Set and Sticking to Your Holiday Budget
Don’t break the bank by shopping small this holiday.
Over the past few years, I’ve tried really hard to shop 100% small for the holidays. And I’ve gotten really close to sticking to my budget and shopping small.
We tell ourselves that the reason we don’t shop small is because prices are higher but the truth is, there are a lot of reasons we choose Target and Amazon.
$30 on Amazon vs $30 towards a local creator is still…. $30.
The real reason we typically don’t shop small:
We didn’t plan ahead and all the sudden it’s December 20th and we need gifts fast
We didn’t set a budget ahead of time and now we’re tight for $ and are forced to shop cheaper
Ways I’ve been able to transition to shopping mostly small over the holidays:
Starting my shopping in November instead of the beginning of December.
Making a really simple budget with a $ limit for each person.
Making a list of awesome small businesses throughout the year to shop with during the holidays (don’t worry, I did this for you).
Tracking my holiday shopping spending on my notes app (more on this below).
6 Simple Steps to Make Your Holiday Budget
Shopping small doesn’t have to be hard, painful, or break the bank. Here are 5 steps to take this fall to stay in budget and support local businesses.
Pull out your Notes App or Google Doc. It’s important to set your budget on something you can pull up easily on your phone. I do my budgeting on my Notes App.
Make 3 columns. Whether it’s in Notes or Docs, make 3 columns and label them “Name,” “Budget,” and “Actual.”
List out everyone you want to buy a gift for. Start adding into the “Name” column all the people that you are hoping to buy a holiday gift for.
Add a per person budget. Head into the “Budget” column and put a desired budget. I have a giant family and usually start with $40/person but we’ll adjust later once we total.
Add a total budget (and adjust if needed). Add up your budget per person into a “total” row at the bottom. This is the most important part of your budgeting where you’re seeing just how much you plan to spend on gifts this holiday. Don’t be afraid to go in and adjust, some people might get bumped up to a more expensive gift, some people might get lowered - that’s okay!
When you’re out shopping, add the amount you spent. As you shop, put the actual $ amount you end up spending on each person. For example, I had my friend’s budget set to $30 but I ended up finding the perfect gift for $14 today. Put that amount in the “Actual” column so you can stay within your budget.
Looking for small business recommendations to shop this holiday?
Whether you’re shopping for your loved ones or friends - we have a list of our favorites here.
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