We’re smack dab in the middle of the holiday season.   How are you doing on your spending goals?

I’ve never been one to go on a huge spending spree during the holidays.   Don’t get me wrong ‘“ I love to give and receive gifts.   However, I just don’t see the point of wracking up credit card debt to do it.   If I don’t have the cash to pay for something, it doesn’t go in my shopping cart.

Nevertheless, last year my partner and I went a little overboard buying presents for each other because it was our first Christmas together.   This year my partner and I agreed to a very low spending limit for buying holiday presents.   We agreed to limit the number of people that we bought gifts for, and we only spent $10 per person.   For gifts for each other, we agreed to stay under $75 total, including stocking stuffers.

It’s been both a challenge, and a little bit exciting to stick to our spending goals.   Lots of homemade presents are making their way to family and friends this year in order to meet our goals.   We’ve baked a lot of cookies, and this weekend was a fudge-packing extravaganza (pun intended).

Here’s how we were able to stick to our budget:  

1.       We made a list of everyone we wanted to send a holiday card, then decided if we wanted to include a photo from our wedding.   Since we kept the number of people we invited to the wedding to a minimum, we only needed to order a few prints to send out with holiday cards.

2.       Just like Santa, we made a list of gifts that we were going to give, (checked it twice), then marked items off of the list as we bought or made them.   It’s funny, but without keeping track of the gifts you’ve bought, it’s really easy to buy more gifts than necessary.   For example, I forgot that I had bought a present for my aunty, so I made her some Christmas tree ornaments.   In the end, it only adds up to a few extra dollars spent on crafting supplies, but just imagine how much money I would unintentionally be spending if I didn’t keep track of everything.

3. The dollar bins at Michael’s and Target are a great place for holiday shoppers on a budget. I got really adorable holiday cards, wrapping paper, and stocking stuffers in the dollar bins. I typically stockpile dollar bin items all year, then sort them out during the holiday season. You just never know what you’re going to find if you check the dollar bins on a regular basis.

4. Limiting holiday travel. We also made a conscious decision not to travel this year in order to build our savings accounts back up to where they were at the beginning of the year (before the wedding, reception, and honeymoon).   I have to be honest ‘“ I’m pretty excited to stay at home in Tucson, enjoy a few days away from the office, and not have to deal with any snow.

These are just a few ideas that have helped me and my partner stick to our holiday budget. What about you all? How are you doing on your end of the year financial goals? And what tips do you have for sticking to a holiday budget?

Photo credit: stock.xchng