Is It Too Early to Bring Up Holiday Hangovers?
This week marks six months until Christmas! While we’re newly into a maskless Minnesota summer I wanted to bring it up because I am sure it’s the last thing on your mind. Now hear me out, saving for Christmas doesn’t have to be a daunting task and this is the one holiday related activity that you won’t be called out on for starting too soon (we see you Target with your decorations in September). I’m here to show you that you can actually enjoy the holidays without January credit card guilt and I’ve even included a free tool below if you appreciate a good spreadsheet!
Christmas Is Expensive
The holidays are an expensive time of year and if you don’t have any money set aside for it, I am sure you feel the stress of your paycheck being gone before you even get it. Holiday parties, gifts for friends, family and even co-workers, all that extra booze, it adds up! According to Deloitte, in 2019 American households spent an average of $1,496 on Christmas. Even more staggering, 22% of Americans believe their spending will cause them to go into debt.
Christmas happens the same day each year, yet we are constantly running in circles trying to start saving for Christmas in November while we are still stuck paying down holiday debt in March. By saving a little bit of money year round, we can avoid debt and ensure holidays are reserved for what truly makes us happy; spiked eggnog and holiday parties!
Calculating How Much You Need to Save Each Month
When trying to determine how much you should save for Christmas, let’s first figure out what you normally spend money on. Write out a list of all things Christmas related; wrapping paper, extra tape or bows, extra groceries, gifts for your immediate family, gifts for friends and extended family, home decorations, travel, etc.
Set a spending amount for each category that is backed by some research. By that I mean look at old statements or look online to see how much items cost that you are including in your budget. For example, if you normally host a party, think of how much you might spend on food and alcohol to get an accurate estimate.
Once you get totals for each category in your mini Christmas budget, add up all the totals to get your grand total that you plan to spend on Christmas. To determine how much money you should start saving, divide that grand total number by six since we have six months until Christmas. This is the amount you should start saving each month to have Christmas fully funded without worrying about holiday debt.
Here’s a free tool, no email necessary, to get started on your holiday budget! Be sure to save a copy to your drive first to get started.
Make Sure Your Savings Aligns With Your Budget
After you do the hard work in determining how much you need to save per month to leave Christmas debt free, look at your current finances and ask yourself, can I afford to put this money aside each month?
If the answer is yes, great job, you did it, now you just have to automate the transfer to make it even easier! If the answer is no, go back and look at your mini Christmas budget. Are there some extra items in there that you can eliminate or reduce your spending on? If not, is there temporary work that you can pickup between now and then to give your income a boost?
By saving for Christmas before the holidays come around, you are allowing yourself to fully dive into boozy happy hours with coworkers and exploring the latest ice sculptures with friends and family without the holiday stress of “can we afford this?”
Every penny you save now is one less penny you are paying interest on later. Let’s bring back the most wonderful time of the year as a time that’s truly full of joy and peace.
