It seems that every year during the Holidays, more and more Americans take on additional debt buying gifts for their loved ones; however, this doesn’t have to happen to you this year! With a little bit of ingenuity, determination, and effort on your part, you can easily find ways to offset your Holiday shopping expenses in your spare time. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

Take on a Part Time Job – Most retailers hire seasonal help for the Holidays; they also tend to be fairly flexible with your schedule. If considering a part time job, be sure to apply at high end stores since they most likely pay the highest.

Become a Personal Shopper – Working professionals are usually way too busy to shop for gifts or just don’t like dealing with Holiday shopping crowds. You can profit from this by offering up your services as a personal shopper.

Offer Your Services as a ‘Holiday Lighting Specialist’ – Have you ever tried to untangle a string of Christmas lights? Well it’s not very fun and, given the chance, most of us would probably prefer to have someone else deal with it. If you are not afraid of heights, agile on your feet, and safety conscious then offer your services as a ‘Holiday Lighting Specialist.’

Offer Your Services as a Holiday Yard Decoration Specialist – Much like my previous suggestion only this one includes working with yard decorations as well. Your target customer for this service should be busy couples with kids. Handing out flyers could net you a few customers around the neighborhood plus the walk is great exercise!

Holiday Gift Basket Creator – Do you consider yourself a Creative Person? If so then come up with a few gift basket ideas (Starbucks, Protein Bars, Cheese and Wine, Etc.) and offer to make them for friends, family, and coworkers at a low cost! Take pictures and post an ad online (Craigslist) or hand out flyers. If you have any leftover, hold a raffle at work for charity!

Holiday Gift Shipper – My least favorite thing about the Holidays is the long line at the post office and I know I am not alone! For a fair price, I would be willing to pay someone to ship my items for me. Start with friends, family, and coworkers and hand out flyers or post an ad online to net more customers. You can ship several customers’ packages at once, increasing the amount you make per hour of your time!

Snow Shoveling – Probably the most labor intensive suggestion but if you live up north where it snows quite often, it’s possibly the most lucrative. Find out how much people in your area are paying others for this service. Then, undercut them by a fair amount and market your services to your neighbors door to door. Next time it snows, you are sure to get a call or two.

Turkey Deep Fryer – An old co-worker of mine used to do this in his spare time (he may still do it) and would make around $200 per week part time! He loved cooking and was very good at deep frying ‘Cajun seasoned’ turkeys. If you have a knack for using the turkey deep fryer then consider offering your services to people you know. However, be sure you have plenty of aluminum foil and refrigerator space to work with first!

Friday Weekly Review:

• Jim @ Bargaineering.com rounded up all the Holiday Photo Deals he could find for you.
• Clever Dude found a great article explaining how to reduce your grocery bill in three steps.
• Nickel wants to know your thoughts about the possible $1000 Emergency Energy Rebate.
• FreeMoneyFinance answers my question ‘should I tip for takeout or not.’ 
• Lazy Man educates us on how $100 can save your child’s life.
• J.D. @ GetRichSlowly shows that Christmas does not have to be expensive afterall thanks to DIY projects.