12 Tips for Holiday Spending
The holiday season can be one of the best times of the year for spending time with family. For most people, though, this time of year also brings pressure to spend money. Believe it or not, it’s possible to have a happy holiday season without blowing the wheels off your budget bus. Below you’ll find my 12 tips of holiday spending to make sure you don’t undo all the hard work you’ve put in during the year.
1. Figure out how much you can afford to spend on gifts this year
This seems like the most obvious tip but might be the least utilized: don’t over-extend yourself when you’re buying this year. Corporations have been making record profits over the past few years at the expense of consumers—and everyone’s been feeling that! Remember that a good guideline for how much cash you should keep on-hand in an emergency fund is at least 3-6 months of expenses. Your holiday gift budget shouldn’t dip into that.
2. Figure out for whom you intend to shop
Who are you shopping for this year? It’s okay if the list is short.
3. Set a budget for each person
Once you know how much you can spend this year without sending yourself into a financial spiral, you can decide how to allocate it. Maybe you and your partner can agree that your gift to each other this year could be to take what you would usually spend on each other and spend it on others. This will help to identify the priorities for you. Are there people to whom you don’t want to allocate much of your resources (either time or money)? Perhaps you can revisit your list of recipients and make a few cuts to allow your budget to be more impactful for the people for whom you choose to buy.
4. Jot down some ideas for each person
Take some time on this step. I’m a huge fan of giving useful gifts if I can’t figure out a meaningful gift to give.
5. Start shopping early
We’ve all felt the suffocating crush of anxiety that arises from knowing that we don’t have a gift for someone for whom we wanted to buy the day before (or even the day when) we’re hoping to give it to them. Shopping early will help you avoid this stress and allow you to take your time looking for the best price.
6. Take advantage of cash back and money-saving websites
Tools like Honey and Rakuten help you find discount codes for retailers—they’re apps or extensions that can be added to your web browser. If you know that you’ll be shopping at a particular store, check Rakuten to see if they are offering cash back for that store. You can often get upwards of 10% back on things that you were going to buy anyway! It sounds too good to be true, but this is one of those tips that’s all upside.
Also be sure to check your credit and debit cards to see if any of them are offering statement credits or other bonuses for shopping at certain retailers. This can at least help you decide how to pay and may save you a few dollars.
John’s top tip: If you’re shopping for something that a lot of retailers carry, check around for the best price AND see which of those stores has the best cash back on Rakuten. Does your favorite store have other brands in its portfolio? Check the offers on those other brands and see if there is a unified checkout process. Example: BananaRepublic.com often offers a lower cash back percentage than Gap.com on Rakuten, but you can add BR items to your cart and then check out through Gap on the Rakuten app. Also check to see if the brand of the item you’re looking for sells directly on a website and what the offer is there. There are a lot of ways to play the cash-back game!
7. Prepare yourself for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday deals
We’ve all heard that Black Friday and Cyber Monday don’t quite have the deals that everyone hypes them to. The truth is, though, that the deals are typically decent. Small Business Saturday is also a great opportunity for you to support businesses in your local community and check items off your shopping list.
John’s top tip: By the middle of November, many stores have already started offering extended return policies through the middle of January. This means that they honor price adjustments or you can even return an item and rebuy until a few weeks into the New Year if prices drop. Keep the items you buy in your online cart and check back on them periodically. Call customer service for a price correction if the price drops on an item you already bought.
8. Check your orders!
If you order something, be sure to open it as soon as you get it and make sure that it’s the actual item that you ordered and in good condition. You don’t want to find out once your recipient has opened the gift that the supplier sent the wrong item!
9. Consider doing less expensive and more personalized gifts
The holidays have often been criticized as being too commercial (cc: Charlie Brown). Take the holidays back with inexpensive personalized gifts that allow you to share a passion with someone you care about. If you have skills that allow you to produce something handmade for just the cost of materials and your time, consider that! If that isn’t an option, consider a heartfelt letter accompanying an inexpensive gift relating to a hobby that the recipient likes (or even a favorite candy of theirs). Think about what would be meaningful for you to receive without much financial burden and use that as inspiration!
10. Talk to your friends about doing a Friendsgiving Potluck or cookie exchange instead of buying gifts for each other
Do you have a lot of friends to whom you usually like to give a gift but the process and expense of buying for everyone sucks joy out of the season? Why not ask your friends if they would like to do a Friendsgiving or holiday potluck! Instead of everyone needing to buy a gift for one another, they can cook a dish and show that they care about each other that way. After all, the best way to show love is through sharing a meal! You can always plan a white elephant gift exchange with dollar store gifts or ornaments as an after-dinner event as well.
11. Consider getting something nice for yourself
Try to look at your own situation and see if there’s anything that you’ve been putting off buying for yourself. With extended return policies and discounted holiday prices, you might be able to get a good deal and test drive that big-ticket item until mid-January!
John’s top tip: Sometimes our loved ones ask us what gifts we want for the holidays and we don’t have a good answer for them. As you’re going through the year, keep a list on your phone (or some other electronic document that can be shared) of items that you’d like to have but doesn’t make sense for you to buy for yourself. This will help you cut down on impulse buying AND give your loved ones some gift ideas!
12. Keep the spirit of the season in perspective
It’s easy to forget that the holidays are about togetherness and not gifts. In most instances, the most meaningful gift that you can give someone is your time and full attention.
What are some of YOUR holiday shopping tips? Email me at jhowe@gencapmgmt.com and let me know!
