5 Tips for Budgeting This Holiday Season

With the holiday season approaching, there can be new pressures on your budget, from gifts for friends and family, to charitable contributions, to travel during time off. Rather than wait until the new year to reset your budget after a big spending season, here’s five tips for budgeting and saving as the holiday season gets into full swing. 

1. Make a Plan Early 

As time goes on, things get more expensive – flight prices will start to go up, sales will end, and rushed shipping will cost more. If you’re able, make a plan of the various additional expenses you expect during the holidays as soon as you can. Find ways to set alerts for when prices fall, and plan for when certain stores may have big sales. Further, ordering earlier means you can pick free shipping options that may take longer to arrive, but without the stress of last-minute delivery. 

2. Set Spending Limits 

Just as you might set a limit for how much you spend on eating out each month, setting limits on how much you’ll spend on gifts or other holiday expenses can help keep your budget in check. This can apply to each individual person you plan to give a gift to or your total gift budget. 

3. Tap Into Rewards and Gift Cards 

A common holiday gift is a gift card, and you might’ve received one a year ago, tucked it away, and forgot about it. Many gift cards and certificates expire after a year, so check those gift cards to ensure they still work, and then potentially use those to save on your direct gifting costs. Similarly, you may have rewards stored up, either from a credit card or a loyalty program, and exploring the savings you might get from using some of those saved points. 

4. Stay Creative 

There are tons of opportunities for creativity throughout the holidays, and it’s not just in decoration and crafts. One way of saving money can be through homemade gifts, which requires creativity, but your creativity can also come through in new ideas for how your friends might set requirements for giving gifts, how you wrap and send your gifts, how you plan to travel, or even in how you think about giving to charity. Maybe a donation isn’t in your budget, but you have a few hours to volunteer at a local food bank. 

5. Don’t Let Holiday Spending Limit Your Fun 

Thinking about all your costs around the holidays can be overwhelming and put a damper on the season. If the process of putting it all together creates more stress and pressure, see where you can skip the things that aren’t bringing you joy, or at least find ways to have those things cost you less. There are also usually free holiday events all around, which can be great opportunities to share in the joy at no cost.