Holiday spending can be extremely stressful time, financially, for many people. However, that stress is magnified if you’re trying to save for a financial goal – like purchasing a home. We want to help you develop strategies and tactics to cope with holiday spending while still meeting your financial goals.
Budget
Our number one tip for surviving holiday spending is to create your holiday budget in advance. The sooner you can lay out all the people you need to shop for and assign dollar values to those names, the better. Begin putting a sum of money into a “holiday account” each paycheck to help make the sudden onslaught of spending a little more comfortable, rather than letting it sneak up on you.
When you’re making your budget, this may be a good time to make some minor adjustments to your typical holiday spending. Try reducing the amount that you spend on each person by a certain amount. Maybe commit to reduce your holiday spending by 25% this year. So if you would typically buy your mother a $100 gift, commit to spending only $75 on her this year.
Suggest Money-Saving Options
If you have a large family who each purchases a gift for everyone else, try suggesting a fun, new tradition this year. There are several holiday games like Secret Santa (where you draw a name and purchase only for that person) or White Elephant (where you bring a gift that you think will be appeal – or be funny – to everyone in the group and choose your gift from the pile of available options). Not only are these traditions fun, but it also, but they also require that each person only bring a gift for one other person, significantly reducing the amount that each person must spend on holiday gifts.
Be Up-Front & Honest
Share your dreams and goals with your friends and family to help them understand why it is that you’re not able to make your typical financial commitment this holiday season. Letting them in on your plan and you’ll gain a great support system, as well as their understanding of why you’re making the budgetary decisions that you’re making this holiday season.
To learn more about Merit Real Estate and the services we provide, please visit www.MeritRealEstate.com or call (310) 379-4444.