Adulting 101 - It’s never too early to start thinking about the holidays!

Let’s be honest, 2020 has not been the easiest year for anyone. We all need something to look forward to and it’s never too early to start thinking ahead about your holiday budget for gifts or travel to see family and friends. Whether you’re going to celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Diwali, Kwanzaa or another holiday I haven’t listed here, you have a few more months to plan before the holiday season commences. Consider these five tips to help you plan ahead this year so you can avoid all the last-minute online shopping and shipping deadlines.

1)    Plan your holiday budget ahead of time. Don’t just pick an arbitrary number. Make sure you take into account any event you need to take a gift to, your holiday travel plans, and other non-holiday gifts like November or December birthdays. Once you’ve determined an amount, increase it by 15% just in case you’ve mistakenly left someone off the list. Take that number and divide by the number of months you have left in your shopping season, and that’s how much you need to put away each month to fund your budget. Ideally, you’ve been doing this all year to minimize how much you have to save each month.

2)    Consider purchasing gender-neutral gifts at store sales throughout the year. There will always be some unplanned event or an unexpected family member that heads to your holiday celebration. So, watch for sales during Labor Day or Black Friday on simple gifts you could easily wrap up and gift to the cousin you didn’t expect to show up or the Secret Santa you weren’t planning on at work. Things like candles, wrapped candies, picture frames, or gift cards to various home improvement stores or restaurants could all be kept in a “last minute gifts” basket or in that junk drawer whose existence you deny.

3)    Group gifts are a great idea when someone’s list is a little pricier than expected. My husband is very thoughtful with his gift giving. His dad got a new truck last year and he wanted to gift a set of custom floor mats to help protect the floor of the truck. Those were quite a bit above our holiday budget, so he asked his brother and sisters to go in on the purchase with him. This could be a good strategy when you’re not sure what to get your niece that wants all the latest technology, or you want to gift a special boss something nice without breaking the bank.

4)    Consider drawing names to minimize the number of people you need to shop for each year. Do you have a large family or big group of friends that like to exchange gifts? If so, you probably know the stress of trying to pick out the perfect gift for each person. Consider each drawing a name out of a hat or using something like a white elephant gift exchange instead of buying something for everyone. Attach a spending range to limit what you’re each shelling out and also make sure everyone gets an equally nice gift during the exchange.

5)    Quality handmade gifts are always a nice touch. If you’re great at baking or a crochet whiz, your friends and family will be sure to appreciate a nice homemade batch of holiday cookies or some new dishcloths that match their kitchen colors exactly. Don’t forget to include the supplies for your handmade creations in that holiday budget, and shop sales on non-perishable items throughout the year to save as much as you can. 

No matter what you decide to do with your holiday gifting, planning ahead is always a good idea. If you can de-stress your holidays and just enjoy the time with family and friends this year, that’s probably something we could all appreciate right about now.

-Margaret Gooley, CFP®, Worley Erhart-Graves Financial Advisors