We live in some tough times. The holidays can sometimes pull the rug right out from underneath you, leaving you in a bigger hole financially and emotionally. While you might not have a lot of money to spend this Christmas to provide gifts for your family, we do have some suggestions that might help. Take a look at some of these ways to help you make it through the holidays when the money is tight.
Setup Automatic Transfers
Well before shopping for Christmas gifts is even thought of, consider getting automatic transfers of small bits of cash set aside in your account that you don’t touch. When the Christmas season rolls around, you should have enough set aside to make shopping for gifts much more bearable. Some banks and credit unions offer Christmas Club accounts just for this purpose. You can also use sites like Self if you’d prefer. It automatically takes money out of your account and puts it into a savings account for you. You’ll get it back once you’ve paid yourself back.
Put a Spending Limit on Gifts
While money may be tight this year, put a spending limit on gifts purchases to help you not go over. Make sure that you stick to that budget. There are lots of ways to save money when you’re purchasing your gifts to make your budget stretch further. Keep your eye out at local thrift stores, in Facebook resell groups, on eBay, and by watching Black Friday sales.
Shop by Yourself
Have you ever noticed when you head to the grocery store with your family, you walk out paying much more on things you didn’t really need? The same can be said about shopping for Christmas gifts. It’s just smarter to go about it on your own unless the other shopper is even cheaper than you. Can’t get out of the house by yourself? Shop online with your favorite retailers (and make sure to use sites like Rakuten to get paid for shopping!).
Pay with Cash
Studies have shown that paying for your purchases in cash, will help you be more aware of how much you’re spending, and you’ll be more careful how quickly you let it go. Choose to use cash for buying gifts this year. Don’t turn to the credit card to make your situation even worse. Once the cash that you’ve agreed to spend has run out, that’s it. One quick way to keep cash on hand is to get cash back when you’re checking out and paying with your debit card throughout the year. Keep that money in an envelope for your holiday shopping so you’ll be all ready to go when it’s time to start shopping.
Don’t Go so Heavy On Gifts for the Kids
Every year you want your children to have a better Christmas than the last. Eventually, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Not only are you spending way too much on gifts, but you’ve also completely missed the point of the season. Besides, one month after Christmas Day, most of those gifts won’t be getting played with any longer. Dial it back a smidge and get them one thing they want, one thing they need and something unexpected. I’m totally guilty of doing this!! I always want it to look like there’s lots of gifts under the tree, but I’ve learned that buying stuff they don’t really need or want only winds up giving me more stuff to sell in a garage sale in a few months because the kids aren’t using it. Consider gifting experiences instead of things and buying todays and things the kids will be able to use for a while instead of just a few weeks.
Homemade Christmas Decorations
If you don’t have enough money to get Christmas decorations this year, you’re not alone. Take a look at some of these homemade Christmas decorations that you can make with items that are lying around the house. A quick Pinterest search will give you some other Christmas craft ideas. You might even have most of the supplies already on hand so there won’t be much for you to have to buy to make your crafts. You can still have a magical Christmas and celebrate the holidays when money is tight making beautiful things to decorate your home.
‘Tis the Season of Giving
The Christmas season is not about buying things to make your family and friends love you more. The season is about giving. That might mean giving your time outside of work to be with family or making homemade Christmas gifts to give to those you care about. Again, you don’t have to spend a ton of money. Another great gift idea that won’t cost you much money is gifting someone your time. Offer tutoring, reading bedtime stories (make a video and send it if you’re not close enough to read them in person), or special play dates as opposed to buying gifts.
These are simple ways of helping you survive the holidays when the money is tight. If you’ve struggled around the holidays before, what ways did you find for cutting costs and still making it a Christmas season to remember?
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