Preparing for Christmas Expenditures All Year Long

The holidays are almost over. Whew, you finally got through it. So, you didn't have much money to spend and you wished you would have saved more. Maybe you got out that credit card too often. Currently, you have some time to use what you have learned from this year's holiday to make plans for next year's Christmas budget. What can you do now to better prepare yourself financially for future holidays?

---Think about your saving habits. Consider this-if you saved just $10 a week for 50 weeks, you would have $500 cash in your Christmas budget next year. For $1,000, you would need to save $20 weekly. What can you commit to? Will you follow through? More about Christmas budgeting/saving in a minute...

---Did you over-spend on one or two people this year? If so, explore why you might have done so. Make a plan not to do it next year.

---If you don't have a Christmas budget that you work with all year, ask yourself, 'why not?' Then, vow to set up a financial plan for the future. Get pencil and paper or use your computer. List everyone you buy a Christmas gift for and assign a reasonable amount for a gift for each person. For example, you may want to spend $50 on your mother but only $5 on a gift for the postman. Make your Christmas budget workable and keep it in your mind all year long. Total up the amounts you budgeted to spend on each person. Divide the total by 12 months. Is it reasonable for you to save back that amount each month, just for Christmas? If so, start saving now. Think about setting up a separate savings account at your bank to spend for gifts. When Christmas comes around next year, you will be ready.

---You may be asking yourself where you will get the "extra" money to save for Christmas. A good place to "find" the extra money is to take a small note pad and for just 1 week, record every expenditure you make. That's right, that fancy coffee beverage you get twice a week? That's $3.75 each. Do you get your nails done every other week? There's $40 or more. What about those beers you share with your buddies one or two nights a week? That's got to be $10 or more each time. Ask yourself if you can cut this type of spending in half all year long and save it back for your Christmas budget.

---Perhaps you can buy a gift or two a month, place them in a drawer, and accumulate them all year long. Then, when Christmas comes around-voila!-you have purchased all your gifts in advance. However, if you are not organized, this method is not recommended as you may forget where you placed the gifts or even forget you bought them.

---Maybe there are people on your list that would much prefer a gift of your time and/or work to a tangible gift. For example, your mom might appreciate you painting a room for her. Your brother might love for you to take him fishing for a whole day. Gifting your services can be a wonderful way to do something for a loved one that will be remembered and appreciated. What if you "gave" your dad a car wash a month for a year? Or offered to do 4 or 5 hours of sewing/mending for your best friend? Service gifts are entirely doable and a wonderful way to preserve your Christmas budget. If you live nearby and can afford the time, a service gift to a loved one may save you some cash.

---Whatever you decide, vow to follow your new plan to better prepare for the next year's Christmas holiday. Write it down and follow it. Re-evaluate your plan after 3 months (about April 1^st) and make any adjustments to your Christmas budget necessary to be prepared for the holidays next year.

With some planning and creativity, you can set up a reasonable, workable strategy to prepare for your next Christmas. Use what you learned about this year's Christmas spending to plan a better strategy for next year's Christmas budget. Then, put your plan into action so that next year's holiday will be even better.