Ask Mike asked:
Over spending around the holidays is a real problem in this country. Got any advice on how to plan a budget and stick to it?
Over spending around the holidays is a real problem in this country. Got any advice on how to plan a budget and stick to it?
April 24th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: News |
Filed under: News |
April 27th, 2008 at 2:13 am
save now by not spending not at all and you dont overfill the landfill
April 27th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I start in January and buy presents throughout the year.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:29 am
You want to be fair with each individual you buy for, budget your money, do you draw names with family or friends? Sometimes that is more fun than trying to buy each and every person a little something that may never even get used.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:34 am
I used to try to break up with any girlfriends before Thanksgiving. Now that I’ve been married for eleven years, we simply agree that she gets all the expensive stuff and my grown up kids and I just trade twenty-dollar-bills. I will not go in debt for x-mas.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
i start buying xmas presents very early, like in august and only one present at a time. that helps alot with sticker shock
May 7th, 2008 at 7:57 am
If money is a real issue, then may i suggest:
look after the family first, and do everything to make it enjoyable, this shouldn’t mean showering them all with the most expensive gifts…
have family time, visit relatives, invite them round, play lots of games, tell lots of jokes, make it enjoyable for the right reasons.
of course, in this day and age, people will probably want or expect gifts: so set a fairly tight limit per person you are buying for.. but try to spend it well, and get real value, this will take time and effort, but done properly, you should be o.k. put priority on those who would appreciate/need/want gifts more (i.e. children) and agree with those (adult brothers/sisters/parents/friends) that are not as critical, that you will just cook each other a meal, or go for a few drinks in the new year instead..
then you need to set the usual budget for normal living food/drink etc.. and say to yourself that for 1-2 weeks, you can probably double or triple it.. but again, shop around, get some bargains (buy things now before prices rocket due to demand, but look out for naughty sell/use by dates!).
Be strict, but don’t ever think you are abnormal, don’t fall for the peer pressure that you have to be lavish…
Be Lavish with the fun and you will be ok!
May 8th, 2008 at 10:36 am
the best holiday happens after 6month hard work
and the best place for holiday is india
May 11th, 2008 at 1:12 am
1. Discuss this with the adult members of your family. Agree that Christmas gifts are for children, and that older children (teenagers) can have ONE thing as a reward for helping with the children. Then stick to it. Maybe one or two grandmothers will include something for her adult children, but if the rest of you don’t buy gifts for adults one year, and look suitably embarrassed if you get anything yourself, the following year people will take it seriously.
2. If you have talent for it, make things for others, rather than buying them. The materials will cost significantly less, although it will use up your time. In fact, you should be working on Christmas things all year round if you have a time-consuming talent, such as counted cross-stitch.
3. Agree to a dollar limit on adult gifts, just to have something under the tree. If you get below $5.00 or maybe $10.00, you will see that these really are for amusement value and not to “impress” anyone. Creativity counts more than money, anyway. Handle the over-indulgent grandma as mentioned in #1, above.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:00 am
Set an overall Christmas Budgets, then list the people who you want to give a gift to and then apply the amount your are willing to spend for each person. Make sure that the total amount is no more than what your budget is. Sometimes if you have an idea about what the item is your buying that can help eleviate the issues of overspending because you can cross reference retailer that have the item available at a better price.
May 17th, 2008 at 4:54 am
I start already very early and put every month a small amount of money aside, by this way it is not such a big weight at the time of holidays.
May 17th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
For myself … as part of the New Year … I set aside an amount each and every month (and pay it into my savings account 1st BEFORE the bills are paid) …
So that when it comes time for me to start my Holiday Shopping, I DEFINITELY Have the funds to PAY for the things I am getting for the Holidays … whether it is a NEW TV or a Gift for a Family Member!
I stick with it because I MUST … for you see, I am a Long Term Single — including a Long Term Single Parent, and my ex (from a short disaster of a marriage … an abusive, violent sociopath) NEVER complied with the Divorce Decree, so it was SOLELY up to me to BUDGET for EVERYTHING for myself/my children … from their Clothing to Scout Activities to School needs to Medical Care. As a RESULT — I have a VERY STRICT BUDGET … one which I’ve lived with for years!
May 20th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
my advice is to go out and eat, it’s cheaper by the time you buy all the fixings for a large dinner, plus electric or gas , water, time , etc:etc: etc:
m
May 21st, 2008 at 10:16 am
Don’t buy anything on the holidays and you won’t need to worry about a budget.
May 24th, 2008 at 10:37 am
The best way to plan a holiday budget begins with asking yourself what events will take place on this specific holiday. This might include giving gifts, making special dishes for a dinner, or providing some or all of the guest food items. The most critical question is, how much available money do you have to spread over the entire holiday or season.
