Christmas has come and gone, and you have spent all that you planned to. Did you stay in budget or did you go over? Did your expenses in other areas increase as you ran around to attend all the necessary holiday events? Have you already planned for your New Year’s Eve expenses? It is time to take a step back and evaluate what you can do better next year and to get your budget back on track. Here are four areas to consider.
1) Did you stay on budget for your Christmas presents? If you went over were there any specific categories that threw you off? Did you have any unexpected gifts that you had to purchase? Were some items more expensive then you thought? You may want to adjust how much you save throughout the year so that you can stay within your budget.
2) Your food budget may be well over the budgeted amount this month. Preparing a big holiday dinner, plus all the extra treats throughout the seasons can throw most of us for a loop. You should also look at how much you ate out, because you were exhausted from shopping, or did not have time to prepare a meal in between activities. You can add a little extra to your food budget next December, and consider using your slow cooker more often.
3) Traveling expenses are not usually taken into account when considering holiday spending. This is especially true if you drive to your destinations rather than flying. It is easy to forget to budget in the additional amount for the extra gasoline. You may be okay by moving money around, but you may want to add this to your holiday spending plan.
4) Another area that goes up in December is entertainment. You may plan to take the kids to the movies while they are out of school. You may be planning a trip to the zoo (if you live some place warm) or the museum. These trips cost money. Additionally many people considering seeing The Nutcracker or a Christmas play a great tradition. You may want to transfer these expenses into your holiday budget for next year as well.
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