Financial Guide For The Festive Holiday Season
posted on Dec 13, 2018
Planning financially for this festive season is planning unusual
The festive season is a jolly, hectic and very busy time of the year. It’s a time for families to get together, old friends to meet again and for the hearts to be as merry as possible. No matter the plans for this time of the year, you should not forget to be deliberate about the most important element of all, the money that would fuel the fun this season.
Planning financially for this festive season is planning unusual. Because it is just once a year, you would like to make it a memorable experience. Therefore you have to put in an effort to make that possible.
Here are 4 financial guides to help you plan your spending for this festive season so you can have less worries more fun this holiday season.
1. Be deliberate about giving
Christmas is not complete without giving. Most of the time, we do not deliberately take out time to plan and budget for gifting our friends, loved ones and colleagues from work, which in most cases are inevitable. We often plan for just our personal Christmas items and forget the
The best way to budget your money for gifts this season is to start with a list. Create a list of people you would like to give to this season and give room for extras. You could run into an old friend or a distant relative and you would want to leave them with something they would remember. When this is sorted, don’t overthink what you would get for individual persons, but rather, get a generic yet thoughtful gift anyone can use. This way you would save yourself a lot of stress and money.
2. Buy now
If you would like to buy anything for Christmas, it should be now. Apart from the fact that most of the items you would want for Christmas would still be available before the rush hour begins, you would also be able to take advantage of the discounts and sales that would be ongoing before the peak season when things might tend to go higher. The same applies to getting your travel tickets. If you would like to travel for the holiday, get your tickets sorted now before the prices go up.
3. Be cautious when purchasing online
If you would like to chill at home and buy your Christmas items and gifts online to save you the stress of trying to walk passed thousands of people at the mall and local stores, you should be very careful.
It is very important to be vigilant when visiting an online store or banking sites. When shopping online, ensure you use trusted online stores with secure websites as cyber theft seem to be very high during the festive seasons.
4. Save for the New Year
To start the year on a good note, it’s important that you properly budget and spend your money wisely over December. While it’s tempting, you should not spend your entire salary over the festive season.
Remember you would need to take care of your wellbeing and that of your family members for January before you get your first salary for the year. You would also need to take into consideration your loan repayment plan if you have an existing loan, so you do not over stretch yourself financially.
Finally, Christmas and New Year season is usually the most interesting season of the year with its down moments, and it does not have to be stressful if you follow the financial tips above.