How to Save Money on Your Christmas Tree

November 26, 2006

What Thanksgiving traditions does your family have? One of our favorites is bringing home and trimming the Christmas tree Friday after turkey day. Although we have always used a live tree, I couldn’t help listing the ways we could save money having an artificial one instead:

1) Save gas money
I’m no Clark Griswold; we don’t pick up a tree from the middle of a forest every year. If you pick it out at a local Home Depot the gas bill isn’t too high but making the round trip to a Christmas tree farm outside town can put a dent in the gas tank and your wallet. Making the trip down to the basement or out to the garage for the artificial tree can save you some money.

2) Save time
The few days after Thanksgiving can offer many good deals to the savvy shopper. Instead of spending an afternoon on finding and bringing home the Christmas tree you could always hit the deals and save some money on Christmas presents.

3) Save on the purchase price
According to a 2005 survey by the National Christmas Tree Organization, the mean cost of a real Christmas tree was $41.90 while an artificial one cost $72.20. Over 5 years this adds up to a sizeable chunk, $137.30. If your artificial tree can last 10 years that’s $274.60 you could save by buying artificial.

Tradition over Money
The numbers point to buying artificial but the tradition and the family time of picking out and bringing home a live tree win out for me. I think part of having a money smart life is being able to balance the urge to save and the need to live. Plus, I don’t think there’s any way I could talk my wife into buying an artificial Christmas tree 🙂

Which Will You Choose?
For more information on choosing between real and artificial trees and what to look for when buying either check out this article

Ben

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Ben
Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

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