For investors, this time of year comes packed with opportunities to grow wealth. With all the growing profitable trends, it’s hard to ignore the potential investment opportunities they provide. But, looking at the other side of the picture, it’s very easy to fall into a debt burden due to the upcoming holidays.
There’s no shame in it. It happens to the best of us. The need to shower friends and family with gifts and expensive items is inbuilt in humans. And, for some reason, there’s nothing that says I love you like a brand new iPhone, a diamond necklace, or the latest play station- whatever it is, it has to be super expensive.
However, given the times, this kind of extravagant spending can create quite a hefty financial burden for you. What makes it worse is that you have no idea what 2021 will bring. With experts claiming that the economic situation is just going to get worse from here, and a potential credit crunch, you might want to tighten the purse strings this time during the holiday season.
We know how difficult saving money is for some people, so here are a couple of tips to help you keep a check on your bills.
Tip No. 1: Shed the Burden of “Obligatory” Gifts
While society does come with a lot of important rules to live by, some are just too difficult to keep up with. One of these rules is the social obligation of giving out “gifts to everyone you know”. Yes, we know that no one is crazy enough to buy a gift for every person they know but, getting even 20 or 30 gifts this year is just as crazy.
So, we’re here to tell you to snip snip snip that list away.
The only people you should be buying gifts for are your immediate family and close friends. That’s it. At most, that brings your total up to 10, because who has more than 3 close friends? And most families are limited to the number of 5.
If you tell us that even your immediate family consists of more than 10 people, there’s no helping you. Unless you make Secret Santa a fun game this winter.
No. 2: Create a Budget and Stick to It!
It’s funny how many think of this as a “DUH” piece of advice and then just instantly throw it out their brains the minute they step into the mall or a “buy it now!” online store.
You find one gift that you think someone would love, and boop! it goes into the cart. Head on to the next store and see something they’d love just as much, and in it goes again! And this keeps happening until you have a bunch of bags in your hands, struggling to figure out how you let yourself go so crazy!
Going on the fact that 69% of Americans have less than $1,000 in their bank accounts, thanks to the rowdy lifestyle of living paycheck to paycheck, it is suggested that you work according to your savings, and try to spend just a little over 1% of your savings on your holiday gifts.
No. 3: If You’ve Got Kids… Just Stop
When you’re shopping for your kids, we want you to stop for a minute and ask yourself- am I getting this because it’ll make my kid happy or because of the inner child who longed for these things?
We completely understand the sentiment. Many kids have to grow up in poor households where every Christmas is a downer. While it is completely okay for you to ensure that your child doesn’t feel the way you felt back then, it is also important that you maintain your financial stability for them and their future.
We personally are aware of several households where it takes HOURS to open up Christmas gifts because there are just THAT MANY. So, if you’re one of those parents, please stop before you get yourself buried under a mountain of financial debt.