Christmas Budgeting Tips: 6 Ways To Wine And Dine This Holiday For Cheap!

While Christmas is the most wonderful time of year, it is also the most expensive! Despite the popularity of promotional sale days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the amount of money spent by consumers on Christmas is astronomical. Between decorations, trees, lights, gifts, food and of course alcohol, the January monthly bill tends to be a bit over budget! But all that, or at least some of it, is set to change because Jeanette Pavini, two-time Emmy Award winning journalist and Coupon.com’s Savings Expert, is providing some tricks to the savings trade! Pavini has provided us with six easy, and foolproof tips on how to score some fantastic deals on wine this holiday season, because, quite frankly it might be the most important guest at the holiday party. With all of your splurges that occur during the Christmas season, Pavini urges you to not let wine be one of them, mainly because you can get a great bottle at an even better price by simply following her six steps!

Choose a Second Label: Find out if your favorite wine brand produces a second label. These lines utilize younger vines or grapes that weren’t up to the standards set for the primary line, and are often aged for a shorter amount of time. But, it’s still a wine from the same producer you enjoy, and at a lower price.

Score Warehouse Prices: Find some of the best prices on wine and liquor at warehouse stores. The good news is you can shop for alcohol at a warehouse club even if you don’t have a membership. Alcohol laws vary state-to-state, but in general it is against the law to charge a membership fee for alcohol purchases, so score deals on your holiday wine and spirits even if you’re not a member.

Expand your Horizons: If you’re stuck on wine from the Napa Valley, you’re probably going to pay a premium. But if you venture your taste buds outside of the United States, you can typically get a quality bottle of wine for less. Up-and-coming and/or less popular regions offer great value. This season, consider wines from places like Argentina, Chile, South Africa and Portugal and you may just get more bang for your wine buck.

Celebrate with Champagne: Champagne will see some great deals through New Year’s, but don’t limit yourself strictly to champagne. Only sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region of France can truly earn the “champagne” label, making it rare. So consider less expensive sparkling wine alternatives like Italy’s Prosecco or Spain’s Cava.

Redeem your Rebates: Rebates are a common find in the alcohol aisle, and as long as you remember to mail them in, you can save a lot of money. Often it requires a food and alcohol purchase like a beer brand offering a $5 rebate when you buy a 12-pack and $5 worth of chips. Others will give you a certain amount off your groceries instantly. So when you buy eligible wine and spirits you get (for example) $30 off your grocery purchase.

Buy in Bulk: Many people know about the bulk discounts some grocers give on wine (commonly an additional 10% off when you buy 6 or more bottles). But many will let you mix & match wine and spirits to get this discount. So you can restock your bar and get a few bottles of the wine for your holiday party and still receive that 10% off.