It is the season of giving, which often means it is also the season of spending.
One of the best things you can do to help make the holidays a lot less stressful is to create and stick to a holiday budget.
Here are some tips to help you enjoy the holiday on a budget.
List your holiday expenses
You should make a list of all the holiday expenses that you will have.
This will give you a basic idea of things that you will need covered.
Decide on Your Spending Limit
When you are considering this amount be sure that you only use money that you have set aside for festivities or extra money that you can find in your budget.
Track Your Spending
As you purchase each item cross it off from your shopping list and subtract it from your running Christmas budget total.
This will let you know how your budget is doing at all times and make it easier to make adjustments between categories if needed.
Order your things online
When it comes to the holiday season there is a ton of online stores that have amazing offers and sales.
You should however make sure of the legitimacy of the store before you spend your money and if it is a local online store it is advisable to use the pay on delivery option to ensure the security of your money.
And on the plus side, they deliver to your doorstep saving you gas money.
Buy early
This tip may be a little late but well there’s always next year and the one after. Before the holiday month of December we are blessed with black Friday in November when prices drop to up to 70% off.
Take advantage of black November to purchase gifts and materials to be used over the holiday season.
Bargain
When buying items that don’t have fixed prices, negotiate with the seller to get the price that suits your pocket.
Pack food and water for the trip
This is cheap because it saves you from unnecessary purchase of food items along your travel.
Plan the night
Mapping out where you plan to go will not only give the evening a sense of direction, but it’ll eliminate the odds of drunken, cross-town taxi rides when you all get bored of a place.
Be a designated driver
If drinking is secondary to the pleasure of socializing with loved ones, volunteer as the designated driver.
It’ll save on taxis and alcohol, plus your friends will probably want to buy you some drinks or food as a thank you.
