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During the Christmas holiday season, one thing that’s immensely easy to do is to overspend. Of course, breaking the budget can lead to stress, anxiety, debt and no money left for anything else. That’s no way to spend your holidays! Here’s how to not overspend this Christmas.
#1 Set your priorities – What is the single most important thing to you this holiday season? Is it to see family you haven’t seen in a while? Is it to take time off from work and enjoy your family? Is it to travel to a new location and sightsee? Is it to see the smiles on your kids’ faces when they open their gifts?
What is the single most important thing you want to accomplish this holiday season?
#2 Create a plan around your priority – If, for example, your goal this holiday is to spend time with your family, then create a plan to make that happen. Perhaps you’ll spend a weekend at an indoor water park during the holiday break. Maybe you’ll take long days and visit local museums. Maybe you’ll go Christmas caroling and decorate a tree. Write down the things that will help you achieve your goal.
#3 Budget – The next step, once you’ve created a plan to achieve your goal, is to budget for it. This means outlining what you have to spend on your holiday goal and how much it’s realistically going to cost. Don’t forget to budget a little bit for your other holiday priorities and expectations.
For example, maybe you’ve decided that in order to achieve your goal of a family vacation, you’re not going to get each other any gifts. You may still be obligated to get gifts for your child’s teachers or classroom secret Santa gifts. Make sure to include those items in your budget.
#4 Tracking – The next step to stay on budget, regardless of your holiday priorities and goals, is to track your expenses. For example, if you’re buying tickets for that family vacation, track how much it’s costing you. When you’re on vacation, make sure to track how much you’re spending. That way, you can be sure you’re sticking to your budget.
#5 Contingencies – A good budget always includes a little wiggle room. Call it the miscellaneous or emergency fund. When you make room for the unexpected, it’s not a stressful event when it happens.
Before you dive into the holiday season, take some time to prioritize and identify your goals. What does Christmas mean to you? Do your goals, plans and budget reflect that? If not, make adjustments. Christmas doesn’t have to be about giving gifts to everyone you know. It can be, but it can also be about family, vacations, or some well-deserved rest. You get to decide how you want to spend it and how much it costs you.
Do you need to save some money for a big purchase or recover from a large bill you just paid? Perhaps you just want to gain better control of your spending and get into serious frugal living. Having a frugal No Splurge Month could be the answer for you.
A frugal No Splurge Month is when you designate a month where you won’t spend any money on anything that isn’t absolutely essential. There is no spending money on anything you don’t legitimately need. When done as a family, this is a great way to save some money and learn more about what you can really live without.
Before you decide to stop spending unnecessary money, you will have to make a plan. Otherwise, old habits will probably take over and your frugal No Splurge Month can easily be derailed. Determine that you WANT to get into frugal living.
First of all, pick a month that will realistically work for you and your family to not splurge. You’ll probably want to avoid months where you are celebrating a major holiday or taking a vacation. Also, plan it for a month when you won’t have unexpected genuine needs, like when the kids go back to school.
When you have your month selected, plan how you will handle specific situations that will arise during that month. For example, if there is a child’s birthday party in the month you’re deciding not to splurge, decide ahead of time how you will handle that. That will help you stick to your no-splurging plan.
It might also help for you to set a budget for the month. Better budgeting will help you stay focused in your spending. You may want to put away your credit cards during this time too. Having your credit cards close at hand makes it easy to follow to urge to splurge when it strikes.
In your frugal living planning, be realistic while creating your better budgeting plan. Acknowledge that unexpected yet legitimate expenses may arise, no matter how well you plan. You may want to set aside a certain amount cash to cover those. You can still keep costs down by putting only a small amount of money aside, and any surprise expenses have to come from that amount.
Before you start your frugal No Splurge Month, it’s essential to talk about it as a family. With everyone on board, it will be easier to avoid needless spending. Decide as a family what you are allowed to spend money on. This may be a good time to talk about the difference between needs and wants. If you explain to everyone what you’re doing, and the purpose behind it, they will be more helpful and not ask for things that you haven’t agreed on beforehand. Kids may even view a frugal No Splurge Month as a fun challenge and hold you accountable for your own money spending.
Having a frugal No Splurge Month is a great way to get spending money under control and find out what you really can live without. By planning ahead and involving the whole family, frugal living can be a success for everyone involved.
