How to survive the holidays financially: your guide to holiday spending

It’s no secret that the holidays can be a stressful time of year.

It’s great to finally get the whole family together again, but the holidays often come with a lot of baggage, and we’re not talking about the suitcases you’ve packed. No matter your holiday activities, most of us can agree that one of the most stressful parts of this most joyful of seasons is the toll it takes on our bank accounts.

Every year, holiday spending increases and every year, Canadians find it has gotten out of control and wish they could spend less and save more. Spending during this time of year can easily get out of hand. We see that Canadians will spend over $1,500 throughout the holidays and year over year this number increases. This is why it is so critical to get a head start on your holiday budgeting before the madness kicks in.

How do you enjoy the holidays without breaking the bank? If you look around the internet these days, you’ll find a lot of advice articles telling you to start saving months in advance. That’s all well and good (and great advice), but we’re no longer months in advance and the people who need the most help surviving holiday spending are those of us who have not been squirrelling away since January.

We want to turn this holiday season into an opportunity for you not just to survive this year’s madness but to lay the groundwork to build positive financial habits that will stay with you past the season and for years to come.

Start planning now

Whether “now” is in January or in November, it doesn’t matter. The first key is to stop thinking it’s too late to do anything. There are a lot of different tools that you can use to help you create a budget: you can do it with pen and paper, your favourite app or a spreadsheet. The key is getting it documented somewhere rather than in your head. Most financial institutions also now have robust budgeting tools within their online/mobile banking. The advantage there is that you can have your budget with you wherever you go!

Automate your savings

When you automate your savings, you never have to think about it. There are several ways for you to put your savings on autopilot. First, you can set up a recurring transfer from your chequing account to your savings account. You can time that transfer with your paycheques so every time you get paid, that money gets automatically transferred into your savings account. You can also automate your savings through spare change round-up apps. These apps automatically transfer money into your savings account every time you use your debit card to make a purchase.

Don’t forget additional expenses

Managing a budget for presents is one thing. Not blowing your budget on food and drinks and treats is a different story. So when you’re building your budget, think about those additional expenses. Are you going to do Santa pictures? That’s easily $30. What about all those cards, the wrapping paper, the tape? Finally, think about the extra food you’re going to need to buy and don’t forget about your New Year’s celebrations. We have a tendency to focus on the big rocks and let the small things slip through the cracks, make sure that you are tracking everything,

Avoid self-gifting

You’re walking around, picking out glorious gift after glorious gift, when you see something that you want. For you. There’s nothing wrong with buying something special for yourself but what tends to happen around the holiday season is we feel like we have a reason to give ourselves a little extra permission. As a consequence, these little indulgences add up. If self-gifting is important to you (there’s nothing wrong with that), add it to your budget and be mindful of the amount you’re spending.

Creating a budget is one of the best ways you can remove a large chunk of the anxiety that comes with the season and to enjoy the experiences you get to share with your loved ones. Best of luck and happy holidays!

Amanda Krushel is a Wealth Advisor with Valley First, a division of First West Credit Union. Connect with Amanda at akrushel@valleyfirst.com