Eight Tips for Smart Holiday Spending
With a little planning you can make this year’s holiday shopping merry and bright.
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Develop a holiday budget
Decide how much you can comfortably afford to spend this holiday season. A good rule: If you can’t pay your holiday budget off within a reasonable amount of time, it’s probably too high.
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Create a gift list.
Determine an amount to spend for each person on your gift list. Then make a list of gift ideas that fit within the spending range. Don’t forget to account for cards, wrapping paper and shipping costs, etc.
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Pre-shop to catch discounts and sales.
Do an online search for coupons and sales at stores selling items on your list. If you start early, you’re bound to find some great deals.
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Make your own gifts.
Save by making baked goods, candies, crafts, photo collages and more for a fraction of the cost you would spend buying gifts.
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Pay cash, if possible.
Look at your gift list and take out the exact amount of cash you budgeted for each person. Then, see if you can make it stretch!
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Save your receipts.
Put every receipt from your holiday gift spending in an envelope or folder. Once the holidays are over, you’ll have a realistic guideline for next year’s holiday spending.
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Start a Christmas club account.
If you’re a Credit Union of Ohio member, we can help you save with an interest-earning account that builds up all year and gets deposited into your savings account in October. Not a member? Become one today.
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Take advantage of our Holiday Loan Special.
If you plan to take a few months to pay off your holiday expenditures, our holiday loan special may be a better option than your credit card. Get details and apply today.
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