Once you know thes things, sit and list the events in time and importance order. For instance you may be going to one or more dinners or parties for this holiday, but you may be required to do something a little different at each one. I recommend listing the events in order of the tasks you are required (or feel obligated) to perform at each one. As an example, some parties may require that you bring nothing and merely show up. Others may only require that you bring a food item to share. Still others may require presents, food for a main dinner and a smaller gift for your host. Once this list is completed create a second list of presents you must shop for and a separate list of food items you will need from the grocery store. From your original list of events determine which are more important. Then while keeping an eye on the total of available money divide the available money among the gifts and food items you have listed. Allocate the most of your available money to the more important presents and food items while preserving some money for the less important events and presents.
Once your list of presents and food items has been prepared, shop for the more important items first. Do not go over your upper dollar limit, but allow yourself to find bargains and savings as you shop. If you locate savings, adjust the allowable price for less important items at the bottom of your lists to rise to absorb the savings if you can truly spare the extra money. Otherwise, put the savings back in your pocket and buy yourself a little treat as a reward for all your hard work. Lastly, approach the holiday with a smile on your face, prepared to have a good time and the knowledge that you haven’t spent beyond your means during this holiday.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:44 am
hmmm, that’s really the traditon in every nation…to spend lots during holidays. but practically, i buy cheaper things and do creative crafts in my pc. i dont spend much of it..maybe time consuming but worth it….it may not be the most expensive things they expected to receive but, as always saying, its the thought that counts.
May 27th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
No I don’t. I think it comes down to will power.I don’t think any real person can plan a budget and stick to it the first time,but I do believe the next time you will know what you did wrong this time and hopefully notice it and slowly wing your self off the over holiday spending over time.
May 31st, 2008 at 5:52 am
I refuse to go into debt for the holidays, and plan my budget very early in the year. I sock away money every month for the gifts in my personal savings account and keep track of how much I have there is for the holidays.
If you have a hard time saving money without dipping into it for other things, you can set up a bank “Christmas Club”, or buy a gift card for yourself every month for the stores where you usually buy presents. Keep the gift cards in a safe place for YOU to use when you go gift shopping.
I have 99% of my gift shopping done by Thanksgiving, so I’m not broke when it comes to buying the food for holiday meals and the snacks to have during December.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Just step back and trim the fat from your gift exchange list and set limit that all agree upon. Setting a limit actually takes a lot of guess work out and makes finding a gift under ..$15 fun. You can actually do this at OptOutGiftExchange.com. You build your profile for each member on your exchange list or just create a standard profile i.e Mike has opted out of Christmas gift exchange with adults and has set a $15 spending limit for children’s Christmas. You then send a buzz to all on your exchange list to check out your profile and either accept or reject your invitation. Pretty cool and it works.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
seriously start shopping in the spring. you will be surprised by how much you don’t spend. during this season they hike those prices up for a reason!! and you don’t have to be in those long lines.
June 5th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
The best way to plan for any spending event is to understand that you will have to pay for it sooner or later.
Given that this is fully accepted, then you must realize that there is a limited amount of hard cash available for this event.
Even though you may use a credit card, the card will have to be paid off by using cash so think cash and not credit.
The key here is to be a realist about money and not an idealist who lives as if there is no tomorrow!
There is an old say that goes as follows: A fool and his or her money are soon parted!
June 7th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Save as much as you can until the holiday and then go shopping another is to get items early as possible so you don’t have to wait in line on the holiday days plus you got more chances or getting it now then later.
June 11th, 2008 at 1:43 am
Some credit unions let you set aside money for the holidays with direct deposit. You’ll notice it less, as it comes directly out of your paycheck. It might be too late to do that for this holiday season, but not for the next.
You could remember what you spent this holiday, then aim for saving the same amount next year.
I also like the idea of families drawing names for gift-giving. That saves the whole family money. You could also set a limit on how much each family member is allowed to spend.
June 12th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I usually put aside at least $100.00 for the Thanksgiving dinner. This, of course, can go further with the holiday sales.
June 14th, 2008 at 1:04 am
SORRY. NEVER COULD STICK TO IT ; SO FAR .
June 14th, 2008 at 9:24 am
I usually decide how much I can spend and divide the money between the people on my list . I am disabled so money is hard to come by sometimes I have to be real creative….Once I made a collection of all my favorite recipes hand wrote them in a book and gave to my females on my list now they have a cookbook ,hand written by grandma to pass down. cost was $2.00 for the book per female so I spent about $6.00 total.