Holiday budgeting
Life can get hard around holiday time when you’re living on a fairly strict budget. It can also get out of hand if you start your holiday shopping without a plan in place. You don’t want to start off the new year wondering how to make ends meet just because you went overboard on gifts. Holiday budget planning doesn’t start in December either - it should be a yearlong process. It’s too late to do this year, but starting in January, make a list of the main people you’ll be buying gifts for during the next holiday season. Make sure you count on a few extras for people you may meet throughout the year. Next, think about what you’d like to spend on each of those people - this will obviously vary for each person. Then, look at your salary, monthly expenses, retirement savings contributions, etc. Figure out how much of each paycheck you can afford to put aside into a separate holiday account. That way, at the end of the year, you’ll have a pot of money that will be enough to cover the gifts you planned to buy with a little extra for gifts that you didn’t expect. Believe me, it will take lots of stress out of your holiday shopping!