Tips for Setting a Realistic Gift Budget
The one big problem with having to buy gifts for people is the amount of trouble it can cause like overspending and unpaid bills. Each year people get into a frantic rush to buy gifts for their loved ones during the Christmas season. Each year some of those same people end up panicking about their credit card debt once the glow of Christmas is over. One way to take away some of the financial stress out of gift buying and giving is to create agiftbudget and adhere to it.
- Monthly budget. The first step is to figure out what you have coming in and going out for the month. This means all of the necessary expenses like rent, utilities, fuel, food, toiletries, insurance and anything else that has to be paid. Write all of this down on a sheet of paper. Take your income and subtract the necessities from the income and see what is left over. Now consider things like any extra expenses such as gym membership fees, club fees (book, DVD, music, etc) and subtract these expenses from the remaining income. Now what is left over is the amount you have to work within to create a gift budget.
- Choose an amount. Take the amount left over from living expenses and choose a dollar amount that is reasonable to use for buying gifts. For example: you have $100 left and decide to use half of it for buying gifts. This is a reasonable amount because then you will still have $50 in case you need extra fuel for a vehicle or have to pick up a couple of items at the grocery store. The idea being stressed here is to not spend all of your remaining money on gifts because you never know when an emergency can turn up out of nowhere. The truth is, if you only have $100 left after living expenses are paid, you probably should'nt even use half of it for gifts. This is what is meant by a reasonable gift budget. You do not want to spend what is left of your income on gifts and then be in trouble if something unforeseen happens.
- Divide the gift budget. Take your gift budget amount and divide it up between the number of people on your shopping list. That amount is what you can spend per person, per gift. For example if your budget is $50 and you have 6 people to buy for, then you can spend $8.33 on each person. The absolute number one rule: do not exceed the per-person limit on any one gift. If you do, you will end up short-changing someone else on your list and quite frankly, that is not fair! No matter what your gift budget is, you can find plenty of gifts during the holiday season. If you are a savvy shopper, then you will figure out how to buy each gift and maybe even a stocking stuffer or two!
Why set a gift budget? You may be wondering why you should even bother with trying to create a gift budget. That is actually a great question! One of the biggest reasons to set a gift budget is so you do not end up overspending and then suffering consequences like unpaid bills or steep credit card debt. Another reason is for people that are living on a tighter budget this year; you can still give your loved ones a gift without having to worry about breaking the bank. One last reason for setting a gift budget is to help you remember that it is not the price of the gift that counts, it is the thought that is behind it.
