Holiday Budgeting Made Simple: Focus and Stick to Your List!
Sales, sales, and more sales. The holidays seem like a never-ending time of spending money on gifts, trips, and food. With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Boxing Day, it’s as if there’s a discount on every hot ticket item and you just need to get it because of how much you would save. Nobody’s perfect and may stray from their budget or may spend just a little, or a lot, over what they can afford. But not today, capitalism! This year, protect your bank account and your future self with these money saving tips!
Holiday Budgeting Tips
Set a limit
A quick or thorough review of your current expenses and payments will give you an idea of how much you have to spend on the holidays. This amount will keep you in check while shopping so you can rethink big purchases that can eat most of your available funds. Shopping and hoping you stay under a reasonable limit may not be as successful as having a specific total to stop you from any future money problems.
Cash is king.
Automatic taps, auto-fill forms, and pre-set-up card information makes overspending dangerously easy especially when you can see a “What You Save” amount in your online cart. You may have saved a lot, but you may have spent a lot too. Shopping cash-only easily stops you from spending more because once it’s physically out of your hands, you’re done!
Also, if you’re the type of who wonders who even carries cash anymore, after paying, just subtract the total from your budget and don’t go over the amount you have left!
Do your research.
Impulse buying can be tricky to avoid. All of the “BIG SAVINGS” or “STOREWIDE SALE” signs and e-mails, will make you think that you’re getting the best price. But sometimes, different retailers will have better holiday deals on the same product. Before you buy something, make sure to check around other sites or stores to make sure you’re getting the best deal.
Stick to a list.
It’s easy to veer off course shopping. The display in the store can catch your eye or another sale notification shows up on the website. Stay focused by writing a list of items that you want within your budget and don’t stray from it. If you have any leftover funds, you can return to any items not on your list if you really want it.
Keep note of all of your transactions.
Charging your credit card or handing over a few bills makes it easy to forget what you’re spending because you’re excited about all the new items you’re going to get. But after a transaction, keep a note of how much you spend so that you can watch the amount grow and warn yourself that you’re entering dangerous overspending territory.
There Will Be More Sales
Don’t let the fear of missing out make you overspend on extra items. Remember that next year, there will always be new products and new deals for you to save money!