Balancing Your Essential Expenses And Holiday Spending

The excitement of the holiday season can make budgeting difficult, but you can balance your holiday expenses and your essential expenses with some help from some useful tips. All that’s required is for you to follow a step-by-step, organized approach.

With these tips, you can avoid going into full debt and still enjoy your holiday! So, if you need help organizing your expenses, here are the 5 steps to balance essential expenses and holiday spending effectively.

5 Steps To Balance Essential Expenses And Holiday Spending

Balancing your essential expenses and holiday spending can initially seem overwhelming, but things don’t have to be that way. Instead, you can sort things out and modify your budget for celebrations and holidays by following some solid tips to get started on the right path.

Following these steps will help you organize your spending without sacrificing your fun plans. So, to get you started, here are the five steps you will need to follow:

1. List Down All Expenses

The first step in this process is to list every expense you have. It doesn’t matter if it’s your regular utility bills or the decorations you want for Christmas. What matters most for now is that you identify all expenses and list them in front of your eyes.

You can do that with a pen and paper or even in a spreadsheet on your computer. Remember, there’s no need to sort anything just yet. Take your time and ensure that your list is as thorough as possible.

2. Prioritize Essentials

Once you’re sure you’ve listed all your expenses, you can start sorting the most essential items first. These must be the expenses that you cannot live without. For example, your power and water bills are essential costs that are unavoidable.

Meanwhile, your holiday gatherings' food and drink items are also seasonal essentials. So, they should go to the top of the list as well. Some items will be more challenging to prioritize.

Take holiday gifts and decorations, for instance. While they are important, they certainly are not at the top of your expenses list with the other essential expenses. You can consider them non-essential expenses. That means you’ll only devote money to them once you’ve paid for the most important items first.

3. Cut Back On Non-Essentials

After identifying the crucial expenses and allocating money for them, it’s time to look at your non-essentials. You can live without these items, so you can afford to cut back on them quite significantly. A little bit of creativity goes a long way. 

For example, you can give people handmade gifts instead of buying costly ones from the store. These items won’t just save you money, but they’re also more meaningful to the recipient.

Aside from that, you can also cut back on non-essential expenses from your regular spending. For instance, you can cut back on how often you eat out at restaurants or fast food places.

That will free up more of your money to spend on essential expenses instead. Balancing your budget this way will take a bit of self-honesty and discipline, but it’s certainly worth the effort!

4. Save Money In Advance

At this point, you’ve created a budget that balances your essential expenses and holiday spending. Still, that budget is only on paper, and you must take a few additional steps to prepare for the holiday season. You must start saving money in advance to make your budget a reality.

How aggressively you save will depend on how much time you have left. For instance, you can save less from your income if the holidays are still far off. And if not, you will have to cut back on spending a lot.

5. Get A Cash Boost If Necessary

When the holiday season begins and your budget gets tested by emergencies, financial gaps are always likely. That means your expenses don’t happen as planned, and you run out of money to pay for your essentials.

If that happens, you’ll need to know how to get a cash boost immediately. Two options you can consider are getting a payday loan or getting a title loan from us at Cash Cow. Here are some differences that make them helpful in different situations:

• Title loan: This loan uses your lien-free car title as collateral and can help you borrow up to $1,400. The title must be in your name and you must bring the car in for a quick inspection. This loan can be beneficial especially if you are unemployed because we do not ask where your source of income is coming from; we just ask that you have a secure source of income.
• Payday loan: This loan is unsecured, so you won’t need any collateral. You could borrow up to $300 with your driver’s license, latest pay stub, and a blank check from your checking account. While this doesn’t require collateral, it does require you to have proof of income. So if you are unemployed, you will need to see if you can use another source of income instead.

Start Preparing Now!

When it comes to your expenses and the holidays, the best time to begin preparations is now! Start by prioritizing your essential and holiday expenses, then save up for them immediately.

Should you need funds for emergencies, you can reach out to Cash Cow anytime you want! Take the first step by submitting the simple online form on our website so we can help you get the loan you want!

 

Note: The content provided in this article is only for informational purposes, and you should contact your financial advisor about your specific financial situation.