Surviving the Season with Your Finances Intact

The average American spends roughly $900 on gifts during the holiday season, according to a 2016 study by American Research Group, Inc. Add to this, the holiday cards, decorating, baking, and holiday dinners, and it can add up to a big chunk of change.

For many families, holiday spending sets them back financially for months to follow if not longer. Credit cards make it easy to overspend leaving families to suffer the consequences later. The problem with credit cards isn’t just the monthly payments. It’s the long-term cost of accrued interest.

So what can you do to ensure you start the new year without new debt? Here are ten tips to help you survive the season:

1. Create a holiday budget. Include not only gifts, food, and decorations, but also postage for holiday cards, wrapping supplies, and the babysitter for your shopping trip. Once you’ve listed all your expenses, review it, and decide where you can cut some costs.
2. Start with gifts to extended family and friends. Talk to those you exchange gifts with, and see if they’ll agree to forego the gift exchange or else set a dollar limit. Another option for families or groups is to draw names to reduce the number of gifts everyone has to purchase or hold a white elephant exchange.
3. Decide in advance on a gift value for each gift recipient. Let’s say you’ve decided on a gift value of $50 for your sister. Now, rather than buying her something on sale for $50 that’s worth $75, stick to the value. Buy something on sale for $35 that’s worth $50. This is a good place to shave a lot of expense.
4. Pare your holiday card budget. Do you usually send out more holiday cards than you receive? Opt instead for a phone call during the holiday season for those you don’t talk to often. It’ll cost you nothing and have more meaning. Also, mail cards only to those who send you card.
5. Cut back on the baking. When’s the last time you heard someone complain about a shortage of holiday goodies? Probably never. Most of us eat far more than we’d like to just because it’s there.
6. Economize on entertaining. Hold potluck dinners rather than playing head chef if you’ll be hosting any parties. Offer to provide just the meat. Then ask everyone to bring a specific type of dish to avoid duplicates.
7. Exchange services. To eliminate the cost of a babysitter, offer to exchange babysitting with a neighbor, so each of you has the opportunity to shop without the kids. Instead of baking several different kinds of cookies, bake multiples of one and exchange the extras with a few friends in a cookie swap.
8. Plan your shopping before you head out. Do research online to find the best deals on those items on your shopping list. If you can’t find a good deal on something, consider an alternative. Also, keep your eyes out for newspaper fliers and check the ‘coupon’ page of the store websites you plan to shop.
9. Nix impulse buys! If possible, leave credit cards at home when you go shopping to avoid impulse purchases. Many people spend far more than they plan on by purchasing unnecessary ‘bargains’ they just can’t resist.
10. Commit to paying off any debt asap. Finally, if you do use your credit card, try to make a serious plan to double or triple the monthly payments to reduce the interest you’ll pay and to quickly get out of debt.

Kimberly Blaker of Michigan is a freelance writer. Her articles have appeared in more than 250 newspapers, parenting and women’s magazines, and other publications throughout the U.S.