping at Metro stores (Safeway out west, Sobeys in Atlantic Canada). The grocery list can be quite long (and expensive!) when you are hosting guests. I like to make my grocery list while I’m looking at the flyers on Saturday morning, paying attention to items that have Bonus reward miles. Metro also has coupons certain products every week so I will stock up on those items and collect Bonus reward miles.

I’ll be also using my Amex AIR MILES Card to stock up on wine and spirits at the LCBO (also offered in various liquor stores in the east coast). I’ll likely be getting a few extra wine bottles for teachers’ gifts – I think they’ll appreciate that!

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Amex Bank of Canada. The views and opinions expressed in this blog, however, are purely my own.