Help to Avoid Overspending During Holidays

Free Downloadable Personal & Household Money Budgeting Spreadsheets

Nov 13, 2009 Fleur Hupston

Overspending wildly on credit cards over the annual holiday season is not unusual and it leaves many people with a depressing amount of debt when the new year arrives.

Overspending and indulgence over the December months is not new. Christmas was originally a pagan festival, later hijacked by Christians. Most historians believe Jesus was born sometime in September; the date of his birth is not recorded in the bible.

In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis – pagan goddess of Nature – was celebrated on December 25th. During this time, parties, feasts, wild indulgence and gift giving were involved. The ancient meaning of Christmas is a lot like the current meaning.

Even in times of economic recession and hardship, people feel obliged and pressurized during the holiday season into overspending- buying gifts, food and luxuries they cannot really afford. The result can be large credit card debts and financial strain.

According to Myvesta, a consumer education organization in Rockville, MD, the average consumer plans to pay off holiday bills in three months but in reality the true time frame is more like six months.

How to Avoid Overspending

In order to avoid overspending at any time of the year, not only over holiday times or special events, try these tips:

Make home-made gifts versus buying from shops.
Beware of stores offering "zero-percent financing" deals. Here's the catch: If the entire bill is not paid by its due date, interest charges may accrue from the date the purchase was made.
Some credit lenders offer to allow the shopper the opportunity of skipping credit card payments over the holidays. Avoid this and keep up with payments, more will be paid in the long run.
Set limits on a credit card or use a debit card.
Be realistic about what can be afforded, avoid media hype and include children in a budget so that they don't have unrealistic expectations.
Factor in incidentals over holiday periods, such as extra transport costs, entertainment, fast foods, postage, cards and stationary.
Buy at sales or look out for special offers. Avoid impulse spending.

Household Budgeting

Free, downloadable household budgeting Excel spreadsheets will help to put a budget together on a monthly basis or yearly basis. A monthly household budget is especially useful during months when there are extra expenses. Categories for this household budgeting template include: children, entertainment, food, gifts/donations, housing, insurance, legal, loans, personal care, pets, savings/investments, taxes and transportation.

Personal Budgeting

Getting in the habit of filling out an Excel personal budgeting spreadsheet will reduce or eliminate overspending problems. Be disciplined about sticking to it though, it may not seem like fun to stick to a personal budget but its also not a whole lot of fun to pay off credit cards and debt after a shopping spree.

More Articles that may Interest the Reader:

Up to date information from an ancient book, Tips on Saving Money from the Bible offers useful advice on budgeting and debt.

Find Winter Arts and Crafts Activities for kids provides some fun, inexpensive crafting ideas for kids.

Warm, Winter Comfort Food Recipes: Three comfort food recipes from around the world.

The copyright of the article Help to Avoid Overspending During Holidays in Personal Budgeting/Finance is owned by Fleur Hupston. Permission to republish Help to Avoid Overspending During Holidays in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Overspending Leads to Spiralling Debt	Budgeting Money over the Holiday Season	Personal Budgeting Spreadsheets and Templates Help
Manage Money to Avoid Holiday Stress	Holiday Fun can end in Debt