Christmas is only 66 days away! It’s time to plan your celebrations, cook your big meals, and buy gifts. But time to talk about finances? You bet! I want to make sure that Christmas leaves behind memories and leftover turkey, not stress and financial scars. Here are my top 5 tips for making sure that Christmas doesn’t break the bank.
Look at the Big Picture
The fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants plan doesn’t usually work. Now is the time to sit down and come up with a realistic Christmas budget. I’m not just talking about gifts. Start thinking about all of the things that will impact your monthly budget like gifts, new clothes, decorations, ingredients for baked goods, hosting parties, attending parties, travel, and any other items that have a price tag attached. It’s amazing how quickly it can all add up!
Set a Realistic Gift Budget
Christmas is the one time of year when I am sorely tempted to overspend. Not on myself or on things for our home, but on gifts for our loved ones. We’re surrounded by friends and family who truly do deserve the best!! But that doesn’t mean that I need to blow our gift-giving budget. Each year we make a list of the people we plan to buy gifts for, and we write a dollar amount next to each person’s name. The key then is to stick to that budgeted amount. In fact, you can download a copy of the form that we use for our Christmas shopping. It might be a bit much for you if you’re more free-spirited, but it works for us.
Mac users right-click and save here.
Know When a Deal is a Deal
The best part about using this organizer is that it helps me evaluate each deal that I find. I can ask myself a few questions before clicking the Add to Cart button.
- Is it something we were already planning to buy?
- Can it take the place of something that we were already planning to buy?
- Does it fit the budgeted amount for the recipient?
- Am I buying it just because it’s a deal that’s too good to pass up?
- Do we have the cash (or money in the checking account) to pay for it? Or would I be charging it until we do? (Cash/money in the checking account is a must before buying, especially at this time of year!)
If I’m satisfied with all of my answers to those questions, then I go ahead and buy. Oftentimes I’ll realize that I was just caught up in getting something for 90% off! If I can’t use the item to fulfill some part of my gift-giving list, it really doesn’t make the purchase a good deal after all.
You’ll probably see me posting more deals than usual over the next few weeks. Remember… You don’t need to buy them all. I just want to let you know about the deals so that you can pick the ones that will help you make Christmas more affordable.
This post is linked to:
:: Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family
:: Frugal Friday hosted by Life As MOM
:: Thrifty Thursday hosted by Coupon Teacher
:: Making Dollars Out of Change hosted by Madame Deals
Carrie says
I keep an envelope in my desk for all my holiday receipts in case anything needs to be returned. I have had a situation before when something didn’t work and I could not find the receipt. Expensive lesson learned.
Jennifer says
Great idea, Carrie! It’s funny how those little slips of paper disappear if you don’t hang onto them!
Shelly @ Coupon Teacher says
I am making my list up this weekend. Even if there are a few holes about gifts where I have no idea what to buy!
free2befrugal says
Great post! I love that you included those questions you ask yourself before buying.
I think all of us deal-hunters can definitely relate to buying impluse purchases just because they were great deals!
Jennifer says
I think it’s a huge danger for us as deal-hunters, Niki! I find myself being lured in by the deal, and I have to stop and evaluate before I buy!
Rachel says
Thanks for these tips! Christmas is getting closer and just thinking about it, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed! I will look at the big picture now and start making plans to make travel, gift giving, parties and all that the Christmas season brings less stressful!!
Jennifer says
Good plan, Rachel! It’s overwhelming to think about everything that you have to do and buy. But taking it one little piece at a time should help. I always feel better when I have a plan. 😉