Holiday Budgeting: How to Plan for Christmas and the Holidays Without Going Into Debt | 618

0:00Fall is coming, which means holidays are coming, which means your budget is about to get a gut punch. if you're not prepared. There's a lot happening and we want to help you prepare for that now so that your budget doesn't get derailed and so that you don't go further into debt by January 1st. Maybe you don't have to do every single thing you're invited to or that shows up on Pinterest or Instagram. Think about how much, when is it, how much you need and then the amount of months that you have to fund it and then you can take the amount of money divided by the months that you need to buy. It's going to feel way different to pay for everything in cash with debt and to be prepared.

0:37Do you make good money but have nothing to show for it? Are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck? Do you have big dreams for your financial future? Do you want to get debt free but you don't want to live on beans and rice? Or you don't want to give up those pumpkin spice lattes? If you don't already know how to budget or if you're using credit cards to get through the month. If you want to seem like you have your finances all together or you're not on the same page with your spouse when it comes to finances. We know what you're doing probably isn't working. But guess what? You're in the right place.

1:05We're Shana and Vanessa. We're best friends, business partners, and master financial coaches trained by Dave Ramsey. We've been in business since 2019, helping hundreds of amazing people like you create budgets, get out of debt, stop living paycheck to paycheck, and know exactly what to do with their money. In this podcast, we'll share with you everything we know, plus everything we're working on with our clients so that you have the best chance at reaching your financial goals. We want to help you take the guesswork out of your budget, improve your marriages, and even bring your kids in on the conversation.

1:36We can help you no matter where you're at, whether you're the single mom who's never had$500 in her savings account or the millionaire who's paid off four real estate mortgages. And we're not going to shy away from the tough love. We'll tell you what you need to hear and encourage you at the same time. This is the Financial Coaching for Women podcast. Today, I am going to change my bear that's outside from Labor Day, like patriotic that it stays all summer to fall. Fall bear. And whether or not it's 95 degrees outside or not. It's irrelevant. Because we live in Florida. No, but we're welcoming in fall.

2:10We're greeting it. We're asking it. We're speaking it to life. We're praying for any other temperature besides 95 feels like 130. Anyway, long story short, fall is coming, which means holidays are coming, which means your budget is about to get a gut punch if you're not prepared. And we are here today to help you prepare for the holiday season. And I love how you said holidays are coming. I think that's really important because I think people go to Hobby Lobby in July and they see Christmas decorations and they think that's the only one. They think that's the only one you got to worry about. But let's be clear, guys.

2:45We have Halloween. We've got Thanksgiving. We have Christmas. And then don't forget New Year's because that's more of like a party, right? And a lot of people stay in town for Christmas, but then they travel for New Year's. So it's like a whole thing. There's a lot happening. And we want to help you prepare for that now so that your budget doesn't get derailed and so that you don't go further into debt by January 1st. Yes. And so we are getting started in September, you guys. We're going to do this year. And so what we want to start with theoretically is just like maybe decide what holidays and traditions and activities you're actually participating in.

3:20Maybe you don't have to do every single thing you're invited to or that shows up on Pinterest or Instagram and your kid and your kid's school calendar maybe you don't maybe you do don't save them on pinterest just like scroll keep going and then if you're fun times like us and you have december birthdays and anniversaries and stuff you might have to be a little choosy but either way just get an idea of what you want to do for example one great plan is if you go to your parents house for halloween then you don't have to do anything they do that's because your dad has bought all decorations possible for the last 10 years and so he's just he's ready yeah it's a great plan i think it is But anyway, so you want to just at least have an idea of what all you're going to participate in.

4:00Yeah, because again, you may not need to go all out if it's not something that really is happening at your house. My brother's new plan is to just go away for Christmas every year. And I'm like, wow, that's actually not a bad idea. I love that. Like just go to an Airbnb, travel or go skiing or something. And then you don't really have to do a lot at your house. Now, there's travel costs involved, but as far as like the coasting, right? There's no hosting involved. I'm like, I wouldn't even do Halloween if everybody else didn't want. I don't. I have zero cares. So, you know, it's interesting. I feel the exact same way.

