Even though the holidays happen at the same time every year, they have a way of sneaking up on us. Imagine waking up on Christmas morning knowing that all the gifts under the tree and food in the fridge have already been paid for. That’s possible if you start planning now! Here are four steps to make that happen:
Prioritize what matters
The holiday season can be a magical time, or it can be a stressful time laden with unwanted obligations. Visualize your ideal holiday. Who is there? What are you doing? What are you eating? What are you feeling? Identify what really makes the holidays feel special to you and use that as a guide for what to prioritize. If there are other members of your household like a spouse or kids, get their input too. This exercise will help you identify what is most important to you about the season and make it easier to let go of parts of the holiday that suck up your time, energy, and money.
Plan your holiday spending
A little forethought goes a long way. Make a list of all of the areas you plan to spend on during the holidays including gifts, food, travel, decorations, and activities. Estimate how much you’ll spend on each category, paying special attention to the priorities you have already identified. List out the people you’d like to buy gifts for, check your calendar from last year to see what events you attended, review your spending from the year before, or search flight tickets online. The more granular you get in your planning, the more accurate your estimates will be.
Start saving
Once you’ve estimated your entire holiday budget, it’s time to square it with your monthly budget. Take your total budget and divide it by the months left until the holiday (if you’re reading this on September 30, that’s 2.5 months’ worth of paychecks!). If you are currently saving monthly, you can redirect those savings towards the holidays for the next few months. If your vibe is more paycheck-to-paycheck right now, think about areas of your spending that you could cut back on for the next few months or what you could do to earn extra money to make up the difference. Once you have your savings plan, set up a separate checking account and an automatic transfer. Use that account only for your holiday spending to guarantee you’ll stay within budget.
Keep a list for next year
The best way to get better at planning ahead is to review the past. Either track your holiday spending during the season or review it at the end of the year to see how well your plan matched reality. Did you overspend on decorations but underspend on food? Did you buy gifts for anyone who wasn’t originally on your list? Did you have to say no to an activity that you’d like to be able to say yes to next year? Make notes about what worked well and what didn’t in a place like the notes app on your phone or Google Drive so you can easily find it when you start planning for the next holiday season.
