WiseDollar

With holidays around the corner, our budgets threaten to tip toward the lower side on the scale. If we aren?t vigilant with saving and budgeting, we might very well be playing with negative here. Spreading cheer during the holidays doesn?t mean depriving yourself of everything in the coming months.

Instead of stressing and worrying and then rushing off for last-minute shopping, try planning in advance. Planning in advance can help you save quite a lot, make smart decisions, and also make the shopping experience more pleasant. There are also sites like 24Cash that provide you external help to deal with the holidays better.

Here are Five Rules You Should Remember While Shopping on a Budget:

1. Expectations and Limits

You might want to gift everyone the greatest gift they can ever receive, you might not want to think about money and budget when buying gifts for your loved ones, but reality doesn?t always give you that privilege.

This is one of the reasons that can bring you stress, but you do not always have to buy expensive gifts to show someone how much you care. Understand your budget and set expectations for the type of gifts you can buy and for what price point. Set limit for your holiday shopping budget; either as a whole or per person.

2. Start Early

Most of the budgeting issues arise when you don?t plan in advance. The prices are usually jacked up at the last moment because they know you have no other option but to buy the overpriced product.

You need to start making a list of all the people you need to buy gifts for and what gifts you would like to buy for them. Then see if the gifts fit in your budget if it doesn?t then keep it on standby. One of the perks of starting early is that you can look for things during different sales. Sometimes you can buy something for a fraction of the original price, which is why you can keep expensive options on standby.

3. Consider Every Expense

When making a budget for the holidays, make sure to tally in every expense not just the gifts. If you are going to be traveling on the holiday, then you might have to cut back the budget for the gifts. If you are going to be paying for someone?s trip, say your family?s, then you can get a small ?something,? if you don?t want to go with ?nothing.??

It makes no sense to spend on a trip as well as an expensive gift and tip the budget for everything else, does it now?

4. Do It Yourself – DIY Your Way Through It

Something you made by investing your time and effort will always top something you bought. It shows a person that you care enough to spend time and work hard to get them something they love. When you make things yourself, you can easily customize it for the person you are gifting it to. Budget wise it can be cheap and love wise it can be expensive.

5. Plan Secret Santa

If you are really tight on budget, then Secret Santa is your best bet. It is fun and carries a sense of mystery and excitement. You don?t have to buy gifts for everyone, so you won?t be stretching your budget. Even with one gift, there is usually a predetermined limit on how much you can spend, so no one is going to be upset that you didn?t get something more extravagant.

Final Thoughts

Holidays are about being happy and enjoying time with family, gift-giving should be a way of showing someone you love and giving them something that need and that they will enjoy. Just keep those things in mind, then you will understand that you don?t have to break your bank to make the people you love happy.