4:30I don't care about Halloween. Not that I'm like against it. It's fine. I just don't care. Now, my husband would divorce me if he heard this podcast. So nobody tell him I said that or my mother. Like they both absolutely love Halloween. It's OK. It's fine. So we're just happily doing that. But I'm just saying. So just have some considerations. The other thing that you can do to really help jumpstart this process is look at what happened last year. So good. So let's look at last year. Look at your bank statements or credit card statements. Maybe your Amazon history. That's a good place to start.

5:01We seem to all buy things there. Look and see if you did any travel costs. And then remember, okay, what did I forget last year that I know that I want to incorporate this year? Or underestimate. Yes, we've done that. Yeah, and so this is a really good conversation. Just all of these things will help you jog your memory, especially those Amazon purchases. I'm just not going to lie to you. That's really going to help you realize, oh, I didn't just do Christmas. I did little gift baskets for the teachers. And then we did it for their team. And then we did that party for their team. And then we did a class party.

5:31And then we did a family party. And then you're like, okay, now I remember. You guys wonder why the Christmas planner in our budget system has its own sheet? Yeah. This is why. Because it's like its own event. An animal. Month long. own animal. Yeah, for sure. And listen, you may hear that and be like, I do not want to go back and look next year or last year and see what happened. That seems stressful. That's fine. Then overestimate what you think you're going to spend. If you think you're going to spend$4 ,000, go ahead and just budget for five. And then you can have that extra and you can take it back next year.

6:05Yeah. And also you can set a limit here. Let's also understand that just because something that you did do, because things were just happening faster than you had thought about it, you can set a limit and then you can stick to it if you really want to. It's up to you. And a lot of times if you're really being intentional, you may have, you may not feel like you need to do all of that. And you may would rather save for a trip to go with your family instead of spending all this different money on stuff. And I also have another hack. I don't think it's going to work for everybody, but if I cook Thanksgiving dinner, my mom buys it all.

6:34Oh, that's nice. Love that. I just make everyone, because I host Thanksgiving every year, so everyone just brings a dish. But my mom always cooks the turkey. I love her so much. And it's like her thing. Yeah. So I'm so grateful because I don't ever want to do that. Yeah. So cost share. That's what we're talking about. Thanksgiving is about sharing and caring. OK. Yes. All right. So the mechanism to figure this out after you've looked at and see is let's set up savings buckets. Yeah. So what does this mean? This means look at how much you're going to spend on the different holidays. Now, we already said what they were and we're going to go through each of them separately.

7:08But remember Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's. and then think about when do you need the money by? Okay, so when we're thinking about Halloween, the fabulous thing about it is at the end of the month. So you can use October's budget to help fund it. This is what we're talking about. Now, when you're talking about New Year's, that's also at the end of December, none of it at the beginning. So this is all working out really well for us. Okay, so basically all the holidays that we're talking about are at the ends of the month. So you can use that month to help you fund it. So think about how much, when is it, how much you need, and then the amount of months that you have to fund it.

7:39And then you can take the amount of money, divide it by the amounts that you need to buy, and start saving for it now. Yeah. And so you can look, like, for example, think about Halloween. Are you, do you need to budget for costumes? Or are you mean and be like, you better just come up with one or use last year. Better make it. Go to a trade-off costume thing. Candy? Why is candy so expensive? Does anybody, okay, let me ask this question. Why is everything so expensive? But also, candy, so expensive. You have to budget for it. It's not like I do know some people that are like, I'll just get one bag every time I go to the grocery store.

