I know you might be thinking it’s too early to talk about the holidays, but Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before you know it. The holiday season is the most common time to go broke or get into debt. It’s a very expensive time for your wallet and it’s best to be prepared so you can start the new year off without being stressed out about money.
Here are 3 effective things you can start doing now to have a debt free holiday season.
Develop Your Budget and Gift List
The earlier you can write out your shopping list, the better. The other day I pulled my son aside and asked him to provide me a list of a few things he wanted for Christmas. Even he who gets into the holiday spirit all early claimed is was too early to talk about Christmas, but he did add a few items to the list which helped me create my budget.
Your list doesn’t have to be finalized at this time since you don’t know what sales might be offered but a rough draft will give you a good idea of how much you can spend. By getting a head start on this step, you can set realistic expectations and limits for your holiday spending.
Start a Holiday Savings Fund
Since your shopping list will help you know how much you plan on spending, you can start saving now so you can afford to make purchases toward the end of the years. Even if you start setting aside $50 per month, it will help you avoid spending more money than you have saved up when you start shopping. You can store your money in an online high-yield savings account with CapitalOne 360, Ally Bank, or any other bank that offers competitive interest rates.
Set up automatic withdrawals every time you get paid so you don’t even have to think about saving.
Start Accumulating Loyalty Rewards and Gift Cards
If you are apart of any loyalty rewards programs like Ebates or Swagbucks, you can start earnings points to redeem gift cards that you can use for holiday shopping. Since the holiday season can be so expensive, I try to stock up on gift cards all year-round so I can use them to lower my spending.
If you have a birthday coming up or a special event and you don’t really need anything currently, ask friends and family to provide you with a Visa gift card and save it and use it for holiday shopping. Also, shop smart now and sign up for loyalty reward programs so you can redeem rewards later this year.
For example, I recently bought a laptop because mine died. I decided to purchase one at Best Buy because they not only have quality products but an awesome rewards system as well. Since I purchased my laptop there and signed up for their rewards card, I received a $60 credit that I plan on using to buy my son a kids’ tablet for Christmas.
Have you started thinking about the holidays yet and how you’ll be able to afford it? Be honest. Which one of these strategies will you try out this year?