Are You Making These Expensive Holiday Shopping Mistakes?

Christmas is a period of merrymaking, a time when we are engaged in a lot of shopping but in the course of doing this, we are bound to make some spending mistakes that can cost us more than we realise. It’s tempting to go overboard, arguing that Christmas, only comes once a year and that we should enjoy and reward ourselves. You could be making spending mistakes, and the only way to stop it is identifying them and making some small changes.

Breaking the budget

We need a Christmas budget so that we can stay within our limits. You should, before anything else, determine how much should be spent during the season. Include everything that may be needed, involve other members of the family so that you do not miss out on some essentials. When it comes to spending for the holiday season, stick to your budget, anything that is not in your list, should not be purchased unless you are exchanging it with a product which is of similar value. When you have reached your limit, stop spending, you’ll thank yourself later.

Using a credit card

Using a credit card means spending now but paying later, this is recipe for overspending, something that may have a negative impact on your finances. Buy on a cash basis, plan carefully and avoid using credit cards if you can.

Buying to impress

We all fall into victims of this habit, buying something so that we can impress our peers, family and friends. However, we are left high and dry once the holidays are over, we may have succeeded as far as impressing is concerned but we have bought items which we do not need or are now in huge debt. Buy something because you need it, if you buy because you want to keep up with Joneses’, you will get burned.

Waiting until the last minute

When you do your holiday shopping early, you will not only avoid the rush that comes with the season, but will also buy what you need at a lower price. Buy items a while before the holiday season, especially when it comes to durable goods, you will thank yourself on discovering that the same thing you bought some months back is going for double the price during the festive season.