11 Tips to Keep Your Holiday Budgeting on Track

The 2024 holiday shopping season is expected to be stronger than the previous year, with retail sales projected to increase by 4.8% over 2023.

It’s estimated that one-third of Americans going to debt at this time of year, so we’d like to offer these holiday budgeting tips for all our budget-conscious customers. Let’s start by considering how to make a budget in the first place.

Your first step to better holiday budgeting starts with determining your budget for the holidays. Take a close look at how much you spent the previous year, what your income is, and estimate how much you’ll spend this season.
You’ll need to be realistic about what you can afford and whether it fits your budget for the year and the season. Make sure you include all of your holiday expenses including gifts, travel, food, decorations, etc.

When putting together a holiday budget, you’ll need to compare it to your overall budget and living expenses. Will you need to cut back on your holiday spending from the previous year? Is there anything in your day-to-day budget that you can cut back on or eliminate?

You may have a gym membership that rarely gets used. Many people sign up for streaming services to watch a particular show, then forget about them. There could also be things you routinely spend money on without even thinking about it. Instead of hitting a coffee shop on the way to work, you could brew a cup at home and save money. Consider how much you’ll save by eating at home or bringing a lunch to work, rather than going out to eat and ordering carryout.

If Santa himself can create a list and check it twice, why not do the same for yourself? Creating the right holiday budget means setting a shopping limit for each person. Keep in mind that you don’t need to go overboard for people like acquaintances or your kids’ teachers.

Can any of these people be cut from your list? Do you routinely exchange gifts with a neighbor or colleague while each of you struggles to find the right present? Consider talking to this person and agree to not exchange gifts, or maybe just keep it simple by trading holiday cards.

You could also save money by using whatever skills you have to create thoughtful and inexpensive presents. If you’re good at cooking and baking, why not make some holiday cookies or fudge and place them in holiday trays or tins for some of the people on your list? Just keep in mind that you’ll have to be aware of any diet restrictions or food allergies among your recipients and their families.

You might create simple holiday ornaments for your acquaintances, perhaps ones that focus on each person’s interests. You may have a local craft store that can provide you with materials, and you can find plenty of examples online via Pinterest and other sites.

For large groups of adults such as family members, friends, or coworkers, you might have a secret Santa drawing so one person buys a gift for an individual rather than everyone in the group. You could also hold a white elephant party, where everyone just brings one gift and people draw numbers to see who receives which present.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Small Business Saturday offer great opportunities to find gifts that are on sale. Before purchasing an item, make sure you find out if there is a coupon available. Websites like Coupons.com, RetailMeNot.com, and BlackFriday.com are useful for finding sales, coupons, and holiday shopping tips.
In addition to holiday sales, some stores offer customer rewards programs. Newsweek ranks the best retailer loyalty programs, and you can always check with your favorite retailers see what they offer.

Some stores offer holiday deals before Thanksgiving. Check with your favorite online or local retailers to see if they’ll be offering pre-holiday sales. By shopping early, you can also spread your purchases out over time, so they make less of an impact on your budget and your credit cards.

Credit cards offer convenience, even when shopping in person. They can also be more secure than using cash. If one of your purchases doesn’t work right, or you need to exchange it, your credit card can offer proof of purchase if you failed to keep track of the receipt.

Your credit card company might also be able to help you rectify any problems with the retailer—and you’ll have a list of all your purchases to make sure your holiday budget remains on target.

If you have more than one credit card to use for your holiday shopping, one of them might also offer a rewards program. If you’ll be financing some of your purchases with a credit card, you might focus on using one that has the lowest interest rate.

At Union Bank, we offer six types of personal credit cards and Rewards Platinum Visa Credit Cards for both individuals and businesses.

Many people use a rewards credit card for their regular spending throughout the year, so they can accumulate points to use during the holidays. Depending on the type of card you have, you could spend your points on holiday gifts, use them to reduce your credit card balance after the shopping season, or use any miles you’ve accumulated to save money on holiday travel.

The holidays can be a hectic time of year, which makes it hard to keep track of your spending and budget figures. Fortunately, there are several budgeting apps available where you can enter your purchases and monitor your finances. Our Union Bank customers have free access to My fi 360, which can help you set budgets, track your spending, and monitor your account balances with one easy app.

If you use just one credit card or debit card for all your holiday purchases, it’ll be much easier to keep track of your spending and stay on budget.

While many people look forward to the holidays all year, they don’t often plan ahead when it comes to their holiday budgeting. Try to think of the holidays as a type of major purchase that you save up for, by setting a little aside each week or every month.

At Union Bank we offer several options for saving and investing, such as regular savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit (CD) and our Christmas Club savings account. Many of our Christmas Club members open a new account at the start of every so they can start saving up for the holidays ahead of time.

You can put $25 to $500 into your Christmas account every month and earn interest, so the more you set aside the more you’ll have for your next holiday shopping season.

At Union Bank we help our customers throughout West Central Arkansas and the River Valley with their savings and investing needs, and that includes the holiday shopping season.

We can help you set up a Christmas Club account, a certificate of deposit, or any other type of saving plan. If you need a bit of financial help to get you through the holidays, you might consider a personal loan which offers lower interest rates than what you’d likely receive from a credit card.

You can contact us or visit one of our locations in Mena, Paris, Hatfield, Wickes, Caulksville, Ozark, Waldron, Booneville, and Clarksville.