We all know that Christmas is in a week’s time and many people get so hyped up leading them to blowing their budget. Come January they won’t have school fees, rental money, and money for groceries to push through the month. We know this kind of cycle as January Disease. Well today l am sharing tips for intentional holiday spending. January is not an emergency, it just needs some planning around and discipline.
What does Intentional mean
“Living each day with a purpose and minding how you execute your decisions”
Intentional spending is when you live each day following your financial purpose and minding how you execute your financial plans.
7 Tips for Intentional Holiday Spending
- Plan Ahead
December salaries generally come early and many use that money as if it is for December only. If you haven’t used your salary, please take a step back and plan house this money will be used in December and January. Pay all your bills such as rent, school fees and utilities. Put aside a portion for saving for January, do not forget to allocate the miscellaneous for January also. Budget the amount that you will use to celebrate Christmas and new year on the remaining amount and if there is a balance on the remaining amount, save it, you will need it later.
- Draft a Spending List.
From your Christmas and new year budget develop a budget for gifts. Identify the people that you want to gift. Based on your budget identify the gifts that you will get for each person that will not blow your festive budget. Avoid eating into your other budget lines because you want to please people. Work within your means.
- Budget for other holiday related costs.
In addition to gifts, don’t forget all the other holiday-related expenses. These include clothing, the cost of shopping, donating to charitable causes, decorations, food and drinks for parties or braais, and travel expenses. If you know you are going to have visitors over, buy groceries in bulk and put aside groceries for January.
- Track your spending habits.
Drawing up a budget won’t be of much use if you don’t stick to it. Tracking your spending is one of the easiest ways to avoid exhausting your holiday budget.
This can be done by keeping the receipts of all your holiday purchases and adding them up at the end of each day to keep track of the remaining amount you have left to spend.
Alternatively, you could also compile a digital spreadsheet of your day-to-day spending on your smartphone to make note of all your festive purchases. This is useful as it can easily be updated while on the go or waiting in line to pay at the till.
There are also a variety of easy-to-use money-management apps available for most smartphones. These can be downloaded to your phone to help you stay under budget while you shop and keep track of your progress.
- Stay intentional and align with your values
Your money can buy happiness if you allocate your income towards the things that bring you joy. An understanding of your values is key to this. You can create a Christmas that feels good – without leaving your finances in an ugly mess.
It may be the party season, but you don’t have to break the bank! For example, if you value social time with people you care about, explore ways to hook up that don’t cause financial stress.
- Don’t Compete with the Joneses’s Next door
I know its human nature to display FOMO tendencies – Fear of missing out. If we see our neighbor having a braai, we also feel pressured to do the same. The question you just have to ask yourself is that “Is it on the budget?” If your answer is NO there is no need to feel pressured to copy and paste what your neighbor is doing because they might have accommodated it on their budget.
- Remember we still under a Pandemic
We don’t know where the Covid will take us in 2021 so it’s very important to save every cent we can for the unexpected. You don’t want to regret so be intentional about where every dollar is going.
This Christmas choose to be intentional with your money. Spend your money in ways that create financial happiness. Take the choices which empower and energize you. Not only will this Christmas feel ‘wonderful’, but you won’t wreck your finances either – ensuring you start the new year in a strong financial position.
By Tarie Manyonga
