Preparing your Christmas budget to avoid a financial nightmare
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)— Ahead of the Christmas shopping season, Borderland financial experts are providing advice to stay within your budget and avoid a financial nightmare.
According to the National Retail Federation, this year, consumers will spend on average $890.49 on food, decorations, holiday gifts, and other seasonal items.
The association found that $627.93 will be allocated to gifts for loved ones, and the remaining $262.56 will be used on seasonal items, such as food, decorations, and greeting cards.
Brian Mirau, the president and founder of Mirau Capital Management, told ABC-7 it’s important to go into the season with a game plan.
"It’s so, so critical that you sit down and do some planning. And you know how much you're going to spend going into the holiday season and you stick within that budget," he said.
Mirau said it’s important that families sit down and create a realistic budget.
"So the better that you can plan for what those expenses are going to be, just like everything else we plan for in life, you know, whether it be a vacation, whether it be for, another holiday, identify how much money you're going to be spending, and then really try to stick within that budget and not overspend.”
Mirau said he advises his own clients to create a budget, especially on big shopping days like Christmas.
He provided some helpful budgeting tips:
- Make a list of who you’ll be buying Christmas gifts for.
- Set a realistic spending goal.
- Identify if you’ll be traveling for the holidays and what that could possibly cost you.
- Figure out if you’ll be spending on decorations or food.
Mirau also said, “Always asking yourself that question before you spend that dollar, ‘Do I really need to spend that dollar? Or is it an impulse buy?’ And if you’re not sure about it, it’s better to go home and sleep on it overnight. And then ask yourself again tomorrow. ‘Is that a really, a good, wise spending decision that we're going to make?'"
Mirau encourages you to stay within your budget so you can begin the new year on the right foot financially.
