How To Reach Your Holiday Budget Goals

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It’s time to begin holiday shopping. With Thanksgiving and Christmas upon us, I am trying to accomplish my goal of saving money on my budget. With inflation and the price of everything in the grocery store that blows my mind, I think this is going to be tough.

Every month this year seems to be more expensive than the last. Our grocery bill is not sustainable and the holidays keep me busy in the kitchen making all kinds of good things.

Unless I have a paper or computer software that holds me accountable to the budget, it’s impossible for me to prevent overspending. That just means credit card debt that will put me behind until it’s paid.

In the past I’ve used paper and pencil to make a shopping plan. I would make columns and write down each person’s name. Then the amount of money that could be spent was recorded. I left room for a third column to show how I stayed on budget.

Inevitably, the budget would get busted. This was because I would forget about things that I needed to keep the traditions alive for my family. Now with the price of food sky-rocketing, I’ll need to cut back on some things.

One way to make the budget work is to deligate. Instead of me cooking and baking everything, I could create a plan where all the family members could contribute one dish.

If you don’t want a pot-luck (with 7 bowls of mashed potatoes), you could give everyone a list of needed foods. This means that the host doesn’t have to spend hundreds of dollars preparing a meal for extended family.

Another idea is to scrap some of the traditional foods. Years ago our Christmas Eve meal was soup in bread-bowls. Coming home from church to a crock pot filled with our favorite potato soup was lovely. The bread bowls could be made in advance. This became a tradition at our home.

In the past, I’ve used special planners that were designed for a Christmas budget. Those are fun to use and always made budgeting a little more fun. My sister makes a spread sheet to stay on track. That’s a great plan, too.

Online calculators have the benefit of being free and doing all the math computations for you. I love that part! The planning templates can be used as you like, to give you a custom planning form.

Planning meals around the discounted items can be an everyday process that also works for the holiday meals. You just might need to be more flexible. Sometimes being flexible can bring about the best surprises.

What are your favorite holiday plans for saving? Digital coupons? Specials? Comparing prices on items online? We’ll all be using all the best methods to have a beautiful holiday season, without spending too much.

@2023, copyright Lisa Ehrman

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Lisa Ehrman

Lisa has been blogging since 2013, and loves sharing resources and ideas for living a simple life. To get free printables, bonus words, and more - sign up for the newsletter.

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