Search Results for: christmas spending

Capping Christmas Spending

If there is any time of the year when people tend to bleed through money it’s the holiday season. Fortunately, you don’t have to seek out an emergency transfusion if you play your cards right. When preparing your household budget for the holidays remember to be creative. You don’t need to spend an arm and a leg to lavish your loved ones with unique gifts. If you plan ahead and eliminate the temptation to purchase a slew of last minute gifts, you can save plenty of green. Procrastinating around the holidays typically comes with a hefty price tag, as retailers … Continue reading →

The Christmas Spending Panic

It happened to me this weekend. We were in a toy store looking for one particular gift, and I could feel the tension rising. All around me, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were all grabbing up gifts left and right. An item that my daughter admired was no longer on the shelf when I returned to the store 30 minutes later. Neither was the other two copies of it. It was late in a long day and I was tired. I grabbed up a couple of extra things for the kids in case they weren’t there later and headed to … Continue reading →

Recovering from Christmas Spending

Christmas has come and gone, and you have spent all that you planned to. Did you stay in budget or did you go over? Did your expenses in other areas increase as you ran around to attend all the necessary holiday events? Have you already planned for your New Year’s Eve expenses? It is time to take a step back and evaluate what you can do better next year and to get your budget back on track. Here are four areas to consider. 1) Did you stay on budget for your Christmas presents? If you went over were there any … Continue reading →

Balancing Christmas Spending and Giving

Christmas shopping is well under way. Black Friday has come and gone. It is interesting that the day that most stores finally make a profit is the day that many consumers begin to increase their debt through holiday spending. People crowd the stores intent on finding the deal that will allow them to purchase items they otherwise couldn’t afford. There is a pressure to spend money during the holiday season that doesn’t exist through the rest of the year. It is nice to be able to give to others and to provide your children with a nice Christmas. It is … Continue reading →

Spending Christmas in the Family Room

I am overflowing today with gratitude that we were able to spend our Christmas together as a family. While extended family is nice (and we will be seeing them for the rest of the weekend), it was amazing to just spend the day home alone with my husband and children. We attended our local church on Christmas eve and then rushed home to snuggle in for the night. The next morning, the kids were up bright and early and the adults teased that we just might spend the whole day in bed, leaving the present opening until tomorrow. Of course … Continue reading →

How to Stay on Christmas Budget and Teach the True Meaning of the Holidays

How do you keep your children happy while staying on budget, curbing the gimmies and teaching the true meaning behind the holidays? Read on for some practical, easy-to-follow advice. Did you know that in 1977, the number one requested Christmas gift for children was slime? For those of you who weren’t alive in the 70s, or as a refresher, slime was this mysterious gooey substance, usually made of fluorescent green. It came in its own tub, but usually once it got out, there was no putting it back. Slime was a toy that lived up to its name. It oozed … Continue reading →

Three Ways to Control Impulse Buying at Christmas

The shiny decorations, the pretty lights, the wonderful smells, the bustle of shoppers, the increase in commercials, and the demanding kids all combine at Christmas to raise the risk of impulse buying. Many debt services report that the number of phone calls they get for help really drops off in December, as people put aside the idea of debt and just go ahead and spend. Of course, the calls in January are another story. These agencies often see their highest traffic then, as people find themselves in debt crisis. Don’t let this happen to you. Control your impulse buying at … Continue reading →

Time to Start Thinking About Christmas!

I know Halloween was only yesterday, and that we still have another holiday in between now and Christmas, but if you are like most single moms you don’t have a bundle of cash sitting around come December when it’s time to start Christmas shopping. If you start now, it helps keep the holidays a little less stressful, plus now all the Halloween candy is on clearance. That means you can get a ton of candy to fill those stockings for dirt cheap! Candy can get expensive around Christmas time because it is in such high demand. This way you don’t … Continue reading →

How Christmas Creep Can Cost You

If you haven’t seen Christmas decorations and other items in your local stores yet, then my guess is that you’re living outside of the United States, or maybe even the planet. As soon as the back to school items went away (the first week in September!) the Christmas stuff came out. Forget Halloween, those items started being displayed in August. While all of my friends are hunting for those Candy Corn Oreos that have already sold out, I’m avoiding the stores as much as possible, so I can ignore the Christmas creep. There are a few ways that thinking about … Continue reading →

Post-Christmas Shopping Tips

I haven’t even finished clearing the sea of ripped holiday wrapping paper from the living room floor and I’m already being flooded with post-Christmas sale reminders. My email inbox is filled with alerts heralding major day after Christmas deals. Macy’s sent me a link to a WOW! Pass, which allows me to take $10 off my purchase of $25 or more. JCPenney is offering the same deal, while Old Navy is selling women’s jeans for just $15 all-day tomorrow. In addition to the after-Christmas discounts, retailers are poised for an onslaught of shoppers looking to redeem gift cards they’ve collected … Continue reading →