• October 10, 2019

“Silver bells, silver bells…soon it will be Christmas Day!”

That’s right! Christmas is less than 90 days away. You may be thinking to yourself: “It’s just October; I still have lots of time”. The truth of the matter is however, it’s never too early to start planning your Christmas spending.

The most wonderful time of the year is also the most expensive time of the year. With that in mind, it’s better to start saving sooner rather than later to avoid overspending and regrets.

Here’s how you can start planning now:

Create a Christmas Sinking Fund – Start stashing cash aside every pay period in a separate bank account or a cash envelope to be used specifically for Christmas spending. Not sure how much should be in this fund? A good place to start is by looking back on the last 2-3 years. It will give you an idea of how much you spent on Christmas in the past. Let’s say you spent on average $1,500, divide that amount by the number of weeks (or pay periods) left in the year and deposit that into your fund.

Set A Budget – We can already hear some of you saying, “but why do I have to set a budget for the holidays – the one time I should be able to spend freely?”. In actuality, a budget gives you the freedom to spend, but it will only work if it’s realistic. Be sure to think long and hard about areas you’ve overspent in the past, and consider increasing that area of the budget.

Common budget line items for Christmas spending: -

- Christmas Gifts

- Office Kris Kringle

- Food and Alcohol

- Home Decorations/Improvements

- Parties/Outings

- Giving & Tips

Trim Your Gift List – You do not need to buy a gift for every single person (read that again!). Some people view gift-giving as an opportunity to acknowledge those special persons in and around their lives, so if you must then think about creative, inexpensive ways to gift. Another way to cut back is by creating a new tradition with family/friends by exchanging gifts, or if you’re good with your hands, you can DIY some gifts to make the expense easier on your pocket.

Start Shopping Now – Make a list of all the persons you intend to get gifts for so you can secure them. The earlier you start shopping, the more you can stretch that Christmas budget. Black Friday/Cyber Monday is just around the corner and is the perfect time to get gifts at a deal. Be mindful that Christmas is only one day and you still have to live the other 364 days in the year.

Two key things to avoid:

- Racking up credit card debt that you don’t intend to pay before the end of the billing cycle.

- Spending anticipated funds such as a year-end bonus before you actually have the money in hand.

Above all else remember to be responsible with your holiday coins. Let’s not go from “Ho, ho, ho” to “Oh no!”  this holiday season due to overspending.