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As the largest gift giving holiday of the year, 30% of retail sales occur during the month of December,
and consumers will spend 9x the amount of money retail shopping in December
than they will any other month of the year.
Now this might be great for retailers, but for consumers, it can be a bit difficult.
Especially when the credit card statement arrives in January.
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It seems that keeping holiday spending in check is an annual struggle.
So I want to offer seven strategies to avoid overspending during the holiday season.
Number one: set a budget, and do it early.
Decide on the total amount that you would be willing to spend during the holiday season,
and then divide that total amount into some of the most specific categories:
gift giving, travel, food, decorations.
Make adjustments as you need it, but never exceeding the amount you would feel comfortable spending.
Of course, a budget is only as good as those who stick to it, and so the second strategy
is that you need to track your spending.
Keep track of how much you're giving in gifts, how much you're spending on food, how much you're traveling,
and make sure that your actual expenses are in line with the amount you budgeted early on.
A third strategy to avoid overspending during the holiday season is to limit self-gifting.
According to statistics, somewhere between 60-75% of people
who went out buying gifts for others, buy gifts for themselves as well.
This, during a holiday season where you're going to be receiving gifts from a lot of different people.
So you don't need to be buying gifts for yourself as well.
Number four: be aware of retail tricks.
Every store is going to work as hard as they can to get as much money out of you as they possibly can.
Gift cards, loyalty points, loss leaders, even the music they play, the way they design their store
is all set up to get you to spend more.
Keep your budget in mind, be aware of the tricks they're trying to play,
and don't fall for them.
A fifth strategy to avoid overspending during the holiday season is to limit your convenience costs.
The holidays throw our usual schedule up into upheaval.
We're running from one even to another.
We're scurrying about, which tends to lead to eating out more often, getting more coffee,
or pretzels, or snacks, whatever it might be.
Be aware of this, and limit it.
Bring some of your own meals.
Try to avoid those convenience costs.
They're hidden, and we don't always notice them until they begin to pile up.
A sixth way to avoid overspending during the holiday season is to limit your travel expenses,
or to at least be smart with your travel expenses.
Travel's an important part of the holiday; I think it's fantastic and I think it's great,
but we can look for cheaper flights, easier travel dates.
We can pack lighter to avoid baggage fees.
We can bring our own food.
We can stay a less expensive hotels.
So cut down on your travel costs during the season as well.
Which leads us to the 7th and final strategy, which it to set expectations early.
If you don't have as much money to spend on gifts this year, make sure your family knows.
If you're not able to travel, or eat at some of the expensive restaurants that you might
have in the past, or your family usually does, just let them know, and tell them
that you're cutting back this year, and make sure those expectations are set early in the holiday season.
With those strategies in mind, this can be a holiday season that both you
and your pocket book enjoy.
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