Planning for Holiday Spending
Holiday Spending Tips
Here at My Money Story, October marks the beginning of the Holiday season. From spiritual and/or religious observations to nondenominational gatherings with loved ones, the Fall and Winter Season gives us much to celebrate and be grateful for.
In the spirit of gratitude, we’d like to share some tips that have been passed down from our families to lessen the potential financial stress of this season.
1. Try to not underestimate how much you'll spend
One of the first things we learned was not to underestimate how much we will spend on gifts and holiday outings. It’s very easy in the season's excitement (not to mention the marketing and social pressures) to overspend on gifts.
A way to guard against this is to make a gift-giving list in advance and to truly be intentional about spending. Before you buy that extra gift, reflect on whether that item is something the giftee wanted and/or will really like, or whether it’s something that simply caught your eye while you were on the check-out line or that you wanted to use to get that “free” shipping.
2. Focus on experience, not material purchases
Another thing we learned was to focus on experiences rather than material purchases. After all, we are more likely to remember years down the line a charming excursion or an outing that led to a funny story rather than the “top” commodity of a particular year. (And remember, the outing doesn’t have to be super expensive to be meaningful.)
3. Strategies for when funds are tight
And when times were tight, and funds were limited for gift-giving, we learned the following strategies:
Be realistic about our budget and how much we can afford to spend.
Setting a limit of 1/2 meaningful gifts per person (1 fun gift and 1 practical gift)
In a multi-generational gathering, gifting primarily to children rather than every member of the family/friend group.
Performing a “secret Santa” style of gift giving, so that everyone gets a gift, but the financial burden isn't high.
Setting a spending limit per person on gifts for the family/friend group.
Using our credit card cash rewards, and/or utilizing unused gift cards that were given the prior year, during birthdays, or given to us by our employers, etc. to purchase new gifts for family and friends.
Saving for next year’s Holiday Season via dedicated bank accounts (preferably a high-yield account). We learned that saving $23-25 weekly (or $50 every other week) was much less stressful than having to pay $1,200 outright or having to carry the debt on high-interest credit cards over 3 months.
What's My Money Story?
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It's free and open to everyone, but we especially want to create a safe space for People of Color to talk about their goals and achieve them faster.
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