Shop for Christmas early enough to avoid the last minute rush (Photo/michellelesleybooks.com)
Why are we stressed financially at Christmas when we have all year to plan for it? We know it’s coming! Let’s have this year be a stress-free holiday.
Here are 4 ways to financially plan for Christmas
Determine how much you can afford to spend on ChristmasLook at your finances from now until Christmas. Hopefully, this means you’ll look at your budget. If you haven’t started budgeting yet, you can learn how to budget or sign up for an online tool, like Personal Capital, to help you get started. Whatever you do — do something! The first step to creating a debt-free Christmas is knowing what money you have (and don’t have), which means you need to budget.Maximize on dealsChristmas deals aren’t the only deals you should be looking out for. The month of January also comes with some pretty cool deals that you should jump on as soon as you get off from your holiday.Do your shopping earlyShop for Christmas early enough to avoid the last minute rush and possibly missing anything to buy because everything has been bought already.Buy in bulkSpeaking of shopping, buy non-perishable foods such as flour, rice or sugar in bulk to help make your transition from vacation easier.