Free Investment Advice

Holidays are fast approaching. Discovering tips for holiday shopping can help you avoid taking on a Christmas loan and put you in a better financial position for the entire year. For some, holiday spending can become a debt trap that repeats itself year after year, so the earlier you prepare the better off you will be.

Plan Ahead

Planning ahead is the number one best tip for holiday spending. Is your house the center for Christmas entertaining for your family and friends? If so, start planning now. How many times will you be entertaining and what size group you will have each time? Estimating ahead can save you time, energy and money; of course you need to have a little allowance for some unexpected guest. Surprises should be expected in this kind of occasions.

Make a list of the people you plan to buy holiday gifts for as well as gift ideas. Scout for the nearest stores where you can buy at the cheapest price. After all, “It is the thought that counts.”

Be Realistic about Holiday Spending

If you took out a Christmas loan and are still paying for gifts you bought last holiday season, you spent too much! Be more realistic this year about what you can afford.

Establish a Holiday Budget

Decide ahead what your budget will be for your holiday gift purchases. It is a great idea to assign an exact dollar figure that you will not exceed when buying a gift for each person on your list. That way you know exactly how much gift giving is going to cost you.

Start Early and Shop Wisely

If you start shopping early for holiday gifts you enjoy several benefits:

* You can take advantage of sales as they come along throughout the season.
* You are spreading your spending over a few months instead of taking it all out of one paycheck, or worse, creating one large credit card bill that will be even more difficult to pay off. Maxing out your credit card is a very expensive Christmas loan!
* You can give yourself a cooling off period for large purchases before you buy. If you still think you really need to buy it after thinking about it for a few days or a week, and it fits the budget, go ahead. If not you have saved yourself a lot of money. Many items look far less interesting a day or so after you have left the store.

Avoid Buying Holiday Gifts on Credit

Starting early and planning ahead should allow you to make many or even most of your holiday shopping purchases by cash or debit card, because you are buying over several paychecks. You will avoid the after holiday credit card debt.

Keep Track of Your Holiday Spending

Keep a running tally of your holiday spending. You need to keep your receipts anyway in case of returns, so keep them in one spot and add them up. It sounds like a very small point, but reminding yourself periodically of how much you are really spending and how that matches the budget you have set will help you keep excess spending under control.

Post-Holiday Plans

If you do use credit cards for your purchases, make paying off that balance a priority. Holiday bargains are not bargains any more if you are still paying interest in July. Then after all, after holidays is another year ahead. There are still things to allocate your budget. Savings is important

Make it at Home

Sometimes the best gifts come from the heart and the home. How about making a few batches of Christmas cookies and putting them in colorful tins, or getting the kids involved in making homemade tree ornaments for family and friends? Depending on your interests there are literally hundreds of gifts you can make at home. Friends and family will appreciate the thought and you won’t have debt.

Give of Yourself

If you’re good at something, giving people a service can be a great gift. Can you fix something for them, babysit, or do their taxes? Maybe make meals or desserts for an older person who finds it difficult to cook for themselves. The true value of a gift should not be the amount of money spent on it. Your time and attention can be priceless!

We hope these holiday saving tips help you enjoy the festivities without the stress of worrying about after holiday debt.