How to Budget During the Holidays- Solana

There are certain times in the year when you will have to budget differently than other months of the year, for example Christmas. You have to plan accordingly for this time of year and save up to make sure that you can buy all that you need.

Step 1- Plan out a realistic budget of how much you want to spend (according to how much you CAN spend of course)

Quick Tip- Key word REALISTIC! I know Christmas is a time of
giving, but you have to keep things in perspective.

Step 2- Make a list of all the people you are buying gifts for and how much you would ideally spend on each of them. If you already know what you are buying for that person then that makes things even easier because you, for the most part, know how much you will be spending.

In a case like that you can look up all the places where that item is sold so that you can get it for the cheapest price, because every dollar counts! The reason this is important to do is because a lot of holiday budgets get out of control due to no up front planning.

Quick Tip- Allow your self some wiggle room for some items you might forgot to
include in your budget or simply little things you forgot about in general like
wrapping paper and bows!

Step 3- For all the people you aren’t quite sure what item you are getting them, research it! There are tons of websites with gift ideas. With accomplishing that, you are making your Christmas shopping a lot easier for yourself. Going out to get all of your gifts is a breeze when you know exactly what you’re looking for and the place with the cheapest price. The plus to this is you only have to deal with the holiday shopping frenzy once, what a concept!

Quick Tip- Don’t forget about eBay and Craig’s List! That can save you a bundle
if you have the patience and are looking for the right thing. Sure it may
be slightly used but you probably can’t tell the difference either way! Or on
the other hand it could be something new at a really good price.

Step 4-Have any left over funds? If so, way to go! Spend it on yourself you deserve it! Did you go over your budget? That’s okay, look back and see where that extra couple dollars went to. Now you know for next time!

Until next time :)
--Solana D