Today is November 1st! The day after our annual energy rush of candy, costumes, and FUN. How many cups of coffee you have today is no one’s business, but your coffee-maker’s! This is a judge-free coffee day! Take it slow and in-stride. No matter what you get done today, it’s an accomplishment. HIGH-FIVE!
For many of us, a second race has just begun
I came down for breakfast and what do my tired little ears hear from the news… “All I want for Christmas is YOUUUUU!!!” That song seems to have dethroned the starting shot for the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which marked the beginning of the American Revolution (for all you history buffs), as the NEW “shot heard ‘round the world.” The Christmas race has begun!
Holiday Spending Plans are a MUST to keep your budget “in the black”
According to the National Financial Educators Council: “…A Coinstar survey showed that 77% of people surveyed expected to exceed their holiday spending budget, while only 37% will implement a post-holiday budget to recover from their overspending. This overspending habit gets people off on the wrong financial foot ahead of the New Year, which can have a negative impact on their finances for years.”
If you’re like 99% of the population that celebrates Christmas, you get EXCITED! Who wouldn’t?! It’s a time to transform our lives into a giant joyous season…from the decorations, to the foods, to the social events, to the movies, the music, and the gifts. Holy smokes…I mean who wouldn’t want more of that JOY?! But isn’t that why we always dive straight into the financial deep end during the holidays?
When it comes to life and finances, we run from pain and look for pleasure
Christmas is a huge injection of JOY and HOPE into our lives. It’s no wonder we want it bigger and better each year. But, when the dust settles in the New Year, many of us fall straight into a depression that not only affects us emotionally, but financially as well.
Keep your holiday spending in check, so that JOY and HOPE continue into the New Year.
Keep the joy going all the way through the New Year with these 5 tips on how to stay on track with your holiday spending.
- To know how much you can spend, you need a regular budget in place.
- Get all your income, bills, and expenses written down and really see how much you can spend on the holidays…without going into debt.
- Once you see where the numbers fall, you have your Holiday Spending Budget starting amount.
- Make a plan…for ALL OF IT!
- List some Holiday categories that you know you spend money on and then set a max spending amount for each category (don’t go over your Holiday Spending Budget starting amount).
- And speaking of gifts! Don’t go down the rabbit hole! Write a list of everyone you’re getting a gift for and how much you can spend on each person.
- Tip: If you’re a family that gives everyone tons of gifts, try doing a Secret Santa. Yes, everyone gets only one gift, but if you make the game FUN, those joyful memories will last a lot longer than the material items.
- Once you make that list of categories and their max amounts, create a spending chart, either on a piece of paper or spreadsheet, to keep track of what you spend and where.
- Need help? Subscribe to my monthly newsletter “The Copper Blend” and receive my Holiday Spending Tracker (google sheets) for FREE!
- It’s okay to say “no”.
- Give yourself some breathing room by capping the amount of social events you participate in.
- If you say “no” to participating in bigger events, come up with some low-cost fun activities and invite your friends. The point is to be social within your means. In the end, your time with those you love is what counts!
The Goal: to keep the joy going all through January…and BEYOND!
I know budgeting and planning can sound “restrictive”, but it’s all about how you look at it. In a way, budgeting and planning for your holiday expenses is like “having your cake and eating too”. It’s stretching your dollar out to afford more over a longer period of time. The pain you might feel saying “no” to a party will be nothing compared to the pain of getting that credit card statement with that INSANE interest rate.
For some help, starting November 25th, I’ll be posting on PennyFruit’s Facebook page: 12 Days of Holiday Spending Accountability Tips! I’d love your input when the posts come out.
Cheers to a happy financial holiday season!
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