How To Plan, Earn, And Save For The 2020 Holiday Season

Do you have no clue how much you want to spend during the holidays? Are you wondering how you’ll come up with the money for gifts? Do you feel so overwhelmed, you wish you could skip the holidays altogether?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’re certainly not alone, as COVID-19 has stumped many people in the same way. Luckily, it’s not too hard to come up with a budget, save and earn cash for holiday spending, and get the most bang for your buck while shopping.

Just follow these simple tips, and you should be good to go.

1. Come up with your budget.

In an ideal world, we would all have unlimited holiday budgets. This isn’t the case, however, and in 2020, your budget may be even lower due to the coronavirus pandemic.

To come up with a number that determines your spending limit, you have two options. First, you can figure out how much you can start saving per week by cutting unnecessary expenses. Then, figure out how long it will be until you start holiday shopping.

So, if you can save $25 per week starting now, and you won’t start shopping until four weeks from now, you’ll have $100 for your budget.

Can you buy a lot with $100? Not really, so if the number you come up with is insufficient, wait longer to start shopping so you can stack more cash. Or make it your goal to cut back even more and save an even larger amount of money per week.

The second way to determine your budget or spending limit is to come up with a number. Last year’s expenses can be used as a guide, as long as you include everything, such as travel, gifts, parties, food, decorations, etc.

With that dollar amount selected, divide it by the number of weeks left until it’s shopping time. So, if you want to spend $400 and you plan to start shopping in four weeks, you’ll need to save $100 per week.

2. Allocate your budget with a list.

If $400 sounds like how much you want to spend, you’ll now have to see where that money will go. If it looks like there’s no way you can satisfy everyone, you’ll need to shave your list until everything fits.

3. Make that budget money.

Your plan is in place. You know how much you want to spend. Now all you need is the actual money.

Here are some ways to come up with it via extra income:

• Sell your used items online via sites like Poshmark, eBay, Craigslist, OfferUp, etc.
• Find paying local gigs on Craigslist, which tend to increase around the holidays.
• Do paying gigs online through a site like Fiverr.
• Get a second holiday job.
• Ask for more hours or a raise at your current job.

Here are some ways to save so you can reach your holiday budget:

• Shop with a list and only buy items on your list to avoid impulse purchases.
• Pause your gym membership.
• Freeze or cancel subscriptions to Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Spotify, and other forms of entertainment.
• Eat at home instead of eating out.

4. Save when you shop.

If your budget is limited due to COVID-19 or other reasons, do your best to stretch every dollar by comparison shopping online. It helps you avoid the crowds, stay safe at home, and find the best deals within seconds.

If you have any credit card rewards, cash them in. What about gift cards? Any that are unused can be put into play to help you save. You can also take the homemade gift route by buying the supplies and following online tutorials to develop something unique and personalized.