Spend Less Money With a Cash Only Christmas

By Robbie Bainer

During the Christmas holiday, a lot of people find themselves going deeper into debt. This causes a lot of stress, especially if they are already in debt. If you don’t have debt yet and are attempting to stay on budget, you have to make some decisions. You can end up in debt or you can have a cash only Christmas. The cash only Christmas is the best solution for everyone. The following are the steps to take:

1. Add up how much you spend at Christmas.

You should do this as early on as possible. Grab a notebook and figure out what you are going to spend during the holidays, including Christmas cards, decorations, party supplies, and gifts. Make sure you give yourself a lot of leeway and don’t under-budget for any of these things. If in doubt, give yourself more money for a category.

Include an allowance of cash for small gifts that you may buy for co-workers, neighbors, teachers, etcetera. Remind yourself that you don’t need to spend lots of money on everyone. Try doing homemade gifts, such as homemade chocolate truffles, or fruitcake. In many cases a beautiful Christmas card with a personal note is a great way to say thank you.

2. Calculate how much extra cash you currently have.

Review your financial status and see if you already have enough extra money to cover the expenses you just calculated. If you do, that’s great. You are set to have a cash only Christmas. If you don’t, that’s okay. It’s early, right? In the next few steps we’ll talk about all the things you can do to earn extra money and work with your plan of having a cash only Christmas. Your bonus for doing all this so early in the year will be a stress free Christmas.

3. Make more money.

Let’s talk about how you can make more money. First, are there any extra hours available for you to work at your current place of employment? Secondly, could you begin doing freelance work from home? Perhaps data entry, virtual assistant or social media work that you can do online for other small businesses. Another great way to make more money throughout the year is to sell items that you have but no longer use. You could sell them on eBay or through your local newspaper. And, in the summer, have a garage sale and set aside all the money you make for your cash only Christmas.

4. Find ways to spend less at Christmas.

While you are attempting to bring in extra money for your cash only Christmas, you should also find ways to spend less so you have more money for the holidays. How about doing a secret Santa drawing with your family so everyone just buys one gift instead of something for everyone. Make homemade gifts for your loved ones instead of buying something.

5. Stay on budget.

Stick to the plan. This year is going to be a cash only Christmas. So stick to your budget, even if you start buying things throughout the year. Leave your credit cards at home and only buy things that are on your list. You will find that you will be relaxed and enjoy your Christmas a lot more because you will know that come January, most people will be getting their credit card bills and you won’t. The only people that benefit from you going into debt at Christmas are the credit card companies. So why not spend a little extra time and plan out how you can have a cash only Christmas.

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Article kindly provided by UberArticles.com

Topics: Christmas | Comments Off

Tags: cash only christmas, Christmas, credit cards, debt, debt-free, financial crisis, financial survival, income, make more money, money, Personal Finance, save money, saving money tips, savings

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