8:10And I'm like, OK, that sounds great. But like that's twenty five dollars, I think. So and if you have so much for a week, that may not work. But anyway, are you going to do a party or is your kids going to a party as your is there an adult party? And then don't forget about maybe everybody wants to take their class. The kids like they want to take their class something or they want to take something to work or whatever. Let's think about all of those options. Yeah, just I think the party is a fun one, too, because we always forget or we get invited last minute to these things. And sometimes we say no because we feel bad and we haven't budgeted for it.

8:40So the reason why we're trying to work you through this is because we want you to be able to say yes, because we know you we know that you want to say yes to things and we want to help you do that. So think about all the things that encompass with Halloween. Now let's talk about Thanksgiving. This is a little less dressy, I guess you can say, right? There's not costumes and different things. It's just really either you're traveling for Thanksgiving or you're buying all the food for Thanksgiving or you're helping somebody, right? I know some, like we do a game every Thanksgiving. So just think about if there's anything, any cost in that, but it's usually low.

9:07But really just the main thing for Thanksgiving is food. It's food and travel. This is, there's very few holidays that people generally travel for. And this is usually one. And then maybe you're in the position where you have, we go to my family's house for Thanksgiving and they go, we go to their house for Christmas or whatever, if you're young and married or whatever. All those things. So it's just, it's just things to consider. Unfortunately, it's a little less, which is great because guess what's coming? And then there's Christmas. It's time to enter your coaching era because making good money should feel like making good money.

9:39Yeah. Imagine six months of private coaching where we'll tell you exactly what to do. No guesswork, no confusion, and absolutely no judgment. It's a done-for-you system that actually works. You don't know what you don't know, and that's not your fault. And that's why we're here. Financial coaching with us looks like two coaching sessions a month, personalized recaps, and after-hour support, you can text and email. So you're never stuck wondering what to do next. Together, we're going to build your budget, set up your system, and tackle any challenges that come up along the way, which, by the way, they always do.

10:12If what you're doing isn't working and you're tired of trying to figure it out on your own, sign up for financial coaching at budgetbesties.com forward slash coaching before all of our spots fill up and we will help you go further faster. Six months from now, you'll wish you started today. Let's let's back up and say there's Black Friday. I don't know if that's like that needs its own separate category. But Black Friday for me is like that's my time to buy for all my things. I think it's true for everybody. It's this like fake thing that we're buying for other people. But really, you're like, oh, I need that.

10:44I need that. I need that. And so that's fine, too. Let's just plan for it. But remember, it's right after. So if you're planning to buy things on Black Friday, that's, hey, that's in Thanksgiving. That's in November. It's not in December. So make sure you plan for that. All right. But then let's talk about Christmas. Christmas is not just gifts. There's so much more than that. And even if you're like, I have a client who's Jewish and Hanukkah, it's not cheap either. Like there's multiple days. So think about Christmas. There's presents, there's parties, there's gifts for family, friends, teachers, and people at work.

11:13There's the decor, photos, travel. There is so much going on. And We've got shipping attire because people usually buy new dresses or photo shoots and different things. If you're going to board a pet, if you do donations around Christmas time, and then if you do an angel tree. Right. So we're just jogging your memory, but there's a lot here. Yeah. And just teacher gifts and the kids gifts. I feel like that's worth it. The kids as kids gifts. Is that what you're talking about? Like the friends as gifts. Yeah. I feel like those are the things that can get a little out of hand. So, again, you get to decide what this budget is.

11:43But we just are telling you everything so that you can just not forget stuff and not have that be part of your budget. I want to get those lights that change. You can set them colors. They're called guvies. Everybody in my neighborhood has them. And by everybody. Oh, the ones outside your house? Five people. But I want them. Because you can set different colors for every holiday. And this is what I was telling Vanessa. Okay. We went to Grace in May. Praise God for that. It was really great. But I. So I can afford that. But I have a measuring cup that you can't even see the lines on it because...

