This is a wonderful solution to save money. For example, if you know you aren't going to be going outside to unplug the lights because it's too cold out, or you are too busy, or you sill simply forget, then by using a timer you could save 50% or even 75% on your electric costs versus running the lights 24 hours per day.

For example, if without a timer you would end up leaving then on 24/7, then besides even burning out the strings faster so you would need to replace next year, you are paying a lot more money in electricity by running them 24 hours per day. On average you will pay up to $2.50 to $3.75 per month extra - per string of lights! If you have 20 strings, then this means you might be wasting upwards of $150 for the holiday season in unnecessary electric costs.

This really makes a $15 or $30 automated timer really seem worth it when you realize it would cost you over $100 more NOT to get the timer. Here is a great waterproof Christmas light timer which works automatically. Waterproof is important because it's safe in the rain or snow!

You can choose how long you want your christmas lights to be on. Maybe you want it the whole night! So, 12 hours, maybe from 6pm to 6am so 100% of your neighbors will see your beautiful lights. This will save you 50% on your Christmas lights electric costs versus running your lights for 24 hours per day.

Or, maybe you want to get the most bang for your buck, so maybe you only want to run during the evening when 99% of your neighbors would ever see it. This means maybe between 6pm and 12pm. By midnight, most of your neighbors won't even see your lights because they will be sleeping, so you can save 75% off your electric cost by only running your lights for 6 hours per day.

One more important reason to get a timer is so that neighbors and perhaps villains don't think you're not home. You wouldn't want to leave your lights on 24/7 if you went away on holiday, but by putting your Christmas lights on a timer, it could make it look like someone's home. That nefarious holiday grinch might just overlook your house if your Christmas lights are on, thinking that maybe you're home.

This one depends on your preference. It also depends on the quality of your LED lights. Personally, I can't stand the LED flickering or the harsh white of some cheap LED lights (the cheap $9 LED strings at walmart come to mind). However, if you shop around and choose some quality LED lights, you could possibly avoid both of these problems.

Additionally, you also need to consider that quality LED strings will cost more. On the other hand, LED will not go out as often, you usually won't have to work about a couple years down the line trying to find that *one* bulb that is shorting out half the line.

Then again, standard mini-bulb strings are so cheap anyway that you could buy new ones every year or two and still pay less than you paid for even the cheapest LED strings. On the other hand, a good quality LED set could last you many years - eventually surpassing the standard mini-bulb strings in affordability.

Personally, I will always like the standard (incandescent) mini-bulbs better because they feel warmer and more pleasing. But maybe you'll really like some LED lights. If so, you can save a lot of money on electric costs. Here are some better quality LED lights that you might like better.

Instead of putting your lights up in mid-November and taking them down in mid-January, you could consider putting them up a couple days into December and then taking them down a couple days into January. By doing so, you can save up to 50% on your electric costs by running them in half the time, but still have them up for most of the holiday season.

Don't be too tightwad though by only putting them up for a week or two. In my opinion you need at least a month to a month and a half to be worth it. Not to mention that you keep the warm holiday feelings for longer! Instead, you can follow some of the other tricks listed here to save money while still not breaking the bank.

Of course, the simplest solution is to simply run less Christmas lights. You can achieve this by literally just running less, or perhaps you could be more strategic about your Christmas lights purchases.

For example, instead of getting 4 sets of 500 lights, you could get only two 500-lights strings and then get 5 sets of 100 lights which you can place around different places for a similar effect without noticing a decrease of lights.

This means you would actually only use 1,500 lights instead of 2,000 lights, so you can save 25% on your electric costs! Be creative about placement and you might be able to get away with less lights for the same effect.

If you're like me, you don't want to think about turning off the Christmas lights when you go on vacation or just because it's cold outside. Instead, my favorite thing to do it put all my lights on a remote control so I can easily turn them off without any hassle.

Even better, remote controls for Christmas lights can have multiple buttons so you can turn off just one, a couple, or all of them. This is another way to save a lot of money because say that instead of turning off all your lights so that you are the dark house in the neighborhood, instead you just turned off some or even half of them after a certain hour, but kept some lit up so you aren't a holiday buzzkill.

Here is a great quality Christmas light remote control to make your life a little easier and save you some money too: