THE CURRENT: Q4 2024

It’s the most wonderful time of the year... to set a budget for the holidays! It’s the season of giving and the next thing we know, we avoid looking at our bank account after finding the perfect gift for everyone on our list. Try out these holiday budgeting hacks this year to ease your worries, and your accounts.

Set a budget for each person and stick to it. We all feel the pressure around the holidays to get big, expensive gifts. To prevent overspending, make a list of everyone you plan to purchase a gift for and set a budget for each person.

Avoid impulse buys. We’re all bombarded with emails, flyers, and tempting signs and displays in stores boasting about incredible deals that are so below retail value you couldn’t possibly pass them up – and most of the time, those deals aren’t as great as they are advertising them to be. Stick to your list and budget to avoid overspending.

Start holiday shopping ASAP. You don’t need to wait until Black Friday or days before the holidays get here. Allow yourself more time to bargain hunt throughout the months (or even the whole year) to avoid paying for everything at once. Even better- keep a running list of ideas year-round for those on your gift list. You’re more likely to get them something they actually wanted and most likely forgot about come the holiday season!

Consider Making Gifts or Gifting Experiences. You don’t have to be crafty to gift something made from the heart! Spend the day baking (cookie exchanges are a fun and cheap way to exchange “gifts”), creating a scrapbook for parents and/or grandparents, DIY Game or Movie Night – the options are truly endless.

Make deposits into a Holiday Club account. Contribute to a higher-yield savings account year-round for a stress-free holiday season. Make deposits at your own pace throughout the year, and come November 1, those funds will automatically be transferred into your regular savings account just in time for the holidays!