It’s that time of the year again. Say no to stress by budgeting for the holiday season. Sticking with a budget not only reduces stress, it can also help keep you from overspending. Here are some tips for creating and sticking with a budget this holiday season.
Know your spending limit
Knowing exactly how much you’re willing to spend makes knowing when you’re done shopping a lot easier. With a specific number in mind, you can make sure overspending isn’t a problem. When calculating this number make sure that your holiday shopping won’t be biting into other parts of your budget and only use money you have designated for holiday shopping.
Make sales your friend
If you know what gifts you’ll be buying ahead of time, we recommend grabbing them whenever they go on sale even if this means storing the gift for a month or two. And if you’re really the planning type you can even start buying gifts in January and pace your shopping throughout the year.
Make a list and check it twice
Having a shopping list will help the shopping process go much more smoothly. Ideally, you should have at least two gift options within your preferred price range for each individual. Staying within this range will help you hit your overall spending goal without having to stress about counting each penny.
Track your progress
There are many great digital tools to help you track your spending. Prefer analog tracking? You can just keep the receipts from every purchase. Knowing how much you’ve spent will help you be more mindful along the way.
Stay mobile
While you’re making your rounds from store to store, being able to check your bank accounts is invaluable. If you do all your spending on a card you can keep track of all your purchases conveniently through the Core Bank mobile app. The ability to check your balance at a moment’s notice gives you that peace of mind that we all could use more of during this hectic time of the year.
Visit https://corebank.com/mobile-banking/ to learn more about our convenient mobile banking!