How Is Your Budget For The Holidays?

Most people have tried it – spending more on the holidays than intended. I comes as a surprise again an again. What is it with money and budgets that do not work? People split up because of money. It is an invisible force from our subconscious mind that tricks us to buy stuff we can not afford at a given moment.

The best way to stop spending too much money over the holidays, is to set a budget for how much you can spend, especially for gifts, and then stick with it, no matter what. Even if you subconscious mind tells you it is okay.

Do it outside the holidays too, people should keep a rein on their spending there as well. If you do it at all times it should be no problem in the holidays as well.

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Sixty-one percent of Americans either does not have an annual household budget or feel it is difficulty to stick with it. Out of those who have tried to keep a household budget, fifty percent gave up trying to follow it. Your subconscious mind is doing its thing even if you do not like it.

The best way to maintain financial discipline might be to stop using credit cards. If you know you do not have enough money to buy something and pay for it this month, then maybe you should not buy it at all. Without a credit card in your pocket, you can not be tricked by your own mind to buy anything.

Maybe you have doubts whether you should spend anything on the holidays or not. Is it not just an industry game that is way too expensive for regular people? I think not, don’t be afraid. You can get tons of great stuff that is not too expensive and that will bring joy and smiles in the house.

Have fun and thank you for your time.

How To Save Money During the Holidays

It seems that each year, the holidays bring not only fun and family gathering but they bring financial stress as well. To head off this stress, it is a good idea to plan a Christmas budget now during the fall months, so that when the holiday shopping is in full swing, you won't be stressing out over overspending.

There are many categories of holiday purchases that we all make every year. It is a good idea to make your holiday budget comprehensive enough to include all the ways that you spend money on holiday preparations and Christmas related purchases. Here are a few ideas about how to set up your Christmas Budget.

Start early - ideally you should start in January for each holiday season. Many of us don't think about Christmas that early. If you are like most of us, October is when we start to think about the winter holidays. If you do start early, you can take advantage of those after Christmas sales to make purchases of holiday stables like ornaments, gift-wrap, and party supplies.

Make sure you sock some holiday savings away each month throughout the year so that you can have a Christmas Spending account that won't dig into your regular household account during the holidays. The last thing you want is to take money away from paying your monthly bills in order to buy presents.

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You can open a Christmas Club account at most financial institutions including credit unions that you can designate an amount such as $25, or $50 to come out of your paycheck each month and deposited into this Christmas fund. You can even set up auto-transfer for each pay period.

Shop for Christmas year-round. There are many sales events that you can take advantage of throughout the year, saving you money.

Make up a master-shopping list for Christmas that includes each person you need to buy gifts for along with some gift ideas. Keep this in your wallet or purse all year, so that you can refer to it while passing sales items.

Don't forget about the values you can find online. You can comparison-shop to discover what stores have the best deals. When actually making purchases online, don't forget to take shipping into consideration when comparison-shopping for price.

Major stores will often have Internet discounts that are just for their online customers, so check Websites of stores that you frequent most often for these deals.

Save money by baking or making presents for relatives who may appreciate the extra thoughtfulness of these personal gifts.

There may be some people on your list who really do not need or want more "things", but may be happy with the gift of time (running errands for them, or doing yard work, or household chores).

Keep a pocket notebook handy all year and jot down in it whenever someone mentions something they need, or something they see that they would like. When you notice sales events of these items you can then purchase them at a savings. This handy notebook will also assure you that you are indeed buying gifts that the recipients will truly enjoy getting.

Happy Holidays? It’s Up To You

The Holiday Season. Does time seems to compress, or is it just me? There's so much going on - the end of autumn, the beginning of winter, and all the holidays that follow. As a child it was an exciting time of year. As an adult, it seems filled with more shopping, baking, parties, and other events than I can squeeze into the available time.

In Aikido, the martial art that I practice and teach, we have something called "randori," an exercise in which the student stands alone on the practice mat and as many as five opponents attack simultaneously. Sometimes the holidays feel like this - which task, event, or relationship do I take on first?

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The first secret of randori is to handle one attack at a time. I can't let myself become overwhelmed by the enormity of what's out there. I must stay fully present with what's right in front of me. It's hard to do, but it saves time, energy, and wear and tear!

Secret #2 is to engage the attack. Though it sounds counterintuitive, welcoming the attack puts me in charge of it. I decide what I want to handle first and move toward it.

Planning a family dinner, finding places to stay for the relatives, shopping for holiday gifts, getting the budget report done on time, AND hiring a new administrative assistant - each task by itself might be doable, even enjoyable, but taken together they seem overwhelming. How to stay balanced and effective?

In the midst of life's multiple, simultaneous events:
- Know that each can be an attack or a gift - it's up to you.
- Engage one task at a time.
- Every time you experience the pressure of "How can I possibly do it all?" - stop and BE where you are, and give your relaxed presence to the task at hand.

Gradually you'll feel in charge of the only things you can be in charge of - yourself and the present moment.

Happy Holidays!