The holiday season can be both exciting and expensive. The excitement stems from chances to see family and friends, while the expenses often stem from holiday shopping for those very same loved ones.
Many shoppers run into financial trouble come the holiday season, when the temptation to overspend on holiday gifts can be tough to resist. But the following are a handful of ways shoppers can stretch their budgets and avoid going broke this holiday season.
· Agree to spending limits. Come the holiday season, many people overspend on gifts for their immediate family members. Before shopping season begins, speak with members of your immediate family to discuss spending limits on gifts, agreeing that you each won't spend more than an agreed upon amount of dollars on gifts for any one person. Come to a consensus on a reasonable limit and urge family members not to exceed that limit no matter what.
· Determine how much you can spend. Many people find themselves overextended financially come the holiday season because they never bother to sit down before the season begins to determine how much they can afford to spend. Set some time aside before your first holiday shopping excursion to examine your finances. Such an examination should give you a ballpark figure of how much you can spend. Keep a tally of all of your purchases with you whenever you go shopping, updating the list with each new purchase you make. Tracking spending can help you stay within your budget.
· Go shopping with a plan. Visiting the mall or a town shopping center without any idea of what you're looking for is a recipe for overspending. Put some thought and research into your holiday shopping so you aren't spending time wandering around and buying on impulse, which can increase your chance of overspending. The more thought you put into your shopping, the more you can comparison shop and find the best price for each gift.
· Start early. If your holiday shopping list is long or if you know money will be tight come the holiday season, begin your holiday shopping early. Doing so allows you to stretch your spending out over several months as opposed to several weeks. Shopping early also gives you more time to comparison shop and find the best price.
· Resist the temptation to put it all on plastic. Credit and debit cards are more convenient than cash, especially now that you can buy everything from cups of coffee to big-ticket items with the swipe of a card. But cash can be your friend when holiday shopping, especially if you have a history of overspending during the holiday season. Leave cards at home when holiday shopping, spending only the cash you have in your pocket. While this may be a less convenient way to shop than you've grown accustomed to, it will save you the grief of large credit card bills come January.
Holiday shopping can easily get out of hand. But shoppers who commit to spending only what they can afford before their first shopping trip can make it through the season with their finances intact.
