How to Crate a Holiday Spending Budget

Series Summary

Christmas is a time for family and rejoicing, for celebrating the good things we have in life. Christmas is also the time during which retailers and advertisers bombard the senses, desperate to get those dollars you've worked so hard for. But unless you're okay with losing a few friends, and possibly being ignored by a few family members, you are hopelessly obligated to get something for everyone you expect to speak to for the next year or so. Shopping for Christmas gifts can be source of extreme stress, trying to stretch your limited budget and still pay the bills. But Expert Village offers these free videos to help you create and execute a holiday spending plan that won't leave you eating nothing but black eyed peas for the entire month of January.

Expert Melissa Schenk will teach you how to budget your holiday spending, first by making a Christmas shopping list, setting a limit on Christmas spending, and how to fine-tune your budget by brainstorming for gift ideas and separating your gift spending from your other holiday expenses. You'll also learn how to resist the temptation of buying for yourself when shopping for gifts. Skipping the expensive Christmas cards and fancy gift wrap are also great ways to save money this holiday season.

Video Transcript

"Hello my name's Melissa Schenk and on behalf of Expert Village and today we're going to be talking about how to cut down on holiday spending. In our first clip when we're talking of course about how to cut down on holiday spending, what we need to do is to brainstorm and make a list. Make a list of all the things that we're going to be needing to spend money on for the holiday. So that includes things like holiday gifts, holiday tips for peoples, all of those incidentals that we forget about like holiday cards, and the photos of the kids, and the postage to mail those cards, the Christmas wrap, and decorations, the Christmas tree, wreaths, Christmas lights, Christmas ornaments, you can see that there's so many things to be thinking about. Not to mention food and the holiday meals, seasonal beverages, not to mention, you know, travel and entertainment. So if you have to travel for the holidays, all of the things that you might need to spend the money on. So first we need to brainstorm and make a list of all the people and things we need to buy for, and then we'll in our next clip figure out how we can cut that back just a little bit."