I’m delighted to be guest posting on the Inexpensively Network today! It’s not too late to keep your spending under control this Christmas. Be encouraged by these tips.
Christmas is certainly one of the most wonderful times of the year. Holiday traditions fill our hearts with joy, reminiscing days gone by. Friends and families gather together to celebrate, relaxing and cherishing what matters most. There are cookies to bake, parties to attend, and presents to unwrap. Each second is filled with activity and has the potential to bring joy. However, if we’re not intentional with our finances, our January is quite the opposite of joyful. Here are four ways to keeps seasons merry and bright without overspending.
- Be Sure to Budget. Even if you’ve already begun to purchase gifts, food, stocking, stuffers, and more, get a written budget in place. Track what you’ve already spent and anticipate every category you can think of for the remainder of the month. Don’t know where to begin? Use these FREE Printable Christmas Budget forms to get the wheels turning. You can use an online budgeting tool like MyChristmasBudget, too.
Head over to Inexpensively to read the other 3 Ways to Prevent Overspending This Christmas!
Using cash instead of credit cards will also always help you keep your budget in check. Bring only the amount of money that you intend to spend and when it’s gone, be finished. We can all get swept up in the frenzy of great deals and the trap of buying “just one more thing.” The price of going in to debt at Christmas isn’t worth the temporary happiness that it might bring. A debt free Christmas is the very best gift you can give yourself this year.
Cherie Lowe, a.k.a. the Queen of Free, delights in sharing her family’s story of paying off over $127k in debt. Through speaking and the written word, more than anything, she longs for people to realize there is HOPE for their finances. Find her online at www.queenoffree.net and mark your calendar to pick up her new book Slaying the Debt Dragon, due to release Fall 2014.
Gain inspiration to pay off debt! Check out Inspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Free on Kindle.
This post contains an affiliate link. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!
[…] one week remains. These are the days when heroes are made. Each hour that passes when you dodge overspending, every minute that you quell your soul with contentment in place of consumerism, the days that you […]