6 Ways To Avoid Going Broke During The Holidays

We can all use some proper planning to avoid going broke during the holidays! This time can be quite hectic and stressful since most of us wait until the week before to shop! Circling the parking lot for an hour trying to find a parking space. Navigating through crowds of people to find something that catches your eye. Standing in long lines to checkout and carrying tons of bags that’s hurting your arms. Then you get home and have to stay up late to wrap all these last minute gifts. At the end of it all your checking account is close to zero. . . Happy Holidays! Some people love this and can’t wait for the time to come, while others (me included) rather avoid it. So I’m sharing 6 ways to avoid going broke during the holidays!

Start NOW!

This is why I’m dropping the post now and not waiting until December! The only way these tips will work is if you start early. . . like now! We all know what happens when we continue to put things off and wait until the last minute. It’s so not worth the stress and headache. These are times when we’re supposed to be relaxing and enjoying our families/friends. So let’s do the responsible thing and plan accordingly! Which leads me to our second tip. . .

Make a List and Set Your Budget

Create a list with each person that you’ll be buying gifts for, then create a budget for that specific person. Once you complete your list and aligning budgets, tally up your total expenses for everyone. Do you like this number or nah? If nah, rework each person’s spending budget and add your total expenses again. I like this because it gives me a clear number of exactly how much I’ll be spending at the end of the day.

SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!

Now that you have your total spending budget, it’s time for you to start saving! If you put this money aside now, then during the holidays you’ll actually have money. See how that works? Lol. This is great too because there’s always that one person I tend to forget or someone who pops up I didn’t expect. So if need be, I know I’ll have additional funds during the holiday because I already saved prior. Trust me, start now and deduct money from every paycheck!

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Allow Yourself Time To Shop

As soon as I have enough money saved for 2 – 3 people on my list, I start shopping so I can cross them off. Then the cycle continues once I have enough money for another 2 – 3 people and so on. Anyways, the point here is not to wait until December to start your shopping! I tend to try to get my list completed by the end of November, so December I can relax and/or handle any unexpected gift shopping. Additionally, it’s the perfect time to shop because there are so many sales with Black Friday happening. This is especially true if you’re buying someone an expensive gift or electronics. With your list in hand and money saved, you can scout where that item will be sold and if it’ll be on sale.

Shop Online

Since you’re being so responsible and getting your list done early, means you can shop online! We all know that most of the best deals (even during Black Friday) can be found digitally! Since you’re not waiting until the last minute, you can shop peacefully in your home and not have to worry about shipping delays. You’ll have more enough time to order the items, get the free ground shipping and possibly return it back if you don’t like it. I don’t encourage online shopping if you’re in rush a though! Paying for overnight shipping and rush fees will dramatically hinder your total spending budget.

Ship Early

Any family or friends that aren’t in your state? Get their shopping done first so you have ample amount of time to ship their gifts out. As I said in the previous tip, we don’t want to pay additional shipping fees. So if you get there shopping done early, you can ship it out with any method that you choose! Also, you’ll avoid those long lines in the Post Office as well.

I really want everyone to enjoy their time during the holidays! Shopping can really be hectic if it’s not planned correctly. . . so do yourself (and your bank account) a favor and try these 6 easy tips. I guarantee that once you experience all of the benefits associated, you’ll never wait until the last minute again! What are some ways that you have to avoid going broke during the holidays? Please let me know in the comments! Don’t forget to subscribe and happy planning y’all!

Until Next Time ASSASSINS. . . Stay Motivated!

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