How to be holly and jolly on a budget.

The holiday season is a time of joy, celebration, family and fun. It also happens to be a season of high spending. Without a plan, it’s easy to overspend and put yourself under financial stress. Here are six tips to help you budget effectively for the coming holiday season.

1. Set a Realistic Budget

   It’s easy to underestimate how much you have available for holiday spending. When setting a budget, first evaluate your overall financial situation. How much can you realistically afford to spend? Will it affect your ability to cover your regular monthly expenses?

2. Allocate Your Budget

   Categorize different spending. Set a category for gifts, decorations, travel and food for potential holiday dinners. Look back at your bank and credit card activity from last year to see how much you spent as a basis for filling out the categories for this year.

3. Make a List. Check It Twice

   When setting up your budget, it’s easy to forget things. Write down the names of everyone you plan to buy gifts for and assign a budget limit per person. Will you need to get a gift for someone at work? Will a friend potentially get you an unexpected gift, prompting you to scramble to reciprocate? Try to add a column for unexpected gifts to give yourself some padding.

4. Research and Plan Your Shopping

   Take time to compare prices online and in stores. Set email alerts for sales, coupon codes, discounts and sales windows such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Shop for gently used items when appropriate to avoid paying brand-new retail prices.

5. Avoid Impulse Buying

   The most essential part of any budget is sticking to it. Go with your pre-planned shopping list and avoid impulse purchases. Staying disciplined will help you stay within your budget.

6. Track Your Spending

   Be sure to save all your receipts in case an item has an issue that requires a return or exchange. Use Cadence Online and Mobile Banking to track your account spending activity. Consider using our budgeting and savings goals tools to help you with your holiday planning.

By following these tips, you can plan your holiday season less stressfully. Remember, while gifts are often a big part of the holidays, the season is really about spending time with those you love and creating memories. Need help with your budget calculations? We have a tool for that Check out our Save Towards a Goal Calculator.

Sources:

https://www.cnbc.com/select/holiday-budgeting/

https://www.cnbc.com/select/how-to-build-a-holiday-budget/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuabecker/2023/11/22/the-holidays-are-not-a-good-time-to-overspend-your-budget/

This article is provided as a free service to you and is for general informational purposes only. Cadence Bank makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of the content in the article. The article is not intended to provide legal, accounting or tax advice and should not be relied upon for such purposes.