Saving Up for the Holidays

As October is coming to a close, most people are already thinking about the holidays ahead. The holidays are a time for people to slow down a bit, relax, and spend time with loved ones. Unfortunately, this is also a time that a lot of people go into debt from over spending. It is critical to think how you are going to spend your money, and where you may be able to save some money this holiday season.

Holiday Dinner

A holiday dinner for your own household plus extended family and friends can be quite pricey. An average holiday meal for fifteen people is $300.00 dollars, approximately. This will modestly provide a main entrée, with up to three side dishes, desserts, and basic non-alcoholic beverages. If you will be serving champagne, wine, or anything else besides soft drinks, the pricing may increase by approximately 1/3. And you may be cleaning up alone.

There are several ways to combat this amount to about half the cost, if not even less.

You are probably a part of your local supermarket’s reward program – and if you are not, then you should be. Most supermarket reward programs have a free holiday food giveaway program around this time of year. Once you have accumulated a particular amount of money spent on groceries, you may be eligible to qualify for the offer. The accumulation occurs over a period of time. This is usually printed out on the receipt from purchases that you have made, while using your supermarket rewards club member card at the store. Most giveaways will give you a free main entrée food such as a turkey or a roast.

Most supermarket food sales start weeks before the holidays actually begin. This will make for a good opportunity to stock up on non-perishables as they go on sale. Make purchases of fresh foods and produce the closer you get to the holidays to avoid spoilage, and wasting of food.

You may also kindly ask guests if they would like to bring something to dinner. Work out a food plan with your guests to be sure that not more than one person brings the same thing. Another great idea is to accept an invitation for holiday dinner your self.

Holiday Decorations

This should be as simple as possible. The easiest thing to do would be to reuse the decorations you used last year. Otherwise, check out your local discount store for a thrifty selection of holiday decorations.

Gifts

The average American family is expected to spend approximately $700.00 dollars on gifts for this holiday season, according to an article by the National Retail Federation. This is down approximately $18.00 dollars from last year, as noted within the same article, produced from a research survey conducted by BIGresearch™.

A way to get around or reduce this expense even further, is to only go shopping when your shopping destination is having a sale.

A huge cost and time saver is to order the majority, if not all, of your holiday purchases online. Most internet shopping resources will not only have a sale on the products you want to purchase, they may also offer free shipping or gift wrapping. You can save a tremendous amount of money this way.

Resources:

Financially Fit: http://www.financiallyfit.yahoo.com

National Retail Federation: http://www.nrf.com

Reducing Monthly Expenses

If you feel like you are barely getting by each month, then you aren’t alone. Many households feel this way. The cost of everything seems to be going up, so the disposable income is going fast. It can be hard to make ends meet, especially if you have a great deal of debt.

Sit down and write down all of your monthly expenses. Make two columns – one for your monthly bills that you will have for the long term. This should include your mortgage or rent, your utilities, and your car payment.

In the other column, write down debts that you have such as department store charge cards, credit cards, and personal loans. Those are debts that you can pay off to start increasing the amount of money you have left over. Contact those entities to see if you can get on a repayment plan. Don’t be shy about asking for a lower rate of interest either.

Take a good look at where you spend your money. It can help by writing it all down. Make a goal of not incurring any more debt too. If you spend tons of money eating out, make a menu and go to the grocery store to get all the times you will need. This is a very simple change you can make to cut down on your monthly expenses.

Do you spend lots of money on buying coffee each morning? That $3 you spend can add up to almost $100 a month! That is money you could use to pay off bills. Make your own coffee and you will be able to see that money adding up.

Trading off with others can really help you to cut your monthly expenses. If you pay for childcare, see if there is a friend or neighbor you trust who could do it for less. They will like the extra money, and you can save over using a traditional childcare facility. You can even consider swapping childcare services so that you don’t have to pay anything at all.

Before you purchase something new from a local retailer, see if you can get it online for less. It is amazing how much you can save by looking around for a few minutes. Just make sure you take a close look at the cost of shipping too so that you make sure you get an excellent deal.

You can also get some used items instead of buying new all the time. Go to thrift shops for items you need around your home including clothing and furnishings. You can also go to estate sales and garage sales to find amazing deals. Check out sites online too where you can get items people no longer need for a fraction of the retail price.

It may seem right now that you will never get ahead. However, if you take control of your spending you will be able to see where you can make changes. It can be a challenge, but if you stick to your plan you will find that you are saving hundreds of dollars every single month.