It’s the season for crazy spending. After Black Friday, you may be a little tired of seasonal spending already, and I’ll bet that your wallet is as well. What can you do to make the season a little more sensible in the money department?
Set a budget, and set one for each individual too. It’s easy to go over budget when you allot a certain amount of money for Christmas, but you forget to itemize your budget. Give each family member a certain budget for a gift or two. If each adult in the family gets a $40 gift, then stick to the $40.
Create a buying strategy. If you know what you’d like to purchase for a person as a Christmas gift, then look for good sales on this item. It’s easy to overspend when you don’t know what you’re getting for someone.
Save extra money from the budget if you spend less in one category. If your uncle’s gift costs $10 less on sale, save that $10. You can spend a little extra on someone else if you really need to, or you can save it to do a Christmas activity. You can even save it for a pre-Christmas donation to a charity. Budget flexibility is good.
Save during the year. Make a special account, preferably at an online bank like ING. Have money deducted from your account every month and placed into this other account. Do not touch the money during the year. When it comes to Christmas, you’ll have a stash of money to spend. Over time, work it out so that this money equals your Christmas budget, and you’ll have no post-Christmas debt.
Set limits during the year. If a few people in the family spend a lot on Christmas and others can’t afford to do so, this can lead to hard feelings, both from the giver and the receiver. It’s important to talk about this, but don’t do it the week before Christmas. Have a chat in March about spending limits.
What are you doing to keep Christmas sensible?