12:13Yeah, I told you I would pay to get it etched. Get it etched. I know. That would be better than just buying a new one. Or I would just buy you a new one. But anyway, but this is where I'm like, I have money, but I don't have money. I barely have. I'm just going to last on this stupid measuring cup that's useless. Anyway, that's what I feel about the guvies. I could afford them, but I just haven't. And I just, but I want them. I just want to tell you, maybe you put them in your budget and then you can send me a picture and I'll be like, ooh. Okay. Anyway, so Christmas is a lot, right? And then finally, let's not forget about New Year's.

12:40okay because if you are people like our husbands you want to go buy some fireworks okay and you want to go all out it's very manly and we love that for you again i have another hack which is let's cost share this let's all go in together but yeah so fireworks travel maybe you have a party stuff like that maybe it's like i'm friends and oh you have to coordinate who's going to kiss so that so chandler can kiss monica that's why oh yeah it's important it's important but whatever it's new york yeah and listen we don't mean to say all this and you're like driving home from work and you're like, oh my gosh, now I have to go home and play all this stuff.

13:11We're not meaning to stress you out, but we do want you to know that these things are coming, right? So instead of trying to avoid them or make them feel like that's not actually a thing and then you go into debt when they do become a thing, we want you to try to plan for them now. So if you can squeeze them in your budget, and if that means stop paying extra on debt to do so, that is okay because that still means you're ahead. That means you're funding your life in cash and you can continue to pay for your past, meaning put extra on debt after. Yeah. And so what this might look like is in September's budget, you start your holiday and gifts if you didn't already have it.

13:46And you're thinking through all of these different ones. Maybe you have one big number that you're just going to put over there. And if you're using our budget system, you can put each line item, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and how much you want. And then you're going to take that total amount and divide it by the months, give or take, because usually Christmas is going to be the most. And that's how much you're going to move over there. You can also just say, OK, Christmas, I'm going to put over there because that's a bigger one. But in Halloween, I need to put 200 bucks in October, November.

14:14I'm going to put 200 bucks for Thanksgiving or whatever your amount is. That can just be a this month thing. And then you can start next year to just put it all in there a little bit each month. But so it might look like just this month I'm putting this and then while I'm also still saving for Christmas, because generally that's a bigger one. Right. Yeah. You may have the room in your budget to be like, I can fund Thanksgiving and New Year's and Black Friday and Halloween in those months that they happen. But also Christmas, I need to start now. I need to start in September. So I'm going to divide that out from September, October, November, December.

14:44So you have four months. If you think about that, you're going to be able to have four months to divvy out and save up for Christmas, which is better than one month. Yeah. So much better, you guys. Let you know. So the last thing that we want to look at is maybe you're still paying for last year. Maybe you didn't have a plan last year. Maybe all of this snuck up on you and you're thinking, I still have a credit card bill from last December and I don't want to do that again. And this is why we're making this podcast is for you. So that way you can fund it in cash and you don't have to be that person again.

15:16Yeah. So we definitely want that. That is why we're doing that. And like Vanessa said, if that's still there, if that's a thing, that's fine. Your job this season is to do it in cash, pay for it in cash, do it differently, do what we're saying. And then next year you won't have this hanging over and then you can actually take that amount that you budgeted and spread that out over 12 months, which is going to be a lot nicer. And then as you do that, then you'll be able to pay off that debt because you're not going to use it again. You're going to be prepared. So we're really excited. We want you to do things different this year.

15:42It's going to feel way different to pay for everything in cash and with debt and to be prepared. Imagine having all that money when you go shopping for costumes or candy or whatever, and you already have it. That's what we want for you. Yeah, we really do. If you make good money but have nothing to show for it, this quiz will help you figure out what's really going on with your money and what your next step should be. You'll get a personalized result and a simple action step to help you feel more organized and less stressed. Go to budgetbesties.com forward slash quiz and take the free quiz today.

16:12That's budgetbesties.com forward slash quiz to find out what's really going on with your money.