Planning for the Holidays On a Budget

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The best time to plan your Christmas spending is before the holiday season begins. Many families feel a financial pinch throughout the beginning of the new year as they try to recover from holiday spending. Gifts, extra food, celebrations, time away from work, and travel expenses can add up quickly. Luckily, there are options, such as budgeting and instant loans for bad credit, to help get you through the financial stress of the holidays!

Create Your Holiday Budget

Making a budget for your holiday spending may sound like a less-than-joyous task. However, once you have your holiday budget set, you can relax and get creative within the framework of your plan.

Start by looking at your regular spending budget. Where can you reduce expenses to allow for additional holiday spending? Consider canceling subscriptions you no longer use by emailing subscription providers. If you no longer use the service, ask for a refund of your last payment.

If you don’t already have a holiday savings account, set one up at your bank. Deposit any holiday money you’ve set aside so far and financial windfalls (no matter how small).

Make a list of your known holiday financial obligations. Plane tickets and hotel costs, meals away from home, hostess and teacher gifts, and the secret Santa gift exchange at your office can add up fast. Create another list of everyone you plan to buy for. Write down ideas about what you’d like to get them and estimate how much money you may spend.

As you shop, adjust your budget to reflect your new savings balance to help prevent you from running out of money before you’ve completed your holiday purchases.

Plan Your Spending

When you plan, you can avoid a scenario where you must spend extra money to solve a problem.

  • If you are hosting a holiday party, plan your menu ahead of time. Search for proven recipes with inexpensive ingredients.
  • Shop online for Christmas gifts so you can compare prices.
  • Take advantage of price matching.
  • Shop with your list. People who do their holiday shopping with a list tend to spend less than people who shop haphazardly.
  • Start early. Don’t wait until after Thanksgiving to start shopping for holiday gifts.
  • If your kids are buying holiday gifts for each other or friends, give them a budget and help them stick to it.

Use Technology to Automate Your Savings

For a more relaxed holiday season, save throughout the year. You can set yourself up for success by making a plan for next year.

  • Use an app that automatically rounds up your debit card purchases and sets them aside for next year’s holiday spending fund.
  • Check with your employer to see if they offer automated holiday savings accounts that sweep a few dollars from your paychecks into a separate account.
  • Create a series of automatic deposits scheduled on each payday from your checking account to a special holiday savings account.

For some people, getting a small personal loan to help handle holiday spending works better than using high-interest credit cards. Personal loan payments remain the same throughout the term of the loan. Contact us to learn more about how you can fund your holiday spending using our instant loans for bad credit.