SPENDING YOUR MONEY WISELY
Festive holiday can be very exciting temporarily with a devastating trail at the end for many people. The festive holidays are driven with make you feel good kind and giving advertisements as well as many store promotions leading to compulsive buying and unplanned spending.
December is a month like the other eleven pumped with two weeks of holidays if you are not careful with your money you will end your year low on cash and high on stress, debt and regret.
Now, there is nothing wrong with spending and spoiling your loved ones with trollies field with goodies fashion and delights it is the festive season to enjoy for as long as it is budgeted for. Retailer’s adverts will make-believe the best and only time to buy and get great deals starting from the black Friday to the 24th of December. Some things can be cheap especially when you buy for cash well credit is another. The buy one get one free does not mean you have not paid and retailer is business and business is about profit.
The question is how to survive the festive season and into a new year with joy and content heart looking forward to the following year’s festive season and festivities. Let us reveal this great and well-kept secret called “PLANNING”.
You have to plan how you are going to spend your holidays. Remember you can’t spend what you don’t have. This means your plan will include a budget. Effective budgeting includes building good savings over time. You don’t entrust your budget on your December salary.
Here how you should go about it, use the four W’s and the H. We don’t plan because we want to or it is the sexy thing to do but because it is the one activity that will help us keep sane especially if you are the one spending. It is also important to advise the family what is happening and how you plan to achieve the goal and what it means. What, Where, Who, When and How?
It is simple, first what you need to spend on, where are you going or spending on, when are you planning to spend times and dates, who is this for or who will be part and finally How much will be spent. You have to stick to the allocated budget, buying clothes make sure everyone is clear what they can spend. Also if you can before spending, shop-around make a comparison check if you can’t find it cheaper somewhere. Be careful not to spend more, time, money for what seems less. Keeping to the budget is going to test your character and resolve, it won’t be easy.
You will have to resist and the temptation to derail and keep within the budget. HAPPY HOLIDAYS, HAPPY SPENDING and SPEND WISELY
Visit www.isaacmavuso.co.za for a personal budgeting template.