HOW-TO: Keep Spending Under Control During the Holidays

The Southeast Missourian daily newspaper published a time-relevant online article entitled “Holiday Budgeting: Some Ways to Keep Your Holiday Spending Under Control.” We have included the article in this post, or you can click here to read the article in its original form. Comment below to let us know if you found any of these suggestions helpful!

Holiday Budgeting: Some Ways to Keep Your Holiday Spending Under Control

By Robyn Gautschy

A little budgeting before and during the holiday season wouldn’t do you any harm. On the contrary, if you are searching for a way to get out of debt, getting appropriate financial advice before the gift-giving season begins is the best thing that you can do. Most people spend a lot of money on travel, entertaining and presents during the holidays. A significant part of expenditure is done on credit, at huge interest rates. This brings along a lot of debt, which usually destroys people’s cheer after the holiday. If you wish to avoid this, you should check the following 10 tips, which explain how you can have a great holiday without risking some unpleasant financial consequences:

1. Make a List:   Writing down the items that you want to purchase can help you to avoid spending money on unnecessary things. Additionally, the list will remind you to buy everything that you need in order to spend a wonderful holiday with your family.

2. Always Stick to Your Budget:  Another great financial tip that can help you to avoid holiday overspending is to stay within your budget. If you are tempted to spend more money than you should, you can shop together with one of your friends, who can provide a voice of reason whenever you need it.

3. Look Out for Bargains:  Although you cannot find some really good deals during the holiday season, there are major price variations among the same products provided by different stores. To benefit from these variations, you should take the time to compare certain offers. Another great idea would be to look for presents before prices go up for the official shopping season.

4. Check Return Policies:  It is very important to verify the return policies of various stores prior to buying gifts. This is because these policies indicate the terms that all customers who intend to return goods must comply with. These terms mainly relate to time frames and condition of goods.

5. Record Your Purchases:  This is another useful financial tip for the holiday season. Keeping track of your purchases can help you to understand whether you will exceed the limit of your budget or not.

6. Choose the Right Payment Methods:  If you wish to lower your debt, it is very important to leave the credit card at home. The best payment methods include debit cards, checks and cash.

7. Transfer Your Credit Card Balance to a Low-Interest Credit Card:  If you possess a low-interest card, you should transfer the balance of the high-interest cards to it. This can be a very lucrative financial practice because paying off $1,000 at 6% instead of 18% interest will save you a lot of money.

8. Use Stores’ Point Structure:  Numerous stores are involved in cash-back reward programs, which offer rebates on particular purchases. Although most programs only offer small discounts, these can add up to a substantial savings over one year.

9. Get Gift Cards: Using gift cards in order to keep your budget under control is a truly beneficial idea. Occasionally, this type of deal helps people to get two gifts for the price of one.

10. Use Coupons:  A large number of websites offer coupons that can bring you significant discounts, especially during the gift-giving season.

The time to look for financial advice is before the official holiday shopping season starts. Although shopping might not be as much fun as you expect, the tips presented above can help you to get through the holidays without increasing your debt.

Are coupons worth the trouble?

By Robyn Davis Sekula

I know of many people who swear by coupons. They sit down with their Sunday paper and a pair of scissors with a look like a kid on Christmas. I've done this from time to time, but I have never really consistently used coupons.

To me, they just are not worth the hassle. It takes me at least an hour to grocery shop, and with coupons, that time is almost doubled. I have three kids six and under, so I just do not have extra time. Every minute matters to me. Plus, I tend to buy generics. Most of the time when I've bothered with coupons, if I compare the cost of the name brand including a coupon with the generic, the generic is cheaper, and often, the quality is the same.

I also don't pay much attention to "sales," particularly on food items. I don't read the sale papers during the week and plot a course from one store to the other. My goal is speed. I want to get done, and get home.

Last summer, while checking out of Meijer, I noticed the woman in front of me leave with a cart full of groceries after paying only somewhere around $5. My jaw dropped, and she explained it to me, and said she had been on television several times explaining her strategy.

But I also took a look in her cart. Lots and lots and lots of processed foods. Huge bags of chips, and other snack foods. I buy fresh produce as often as possible, as well as dairy, and that will drive up the price of your trip quickly.

I know who won't agree with me: Michelle at WickedCoolDeals.com. I admire her thrifty ways. But I'm afraid I won't be following in her tracks anytime soon.

I also don't think it's worth it to collect aluminum cans for money. I would toss mine in recycling with everything else if given the opportunity. But my husband, God bless his sweet little thrifty soul, digs the cans out and takes them to the recycling place where they pay him for the cans himself. I can tell you right now that's not worth my time. But if he wants to do it, hey, I won't stop him.

So how about you? What thrifty things are worth your time - and what's not?

It's the most expensive time of the year

We've already warned you of the dangers of being one of those parents who just HAS to have the most in-demand toy of the Christmas season for your child. It's silly, and most of the time, by January 1, your kid has forgotten completely about whatever must-have you've procured. People pay way too much for these items and even get into violent fights over the toys. Definitely not worth it.

If you'd like to have a fun look through must-have toys of Christmases past, here's an interesting story from Esquire.

http://bit.ly/6L8Hn8

Set a budget, stick to it

By Dan Danford

This Friday, hoards of shoppers will head out in the wee hours, still stuffed with turkey, to plough their way through the crowds towards bargains. There probably are some good bargains out there. But the problem with this day of shopping is the same as how many Americans treat everything else: they don't plan.

Your plan for Black Friday shopping - and holiday shopping in general - should include some common elements.

Decide what you want to spend overall. If you have a Christmas Club account, congratulations, you've planned and have your budget for shopping. To determine how much you can spend if you don't have that tool, look at what is in savings, how much extra you have in the budget and what big expenses you have coming up. If you're self-employed, make sure you've set aside money for taxes BEFORE you make this determination. Do not factor in any credit card spending, unless you're prepared to pay it off immediately.



Decide who you're going to buy for. Immediate family first, and then make your way down the list. Are there people you've always bought for out of habit who you really don't speak to that often? Maybe it's time to trim the list, or cut back on what you buy.

Divide the money you have available to you among the people you've got on your list. Spend more on your immediate family, if that's your custom.

Decide what you want to buy, and look around online. Can you buy what you want with the money you have allocated? Don't let anyone pressure you into buying somethinng that costs more than you can afford, whether it's a child or adult. It's a gift. Their job is to be grateful for getting it, not dictate what you buy.

Write all of this down. Take your list with you shopping. Treat it like a grocery list, and mark people off as you shop.

The problem with Black Friday is that people see sales that they believe are bargains and they decide to spend more than they've planned due to the bargains available. Don't buy your brother that $450 computer at Wal-Mart if you're only prepared to spend $300 on him, even if he does need it and it is a good deal. Make a plan. Stick to it. And avoid using credit as much as possible.