It is that time again where people bust their budget and end up with credit card debt from holiday shopping . Don’t be one of those people instead follow these tips and tricks for holiday shopping on a budget.
The first step is to actually create a budget. How much do you have to spend? Who is on your list to shop for? Once you determine this, you can then allocate the budget across your list. Don’t forget about teacher gifts, coaches etc. If your budget can’t stretch across the list, consider talking with your family about drawing names or only buying for the kids. I like the Santa’s Bag app in the iTunes store or Christmas Gift list for android devices for keeping track of your budget and gift lists. Using one of these apps, and actually creating a budget will help keep your spending in check.
Start putting items on your list so you can start NOW to find bargains! Do you need help with gift ideas? Click here for gift ideas in all categories from kids to adults. We also try to have ideas at different price points depending on your budget. One great gift idea for the teens and tweens on your list is a phone and service from Total Wireless. For $35 per month, Total Wireless gives you unlimited Talk and Text and 2.5 GB of data on America’s largest and most reliable network. Read more about our experience with Total Wireless for my teenager here. This is a great gift for teens or tweens and gives you everything you need and nothing you don’t, which is a great way to stay on budget!
The next step is to look at your gift list and determine the retail price and current price of all your gift ideas. Are some items already on sale? Stores have already started rolling out lots of holiday deals. This article compares Target Black Friday sales to Amazon current prices and this article does the same for Kohl’s. Are there better prices on Black Friday? How much savings on the items are there? If something only costs $.50 more now on sale than Black Friday, is it really worth fighting the crowds?
Be sure to join our Holiday Deal facebook group where we will be sharing deals and sales as they go live. They have already been prices better than Black Friday this week online!
You will also want to check when Black Friday ads start both in store and online. Many stores are starting their sales on Thanksgiving Day this year in store and almost all of them will have the same deals online that they offer in store. It is much easier to snag these deals online than fighting the crowds in store.
Hopefully, these easy tips will help you create and keep a budget this year while holiday shopping. Nothing says ba-humbug like a big credit card bill after the holidays are over!
Disclosure: I am a member of the Total Wireless Team and have been compensated for my time. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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