If you take the time to become aware of how you spend your money, you can discover simple ways to trim costs, especially during the holidays, so you will have extra money each month that can be invested in things that really matter to you, like travel, education or retirement. At this time of year, it is easy to be seduced by the glitter and hype of the season and find yourself spending more than you want or can afford. Even during the holidays you can save money without compromising your enjoyment of life.

Consider something as simple as buying Christmas cards to send to your family and friends. This is a wonderful way to stay in touch with all of those people on your list that you don’t get to see very often, but there are a couple of good ways to minimize the expense of sending out cards every year.

First, you can buy greeting cards online and save a significant amount off of the retail price you expect to see in the store this time of year. Then, plan ahead to next year and shop in the couple of days after Christmas to take advantage of the huge markdowns as retailers try to unload their excess holiday inventory.

Another strategy which will save you money on greeting cards and postage is to create an online holiday greeting card to email to your computer-literate friends. You can find free pre-made online cards to send, or you can take a few minutes to create your own personalized card complete with photos of family, friends, or the family dogs and cats. Then, you can email your card to your friends with email addresses, and you can print your card out and mail it to those people on your list who are still living in the snail-mail world.

A simple way to save some money is by paying your bills online using your bank’s online bill paying service. It can take a small investment of time to set the system up the first time around, but after that you save on postage, check printing and envelopes every time you pay a bill. If you find that your bank charges you to pay your bills online, use a different bank. If you pay most of your bills online, you can reduce the number of checks you write every year. But, when you do run out of checks, reorder your check printing online to save money over the cost of reordering retail.

During the cold, dark months of winter, you can easily save some money just by paying more attention to your household energy use. Reduce the temperature of your thermostat several degrees when you leave the house and at night when you are asleep. Keep your south facing window shades open during the day to allow the free sunlight in.

These tips may seem like insignificant ways to save money, but if you act on them and similar ideas you will discover that you are saving much more than just pocket change. Over the course of a working lifetime, it might even make your retirement much more enjoyable than if you spend thirty or forty years not paying attention.