Black Friday – the traditional start to the holiday shopping season – is still weeks away, but that doesn’t mean consumers haven’t already begun breaking into their piggy banks. According to Bankrate.com research, roughly 80 percent of shoppers begin shopping before Thanksgiving.
For those who fall into this camp, it’s not too late to begin socking away a few extra dollars to help ease the spending burden. The National Retail Federation predicts 2015 spending levels will be the highest they’ve been in 14 years, with the average American spending nearly $806 on holiday gifts, food, decorations and other items this year. More than half of that will be spent on family members, the NRF reports.
Vantage West Credit Union has put together a few tips to help guide a holiday spending strategy that includes saving along the way:
Open a holiday savings account. Designating a separate account for a specific goal can help motivate savers to set aside funds for holiday shopping in the weeks leading up to the big day.
Save a little at a time. Using a bank’s mobile app can make it easy to transfer money to a holiday savings account on a daily or weekly basis or arrange to have a portion of each paycheck sent automatically to savings.
Cash in on reward cards. Rewards cards – credit cards that can give cash back or points toward merchandise – can be particularly useful around the holidays. Using cards for everyday expenses, or to purchase items in specially designated bonus categories, can help rack up points that later can be redeemed for holiday gifts.
Everyone deserves a break. Some financial institutions allow customers to skip a loan or credit card payment once a year, thereby deferring the payment to the next due date. This perk can help provide a little extra cushion for holiday spending.
Make the most of the time leading up to the holiday. There’s still plenty of time to budget and plan before diving headlong into the holiday shopping fray. Evaluate unnecessary expenses and look for places to cut back. Setting aside as little as $40 a week (the conservative cost of eating out for lunch every day at work) for a month and a half can cover the cost of several holiday gifts for family and friends.