Hond Financial

Posts Tagged ‘Avoid debt’

‘Tis the Season

It’s that time of year again: the debt season. This is the time of year when a lot of people throw caution out the window and spend too much, sometimes what they don’t have, just to look good. To do this, they fall into the trap of using online payday loans as they were not intended – to simply get through to the end of the year.

Am I describing you? Are you still paying off last year’s holiday shopping spree and worried about what to do about this year’s shopping spree? Don’t worry, because these tips work, and they can keep your holiday shopping in check, and they can help you save money and create good will with friends and family.

Create a Gift List

Before you can decide how much money you are going to spend, you need to figure out who should be on your list. The list can be immediate or extended family, friends, co workers, anyone you’re close with. Or, it could just be immediate family like your spouse, kids, and the parentals. Whoever you put on your list, you must make sure that you can afford to give them gifts without breaking your budget. Reduce if necessary, and continue to refine your list as you work out your budget.

Create a Budget

When you have your list done, the next step is to figure out how much you can spend on each person. Say you have 10 people on your list that you want to buy gifts for, and these are the final 10 after shaving your list down from 40. Let’s assume you have enough to spend $ 20 on each person, putting your total budget at $ 200 for gifts in the season. The assumption here is that you will not be whipping out your credit card this season to buy more than you can afford. You cannot use what you have not earned, right?

Food and Decorations, If You Please

If you have your gift budget carefully planned but do not have your food and decorations budget in order, your budget will be ruined in no time, leaving you with higher credit card and loan debts to pay off later. As the decorations are not consumable and can last for several years if they are put away carefully, the only reason you would need to buy decorations is if the lights do not work, or they have been ripped apart horribly by pets or kids. We’ve had the same stockings since our oldest was born almost 14 years ago, and they’ve held up.

Focus on the Feast

Your feast should be planned out, right down to the last little ingredient of the pecan pie. What kind of a feast do you want? Can you afford this feast without the use of online payday loans and credit cards? For the most part, if you live within your means through the year, and have a bit left over consistently, you could spend an extra $ 50 to $ 100 for the holiday occasion. If your food budget is normally $ 200 for two weeks, you may be able to bump that up to $ 300 for one payday, with a nice feast for an extra 0 without overspending.

Give Up the Guilt

One reason that many people overspend on gifts is that they feel pressured to do so out of guilt and duty. In this society, expensive gifts and money are supposed to have something to do with how much you love a person, therefore the more you spend, the more you love them which isn’t incredibly intelligent. Yes, commericialism has something to do with it. Have you seen those jewelry commercials that say, “When you love enough to give the very best?” The implication here is that if you love enough, you will spend a lot of money. This should get turned around that if you really love them enough, you’ll save money for your kids as a legacy for them.

What people really want is time with you, regardless of how much money you spend on them. Give up the notion that you must overspend to show people how much you love them. Instead, come up with creative gift giving ideas, such as printing out coupons for a free housecleaning or a night out—something that shows you care by volunteering your time for them. This means more than money, and you don’t need to feel guilty.

Skip Plastic and Use Cash

A great way to keep your holiday shopping under control is to use cash instead of plastic, which also applies to a debit card. Though debit cards can help minimizing your spending, cash is still king. When you are using a card, you do not realize how much you are spending without a concrete and visual reminder. As you shop, you don’t have the visual picture of how much you’re spending. If you have cash in your wallet, you have a good idea of how much you spend from the disappearing bills. In the event that you run short, online payday loans are an option, but one that should be carefully considered.

Think People First

As you create debt each holiday season – which may include online payday loans – you begin to shift the priorities in your life. Instead of focusing on friends and family, you get into a “make money” mindset that shifts focus to moeny and work. Eventually you will wake up and wonder what happened to your relationships, and wished you’d have placed people over money and material crap. While having money and wealth makes life easier, it still doesn’t take the place of human relationships. Nurture these first and make them a priority this holiday season. Happy holidays!