Christmas Is the Same Date Every Year.
On December 25th, every year, without fail, Christmas happens.
Mindblowing, right?
You know this, yet maybe you have found yourself scurrying around purchasing gifts with money you don’t have. Suddenly, you have more debt than you intended.
But it happens at the same time every year. So why does the majority of Americans STILL rack up so much debt during the holiday season?
Yes, it’s true that poor planning and procrasitcantion play a role. And many simply don’t want to save and allocate. But the deeper-rooted reason is because we simply don’t know how to budget, nor is it a word that many believe to be positive. I mean it sounds limiting, right?
That’s fair. But what if you knew that in working out a Christmas budget ahead of time would save you from the headache of paying off the debt the rest of the year, would it sound just a little more appealing?
I’ll make it easier on you. Here is a step-by-step process to starting your Christmas budget today. Tweak it how you’d like, but this will at least give you a good start.
Set up a Christmas savings account with your bank. (Or just another regular savings account and name it “Christmas Account”.)
Create a list of all people who are on your Christmas list.
Decide on a max dollar amount on your budget. Be realistic!
Determine how much you will allocate to each person (Maybe someone upset and they’re going to get less, haha 🙂)
Start putting money away each week, utlizing that account you set up with your bank. Start now! Yes, in the summer months!
At the end of the day, Christmas isn’t a surprise. Don’t wait until Thanksgiving dinner, in a food coma, having it suddenly dawn on you that you only have 6 weeks until Christmas.
Try something. Start small. And check out our budgeting spreadsheets to get you started!