As the holidays approach, many people including myself, panic about the thought of the shopping rush. That’s why early on, I have decided to take control by preparing my budget. Here’s what I did.
To lessen the impact of the season on my finances, I created a Christmas shopping budget. I have to see how much I will spend on gifts. Based on last year’s gift list, I have developed new list and how much each person’s gft might cost me this year.
My bottom figure said I need $715. This is a big amount but not surprising. In 2013, the Gallup poll revealed that on the average, Americans planned to spend $704 in gifts in the Christmas of 2013. Furthermore, I plan to give to more people this year than last year.
To avoid spending more than what I have planned, I will look for ways to save money. I have thought about a few ideas which I hope would help.
1. I plan to give cash gifts. It would be very expensive for me to buy gifts at $20 each for my nephews and nieces. If I have 20 of them in my gift list, that would be $400. Cash gifts of $1 each would be better for me aside from it being fair to everybody.
2. I won’t give “hot” gifts. These kinds of gifts (the most popular would have been game consoles) are very expensive so they would never be considered.
3. I can give some old toys and clothes to the daycare center or charity organizations.
4. I would resist giving more. Maybe I can arrange with some of my siblings to mutually agree on abstaining from receiving gifts from each other this year.
5. I would opt out of exchanging gifts as much as I can. It’s not that I do not want to give gifts. I just wanted to be realistic and practical.
Aside from these money-saving tips, I can spread my Christmas budget over the next two months. I will start buying now while the prices are still low. Then I will prepare for the cash gifts as December approaches. This way, I won’t have to spend out of my savings. I have more time to go around shopping and hunting for the lowest priced items. Then all my purchases can be paid through cash.