The holiday season means giving away gifts, spending, traveling, and many more. This means it is the season of spending too. However, if you stick to a holiday budget, it reduces the extra stress on you plus keeps you away from overspending, resulting in freeing you from debt in the holiday season.
As the silver bells ring in the holiday season, it takes a toll on your wallet. As per the Gallup poll, Americans spent an average of $942 for buying holiday gifts. In the same survey, 37% of respondents stated that they would spend a minimum of $1,000 or more.
And does holiday spending means only buying gifts? Instead, it hosts other expenses like food, décor, entertainment, charitable giving, travel, and many other means. If you add it all, you will end up with thousands of dollars spending on your holiday cheer, incurring a crush on credit card debt. So, if you wish to avoid a holiday debt hangover this year, it is best to stick to a holiday budget. Plan wisely and spend wisely to save your best. In this blog, we are about to give you few tips on the same.
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#1. List down all of your anticipated holiday expenses.
It is necessary to jot down all of your potential expenses targeted for the holidays. This includes gifts, travel, food, etc. Moreover, holiday seasons are not single, and they come in different flavors. So, it would help if you calculated for each of the seasons. Then you need to stress upon the cumulative value of the same and divide that up with 12 to estimate an annual holiday spending. This is your holiday budget.
In some festivals, we host people and arrange for food, drinks, and décor. Potluck is the best option in this case to save some money. If it is a new year party, you may offer Secret Santa so that everyone can bring some gifts.
Save in advance for the spending. Even you can arrange for separate savings account for the same. So, in a rough calculation, if you spend $1000 for a holiday, you have to set aside $85 each month.
So, if you can figure out your holiday expenses in advance and start saving now, it helps to save money.
#2. Stick to you travel budget and plan it early
The travel surge during the festive season is real and busiest than the other time of the year. No doubt, if you plan for your travel this time, you will end up with a lot more spending. So, to save your budget, you should book your flights and hotels in advance. Of course, you will not get a cheaper deal, still planning in advance will save your amount a good amount. The holiday season is high pitch in terms of spending. If you plan to travel during the holidays, calculate a budget for each category of travel parts like activities, shopping, food, etc.
#3. Take the best advantage of sales and deals over the next few months.
The holiday season offers you a lot of deals on sales. As a result, you can get good deals on gifts. So, if you plan ahead, you will get more time to decide which gift you are going to give to your loving ones. On the contrary, if you wait until the last minute to buy the gifts, you will end up overspending.
Another tip is to collect gift cards in advance for stores you are planning to go for holiday shopping at. Later you can spend little amount and use the gift card in the stores to purchase gifts.
#4. Track Your Purchases
Once you enter into the holiday season, keep track of all your purchases. Tally your gift list with your budget sheet. From the current budget and spending so that you can more accurately budget for the next year. As you start to spend on holidays, subtract the amount from your holiday budget. This will ensure how well you are following your budget. It will help you to adjust as needed. Tracking the spending is the biggest key to stick to the budget.
#5. Set Priorities
You have prepared a holiday spending list, but the list of expenses may seem a little long and seems beyond your budget. In that case, set your priorities so that you can meet your budget. Go through your list and number the items based on the priorities. Assign the number “1” to the top priorities and “2” to the next priorities. Now you can even cut out the low-priority gifts if your budget doesn’t meet that.
#6. Shop Smart
If you can’t cut down your gift list, then shop strategically. For certain holidays you may get a lot of deals, but that does not mean every deal is excellent or affordable for your budget. In this case, make a price comparison. There are plenty of price comparison tools available in the market which help to mark the best purchasing price. Also, use a cashback credit card or rewards credit card to get the best perks for your holiday shopping.
Additionally, if you shop online, you can apply a coupon code to get a further discount. Shopping in the comfort of home is more leisurely as well it gives lots of comparison options. It helps to avoid the hectic holiday atmosphere of the offline store and keeps you away from going overboard with spending.
If you have the option to gift second-hand holiday gifts, you can use an online shopping store like eBay for buying books, CDs, jewelry in good condition at a low cost. This is an eco-friendly gift-giving option too.
Final Word
When the holiday is over, it is high time to recheck your budget and analyze how well you have managed or stick to your budget. If you are successful in controlling your budget, then congratulation! If you go over your budget, then you need to tweak your budget for next year. Also, it would help if you introspected each category of spending.
There are several ways you can get a head start on next year’s holiday season. Make a holiday expense account where you can save all your loose changes and depositing contents. Also, household spending is an area that you can limit to save for the holiday season. In a nutshell, if you start early to save holiday spending, you can end up with lavish spending during the holidays roll around. If you have your own strategy for holiday budgeting, you can comment here.