Making Money Personal

It’s that magical time of year again—the decorations are coming out, the music is playing in the malls, and for us in NH, cold crisp winter is in the air. Nestled in all of this is holiday shopping! Today, we’re going to share 5 tips to help you save money and reduce financial stress this season.

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• Learn more about Triangle's Goal Builder tool


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• Learn more about Triangle Credit Union

Transcript:

Welcome to Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal podcast!

Let’s be real: this is a favorite time of year for so many, but this season does not come without financial strain and stress. We have five top tips to help save you money this shopping season.

Tip #1 – Make a list! Write down everyone you plan to give gifts to, including family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, your mail carrier…you get the picture! Then put a dollar figure next to each name.

Once you complete the list (and associated dollar figures), add it all up to see if it hits the mark in your holiday spending budget. If your budget can handle the gifts and amount, then let the shopping begin; however, if your budget is taking a big hit and can’t cover the expenses of your gift giving list, it’s time to set some price limits to keep your holiday budget on track!

You can write out your list with a pencil and paper or use an Excel spreadsheet, which is what we recommend. Excel will allow you to modify the list easily.

If you are in the predicament of having way too many names and dollars than your budget allows, here are some ways to limit your list:

Simply cut the budget by making some baked goods or a cute home-made craft for everyone other than your immediate family.

If you have a sizable family, suggest a Yankee Swap or drawing names and make sure you set spending limits – this is often an approach many use especially for siblings.

Tip #2 – Use sleuth shopping techniques

When you’re out shopping, don’t buy the item without searching for a better deal. Using your phone, do a quick online search to see if you can find it elsewhere at a lower price.

Online shopping has revolutionized sleuth shopping – with a simple Google search you can find the best prices for almost any product! Use this to your advantage! Once you find the best price—show it to the store representative and ask for a price match. If they want your business, they will make every effort to match the price you found online.

Shoppers are more comfortable with this technique if they have the time, so start shopping early! One of the surest ways to overspend is to wait until the last minute and buy all your gifts in a rush. Not only are you more likely to overspend, but it also makes an already stressful time of the year even more so, which brings us to…

Tip #3 – Start early and save money, time, and aggravation

Set a start date and a wrap-up date (pun intended) – the earlier you finish, the more time you will have to enjoy the holiday festivities without the stress! Another benefit of starting early is establishing a longer period to save money for gift giving, which will reduce the impact on your monthly budget. And speaking of saving money…

Tip #4 – Use Your Goal Builder Tool

Check your financial institution for goal building tools and use them to save money for special occasions, like holiday shopping. For example, Triangle Credit Union’s Goal Builder tool allows you to set a goal, the amount you want to save, your start and end dates, and there’s even an auto save option which allows you to select the frequency of how often you want to put money in your savings account.

For more information on this option, check out trianglecu.org/bank/tcu-go-services or our blog on Triangleuniveristy.org.

Goal builder tools allow you to save money over a period of time which reduces a load of stress. The principle of a Goal Builder tool is very much the same as the old Christmas Clubs where you would put money in an envelope or deposit into an allocated account at your financial institution. With Goal Builder, saving is just easier and more convenient because it’s all within your online or mobile banking platform.

Tip #5 – Buy the Product, Not the Marketing

For some of us, the latest and greatest tech is very important! For the rest of us, the latest and greatest tech isn’t important at all. If the people on your list are more interested in features than fanfare, you can save big on buying last year’s model for tech items, such as phones, TVs, audio equipment, etc.

But buyer beware: You may have to sleuth shop a little more to find the earlier models simply due to retail-mania where retailers want to showcase the latest and greatest, so you overspend! Sadly, we can buy into this and spend hundreds on insignificant upgrades and features that we’ll never use or miss. To look for earlier models on phones, I use eBay (just make sure you purchase from a reliable and credible reseller).

And here’s a bonus tip: Doorbuster deals are not all that! You probably started hearing about “doorbuster” deals already, but these specials rarely pay off! A lot of retailers simply markup items to give you the illusion you are getting a real deal at 50% off. Don’t fall for this—rather look for the everyday deals, save early and shop early, and stick to your plan and your budget!

That wraps up today’s Money Tip. If you have any questions or comments or have suggestions on future topics and tips, please email us at [email protected].

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Have a great day!