The Credit Pros’ Ultimate Guide to Responsible Holiday Spending

The Credit Pros’ Ultimate Guide to Responsible Holiday Spending

It’s almost the holiday shopping season, and you know what that means: spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on gifts for your friends, family, and children. It’s been always a challenge on how to maintain good credit in holiday season. Read out this guide to holiday spending and know ways to manage holiday spending.

Holiday spending is driven by emotion, tradition, and glamorous 50% off sales that almost every company has for Black Friday. It’s so easy to make purchases on impulse, and it’s even easier to let the holiday shopping season get you stressed.

Don’t fret, however: there is a way to make sure that you do your holiday spending responsibly, know Ways to manage holiday spending and prevent yourself from having a Visa bill crisis come January 17. Keep reading on how to maintain good credit in holiday season.

Gift Budget: Start Early!

Let’s say you’re thinking about this in early November. If you’re starting your shopping on Black Friday, that means you’ve got a month to scrounge together the money you need to spend for the holidays. That’s probably not enough time!

Gift Budget

A smart holiday shopper knows how to maintain good credit in holiday season and that, on average, people spend $1000 on gifts for other people. (Now you know that, too!) Shopping for your children makes up the biggest chunk of this, then shopping for your significant other, and the rest goes to parents, coworkers, and good friends.

This guide to holiday spending is not recommending that you ‘cheap out’ on holiday spending, but instead be cognizant of how you spend it!

Black Friday: Shop Early, and Compare Prices

Black Friday is a deceptive time. Not all ‘sales’ are truly sales!

It’s common practice for retailers to mark up items before Black Friday so they can put them on sale later on. Scummy, but they do it. And you can avoid being taken in by these sorts of things! One of the top tip on how to maintain good credit in holiday season.

Black Friday

If there’s something you want that you think might go on sale for Black Friday (like a computer or a nice pair of boots), check Amazon, eBay, and Walmart for their prices in early November. Keep track of them.

Also Read: Holiday Shopping Mistakes Which Can Land Your Credit on the Naughty List

When these items go on sale for Black Friday, compare them to the prices you saw. If they’re significantly lower, then you know it’s a deal. Keep reading this guide to holiday spending.

Buying For Yourself? Don’t Be Impulsive!

Remember when you were a kid, and you would write a wish list to Santa? Well, you probably still do that with your Amazon wish list! It’s now time to take a hard look at that list, check it twice, and get rid of the stuff you no longer really want. One of the top tip on how to maintain good credit in holiday season.

Check out this amazing blog on What You Need to Do If You Overspent During the Holidays

Try to prune about 70% of that list of items that aren’t quite what you’re looking for anymore. Then, take that last 30% and search for planned holiday sales on those items. Use the advice in the previous section to make sure you’re really getting a deal! You should keep all ways to manage holiday spending and how to maintain good credit in holiday season.

Shopping on Credit? Plan Your Payments.

It’s okay to borrow a little money for your holiday shopping if you really need to. It’s not okay to still be paying off last year’s holiday shopping in November!

Ideally, you’d be able to pay off your holiday shopping in the same month you made the purchases. But, not everyone’s financial situation can support that.

Shopping on Credit

If necessary, plan to take some of December, January, and February’s budget from your ‘fun budget’ and your savings to pay off your ways to how to maintain good credit in holiday season.

In Summary

If you know how to maintain good credit in holiday season; holiday shopping shouldn’t be stressful on your mind or your budget! The holidays are a wonderful time where you see the joy on people’s faces when they open their gift!

By simply following the tips in this guide to holiday spending, your holiday shopping won’t break the bank.

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