There can be a lot of pressure on parents during the holidays to ensure that they make everyone happy in the family. From setting up the tree to arranging travel plans, to making sure that everyone feels excited opening their gifts knowing how good they were this year.
Along with this pressure can come a feeling of not having enough to be able to take it all on. When your budget doesn’t allow you to be able to do absolutely everything you’d like to do with your money you can start to feel frustrated and lacking. However, the holidays aren’t just about spending money. You can have a perfectly enjoyable holiday season regardless of whether you are a millionaire or not.
Here are the best tips for ensuring that you don’t lose your cool financially during the holidays.
Budget
It’s helpful to create a budget for yourself which includes all of your monthly expenses. This way you can ensure that you are covering all of your necessities and make room for the extra expenses of gifts.
You may find that you have to pull back on certain expenditures like entertainment, while still ensuring that you are paying off debts or bills which can’t be ignored. Setting up an organized set of boundaries for your spending will ensure that you don’t just make enough room in your budget for the extra holiday gifts, but that you don’t stress at the last minute from unexpected costs.
Make Your Purchases Off-Season
Many parents make a point of doing their holiday shopping outside of the holiday season. This way they can ensure that they get the best possible prices without having to deal with the holiday madness.
Try to do your shopping during the summer or during big sales which usually take place in the fall and summer. This way you can get items which would normally be priced extremely high during Christmas for a fraction of the cost, off-season.
Do a Gift Exchange
One of the most effective ways to cut back on spending during the holidays is to reduce your gift giving to only one person each. This means that everyone draws from a hat and only does a gift exchange with one member of the family rather than have to give to everyone and stress over the cost.
For an extra twist, consider doing a white elephant gift exchange which requires giving each other zany and creative gag gifts.
Put Away Savings
Putting away savings throughout the year in order to save for the holidays is a great way to anticipate the costs.
If you put away a small amount each month during the year with the intention of using it for the holidays, you’ll find that you have a nice amount once Christmas rolls around.