8 Tips to Help with Your Holiday Budget

The holiday season is right around the corner. Now, before you start getting stressed out and putting yourself under so much financial pressure, I’m here to tell you don’t do it. Last year so many people went into debt buying gifts for any and everybody, entertaining, and trying to keep up with regular expenses.

This year, we won’t be going into debt trying to keep up with all of that. Take this as your notice to start budgeting for the holidays. When you budget for the holidays early, you'll have a handle on your holiday shopping and spending throughout the season.

Why you need a holiday budget

Having a budget during the holiday season will benefit you in two important ways. First, you'll avoid overspending. When you overspend at the end of the year, you end up playing "catch up" well into the next year. Second, and this is the most important one, you'll reduce financial stress throughout the holiday season. The holiday season already brings depression and stress, the financial stress is just extra stress you don’t need. Reducing this stress by budgeting this season will make the experience more enjoyable for you.

Following a few holiday budget strategies will have a positive impact on your holiday spending, which can help to prevent you from going overboard or becoming overwhelmed.

Here are a few holiday spending budget strategies to help ease the financial tension during this crazy season:

Start planning early. You’ve already got that one covered by reading this blog post. Good for you! Buying your gifts before the actual holiday season will help you get the best price on gifts and gadgets. You can also use all the extra time to compare prices and look for other deals. Never leave your shopping until the last minute. If you do, you’ll pay more money and just cause yourself more stress.

Create a budget. Now, you know I was going to start with the budget didn’t you? It’s time to create your budget. But really, you have to start with uncovering how much money is available for you to spend based on your current financial situation. This is not the time to guess or be unrealistic with your holiday spending budget, regardless of how much you want to entertain and play Santa. It’s important that you really understand how much or little you can play with. The point of creating a budget is to specify a limit and stick within it. No exceptions. 

Remember that your expenses should be less than your income. You don’t need to get into debt just because of the holidays. 

Make a list and check it twice. Santa isn’t the only one who needs to do this, you need to do it too. List everyone that you plan to get a gift. Try not to forget anyone, think about the people at work, kids of your close friends, your husband or significant other’s family, and neighbors or other acquaintances.

Use a budget worksheet. Using a budget worksheet on paper or on your computer to keep track of everything. You’ll need to track a list of everyone you’re getting a gift for, an idea of what you plan to get them or from where, and how much you plan to spend for each person. You’ll want to track overall budget and actual spending as well to see how you do at the end.

Get my FREE Holiday Budget Sheet to start tracking your holiday expenses. 

Make changes as necessary. Make changes to your budget whenever you think that you may be overspending on one person so you stay within your budget overall. There is nothing wrong with cutting back when you need to.

Be realistic and practical. Try to set realistic budget amounts for each of the people on your worksheet. Remember that it’s not in the amount of money you spend, but in the actual thought of the gift. You shouldn’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to make someone happy for Christmas. The gifts that matter are the ones that mean something to someone. 

Has your friend ever told you how they love sushi? Does this friend also like to make amazing meals at home. Get them a $5 sushi cookbook and a $5 sushi maker kit and BAM, you got yourself a $10 gift that’s meaningful. Your friend would love it and you didn’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to get it. 

Everybody doesn’t need a gift. I know this is the season for giving, but if you’re trying to trim the fat off your holiday budget, you may not be able to get gifts for everyone. This year, only give gifts to the people you will actually see on the holidays or people you see often. If your budget can’t handle the number of people you’re trying to gift, trim some people from your list. 

If you have to give a gift to all of your children’s teachers, the mailman, your neighbors and their kids, consider giving them stocking stuffer gifts. Small gifts, homemade gifts, or greeting cards are just as sentimental and memorable but will not break your budget.

No Gift Cards. Giving gift cards can be expensive while giving an actual gift is way cheaper. You can buy someone a $5 mug and stuff it with their favorite coffees and it’ll cost you $10-$20. However, if you give them a gift card, you’d want to spend at least $25 so it would look like it’s worth wild. Some people even give $50. 

The other thing about gift cards is that some of them actually cost you money for purchasing. Avoid giving gift cards this year. Since you’re planning your holiday early, you’ll have enough time to get everyone something that won’t break the bank. 

It only takes these few changes to improve your holiday gift shopping experience. By starting early and following a plan, you can overcome the challenges of holiday shopping, budgeting, and spending with ease. Enjoy your holidays this year!