7 On Your Side's 7 tips to bolster your holiday shopping budget

NEW YORK (WABC) -- It's been a year like no other and that extends to holiday shopping. A recent Gallup poll found the average shopper will spend $852 per person. During the pandemic with rampant unemployment, a bill that size could bust some January budgets. So, how do you avoid falling into a financial hole?

It all starts with staying out of debt. The first tip is to make a budget where you prioritize purchases and separate wants from needs. Then the hard part sticking to it.

The second tip is that the best way to stay out of debt is to leave the credit cards at home. Pay for purchases with cash.

The third is to start raising more cash. One way is to sell your unwanted jewelry. But, we recommend shopping around for the best prices.

Fourth, clean out your closet. You can sell unwanted or never used household items on places like Facebook Marketplace.

Fifth, check out cash back apps. Since we are planning on shopping anyway, if you're not signed up for cash back options you're saying no to free money.

Sixth, the same goes making sure you activate and use cards which reward you with points. Your reward points can turn into cash. Points.com allows you to turn rewards into gift cards or cash transferred to your PayPal account. The rule of thumb is to shoot for a cent per point.

The seventh and last tip is to raid your drawers for unused gift cards. You could turn use them to buy presents, or use a website like Raise.com to exchange them for another store or cash them out altogether.

RELATED: 7 On Your Side warns of holiday 'Shipageddon' due to pandemic

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