For many people, December is an expensive month with lots of money spent on all sorts of things. There are those who spend and spend during the Christmas season and end up paying all the bills until the next Christmas season.
If you don't want to be in that predicament, be wise to create a Christmas budget. With a Christmas budget planner, you avoid spending more than what you can afford. You can avoid being carried away by the happiness and joy of the season. It helps you to decide if you really need to buy new Christmas decors or if you want to be the "ninong or ninang ng bayan" and buy Christmas gifts for almost everyone you know.
Be wise with your spending this Christmas season. Create a Christmas budget that will help you truly enjoy the season. After reading this post, hopefully you already know the answer to questions like "How much should my Christmas budget be?" and "How do you stick to a Christmas budget?"
Here are the important steps you need to know when Creating Your Christmas Budget.
1) Save money specifically for your Christmas Spending
Put a little money aside every month from your salary specifically for your holiday season spending. For instance, save P1,000 every month so you have P12,000 to spend for Christmas. This step should have been done since January of the current year. If you have not done this, well, just start doing this step for next year.By saving money throughout the year, you would be able to spend within your means when the holidays come around. You avoid spending the money meant to pay for other things like your electric bills or loan payments. Whatever amount you have saved will be your budget limit. If you have leftover money from your Christmas budget, then it can be used to kickstart your savings for next year.
2) Set your budget limit for your Christmas Spending
If you don’t set limits to your budget, based on what you can afford or on the amount you saved months before, you are likely to overspend beyond your means. Why? Because you would probably end up relying on your credit card.It is best to set your budget limit based on the amount of cash you have on hand. If you can’t afford to pay for Christmas gifts, cards, decorations, and social gatherings with cash, then you better take another look at what you really need to spend on. Consider what you should include in your budget. Should you include decorations, Christmas dinner or parties, and Christmas cards? Should you buy gifts for all your family and friends?
3) Create a Gift and Expenditure List
Once your budget is set, you can make a list of gifts you want to buy for your family and friends. When working on your gifts list, write down the names of the people you want to buy gifts for and set a limit on the amount you will spend for each person.Add up the total amount. If it's over your budget, either take out some persons from your gift list or reduce the amount you will spend on the gifts. Another idea to consider to cut down the total amount you spend on gifts is to combine gifts into one family gift, so that you don't have to buy gifts for each family member.
There are other expenditures that you need to include in your Expenditures List. Here are some of them:
- Christmas decorations - Reuse Christmas decors if last year's are still durable and pretty.
- Christmas cards - You can have DIY Christmas cards or send e-cards now.
- Christmas party food - You would need to plan your menu (whether it is for Christmas Eve or for a social gathering potluck) and make a grocery shopping list.
- Christmas miscellaneous expense - You may have plans to go out with your family during the holiday season and you should include that in your budget plans.
4) Keep Track of Your Spending
As you buy gifts, grab-bag gifts for parties, and food for Christmas dinner or other social gatherings, keep track of what you are spending. This way you can follow your budget. Every now and then, you need to know how much money you've spent, and how much you have left.When you are good at tracking your expenses, it's easier to manage your budget. You would know when you can spend more or when you can spend less. You'd know when you need to take steps to save money and be more creative.
It is all right to have fun this Christmas season, but remember to only spend within your means. To help you do so, I have created a FREE Christmas Budget Planner printable. See the included pages below.
I hope you find this item useful for your holiday budget plans. Let me know in the comments what you think about this post.
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