With the holiday season quickly approaching, you’ll be spending a lot more money throughout the next couple of weeks than during any other time of the year. To ensure you don’t accumulate too much debt, here are five tips on spending smart:
- Plan a budget. Depending on the status of your savings account, figure out how much money you can afford to spend on everything from shopping, entertainment and travelling to decorations, parties and holiday outfits. Find a reasonable number that won’t give you too much of a financial hangover as you enter into the new year–and stick to it!
- List exactly who you want to buy gifts for. This way you won’t end up spending a ridiculous amount of money trying to get something for everyone. Of course, you might want to have some wiggle room just in case you forgot about someone when you were making the list. Still, don’t start buying gifts blindly, without having an outline as to who you’re going to be buying something for and how much you should be spending.
- Do-it-yourself. Nothing has more of a personal touch than spending time and creativity on a customized gift. Think about what coincides with a person’s interests or figure out what they might need depending on their particular lifestyle. Once you have a good idea, you can get a little crafty and go to town on creating a gift that comes straight from the heart. You could even bake special cookies, make holiday candies, or get started on preparing jars of pickles. Either way, DIY gifts always have a special meaning!
- Carry cash. Unlike when you use plastic, the act of going into your wallet and grabbing dollar bills when you’re buying something seems to make it register in your mind how much money you’re actually spending. With cash, you know how much money you took out before going shopping, and also tend to be a little bit more cautious about buying gifts that might be too expensive. This is a great psychological approach to shopping meant to improve your awareness about spending.
- Be smart with plastic. Although carrying cash helps you keep track of your spending, you should still take advantage of the rewards that come along with your credit cards. Depending on which type of purchases your points go towards, make sure you use your card strategically to accumulate and redeem as many points as possible during the holiday season. This way, you’ll have more leeway when buying miscellaneous items throughout the upcoming weeks.
Be smart about spending money this holiday season! The last thing you want to do is bury yourself in too much debt and fail to make complete payments. When this happens, credit reporting services will view you as a liability. If you’re already struggling with debt though, restore your credit rating with guidance from the professionals at Quality Credit Repair. They’ll help you enter into 2017 with confidence and more financial freedom!