During the holiday season, it’s tempting to overspend on festive decorations and gifts. To maintain financial discipline, we’ve gathered advice from financial experts to help you stay within budget.
Meet the Experts:
- Elizabeth Pennington, a CFP and financial planner with Fearless Finance.
- Sophoan Prak, a CFP and financial advisor at Vanguard.
- Nina Vargas, a celebrity business strategist and stylist.
Bring a Shopping List to Black Friday Sales:
With numerous sales events like Home Depot Decor Days and Amazon Prime Days, it’s crucial to have a shopping list. This prevents impulse buys and helps you focus on items with genuine discounts. Elizabeth Pennington suggests noting the usual cost of items and using tools like CamelCamelCamel to track price history, ensuring you’re making savings.
Make a Monthly Budget:
Sophoan Prak emphasizes the importance of a monthly budget. By knowing your monthly expenses, you can allocate funds for holiday shopping without disrupting your financial goals. Adjusting your budget, such as reducing dining out expenses, can free up money for holiday purchases.
Don’t Wait to Shop Until the Last Minute:
Spreading out your holiday shopping over several weeks can prevent overspending and reduce the pressure to buy everything at once. This strategy allows you to shop deliberately and find the best deals, avoiding the stress of last-minute purchases.
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When it comes to holiday shopping, overbuying can be a common issue. Here are six smart tricks to help you avoid overspending during the festive season.
**Buy Throughout the Year**
Pennington suggests purchasing gifts as you come across items that would suit someone in your life throughout the year. Store these gifts in one place and maintain a note on your phone to track what you’ve bought for each person and who you still need to shop for.
**Unsubscribe from Store Emails**
The psychological impact of store emails can lead to overspending. To combat this, consider temporarily unsubscribing from store newsletters during the holiday season. This may help you avoid the temptation to overshop, even if it means missing out on a few sales.
**Move Money to Savings**
Automatically transferring money into your savings account can be an effective way to prevent overspending. This strategy keeps your money out of sight and out of mind, reducing the chance of spending it on unnecessary holiday purchases.
**Invest in High-Yield Savings Accounts**
Setting up continuous distributions from your paycheck into a high-yield savings account can help your savings grow and prepare you for future holiday spending or long-term financial goals.
**DIY Gifts**
Nina Vargas, a celebrity business strategist and stylist, endorses the concept of ‘gifting with meaning.’ DIY gifts can range from baked goods and crafts to acts of kindness. Personal touches are invaluable and can make a significant impact.
**Re-gift or Repurpose**
If DIY isn’t your preference, consider re-gifting or repurposing items from your closet that could be meaningful to others. Vargas advises being intentional with regifting, ensuring that the items you choose will be appreciated by your friends and family.