Curb Your Urge to Splurge - Week 1

Let’s Curb Your Urge to Splurge!

Hello Holiday Enthusiasts,

Is it my imagination or has the holiday shopping season already begun?

With all the sales going on this week, it feels like an early Black Friday. I know that everyone wants to get the best price on everything, but shopping early (especially if you haven’t set your budget) can encourage you to overspend because you are spending over a longer period of time.

Before you jump online to shop the current early sales at Amazon, Walmart, and Target, make a plan! Take time to list who you will be shopping for and how much you can afford to spend. And most of all – avoid putting your holiday purchases on credit!!! What looks like a great deal when you purchase on credit quickly becomes a not-so-great deal when interest is added to it later on.

To keep you on track with your holiday budget, tasks and events, use the attached calendar to plan and keep track of all your holiday expectations and expenses. Use the calendar to make note of paydays, expenses, activities (and their costs), shopping days, decorating and crafting days. Add as much information as you can so that you have a clear picture of what you plan to accomplish.

Holiday sales are every retailer’s bread and butter. The current economic environment has retailers offering early sales as a way to get in front of consumers’ fears of inflation and keep consumers shopping longer. It’s good to remember that retailers employ a lot of tricks to get you to buy more once you are in the store. Here are some common tactics that work in favor of the retailer:

• Bulk Pricing – Ten for $10! Even if you don’t need 10, it’s a great price, so you buy 10.
• Large Shopping Carts – Three items in a large cart makes it look like there is room to add more things, and generally people do. Next shopping trip, grab a small basket and see if you stick to your list and budget. Once you touch an item or put it in your cart, you are more likely to buy it.
• BOGO 50% Off – This offer is really 25% off two items. If you only need one item, then you’re paying the regular price, and buying two generates a 25% discount on each item. You are still paying more than anticipated for this sale.
• Featured Items – That great sale price on the front table is probably a high-profit item for the retailer, therefore, it’s likely more expensive.
• Large Signs With Small Details – “Up to 70% off” or “starting at $10” can look like a great deal, but in reality, the display holds very few items that have these deals.
• Upselling at the Register – “Did you see the matching wallet? It’s on sale for 50% off”. Cashiers will sometimes try to get you buy more as you’re checking out, so be careful of this!
• Store Dollars – Earning $10 on a $50 purchase encourages you to spend $50, even if you only planned to spend $35. Plus, it gets you back into the store to spend again (when prices are not discounted). This becomes a never-ending cycle of earning and spending store dollars.
• Countdown Clocks – While shopping online, a countdown clock may appear on sale items, which encourages you to act quickly to secure your purchase.

This season, stay alert to retailer practices so that you keep your budget on track. While in the check-out line, review what’s in your basket – was it on your list? If you did not plan on the item, leave it in the store. Your budget will thank you.

Later this week, we will work on what can be pretty daunting – tracking your spending! No worries, we will get through it like budgeting pros 😊.

Have a wonderful week!

Your Holiday Helper,

Irma❤

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Track Spending

Hello Merry Shoppers!

How are you feeling about your spending habits? I’ll bet some of you have already knocked a few gifts off your list. If you have made any holiday purchases, such as for Thanksgiving or Christmas, did you keep track of what you spent? If not, now is the time to set up a system for keeping track of all your holiday purchases. Once the gifts are given and the decorations are put away, you will want to look back at your expenses so you can determine if you stayed within your budget, and it will help you plan for next year’s expenses.

There are many options to stay on track with your expenses. Christmas Gift List Tracker and The Christmas Gift List are two of many gift tracking apps that you may find useful.

If you don’t like to use technology to keep track of your spending, there are plenty of options for you, too. One method – the envelope method – can help you track all expenses and receipts. With this method, you have an envelope that you store all your holiday receipts, and on the front of the envelope you list each expense by the amount, the gift item, and the receiver of the gift.

Another envelope method includes putting a specific amount of money aside into different envelopes that each serve a specific purpose (e.g., food for a holiday party or gift money for another person). What’s most important is that you make notes on the front of the envelope so you know exactly what’s inside.

Next week, we will be exploring some fun and creative gift ideas!

Have a great rest of your weekend!

-Irma❤