As Black Friday and the holiday season approaches us quickly, it can be easy to go overboard holiday shopping. With a little planning and budgeting, it’s possible to celebrate without spending all of your money. Here are a few practical money tips to help you stay on track with your finances for the new year:

• Review your budget and set spending limits – Take time to plan. Allocate money specifically for gifts and adjust other areas of your budget. Holiday budgeting will allow you to set limits on your purchases while still enjoying the season.
• Start saving early – Set a savings goal for you and your family. Have everyone in the family participate in the decision-making process. This can be a great teaching moment.
• Be careful with credit cards – By reviewing your budget and setting a savings goal, hopefully you won’t need to put anything on a credit card. But if you do, make sure that you create a plan to have the credit card paid off as soon as possible. Additionally, consider using credit card points to buy gift cards or presents. Depending on the credit card, you can put those points toward travel gift cards, retailer gift cards, and more.
• Collect coupons – Before you go shopping, sort through coupons you receive in the mail and search online for promo codes.
• Know the truth about Black Friday + Cyber Monday – Occasionally, you’ll hit a great deal. But oftentimes, the “door-buster” deals aren’t as groundbreaking as you would think. Many of the markdowns aren’t hugely different from normal daily and weekly promotions.

To help you to get started, take a moment to access our budgeting worksheet. Don’t forget to add your savings goal to that budget.