Planning can help keep holiday expenses under control
BLACKSBURG, Va., Aug. 29, 2007 – No matter how well most people say they have planned for the December holidays, a good many still find they’ve spent more than they intended. They dread January and the “bill season.”
“It’s the little things,” says Dawn Barnes, a Virginia Cooperative Extension family and consumer sciences agent in Floyd County. Most people have heard enough advice that they know they should make a gift list and budget what they want to spend on that. “What can slip by are all the expenses that aren’t ‘wrapped up,’ ” she says.
No one wants to be a Scrooge, but everyone needs to remember that every extra expense comes out of a December and January budget that isn’t any larger than the one they have the rest of the year. Barnes advises sitting down and looking at every activity, and adding those expenses to the holiday shopping list.
“Decorations, wrapping paper and bows, cards and postage, more entertaining, extra gas for holiday travel, more long-distance phone calls, new party outfits, tips for service people, additional baking supplies for holiday goodies, a grab-bag gift or two, and a few donations to charities can add up to more than you spend on your formal gift list,” she explains.
“If you are charging something to a credit card, try the trick of deducting the amount from your checkbook balance when you make the purchase,” she says. “Then, when the bill arrives, you know the money is there. If you haven’t saved enough for all your holiday expenses and use charge cards as a line of credit, then you need to know how the bills will affect your budget in the coming months.”
An additional tip from Barnes is to sit down after the holidays this year and list all your purchases. This will give you a total so you can plan a holiday budget for next year that allows a little extra for the unexpected-expected expenditure. After you have calculated the total amount then divide the amount by 10. Then between February and November put that amount in a saving account. By next December you will have saved what you need for the holidays, and when the bills come, you will have the money to pay them.
“That way if a neighbor drops by unexpectedly with a holiday cake, you’ll be able to return the gesture with a gift of your own,” Barnes says. “You can enjoy feeling generous without worrying how you’ll cover the added expense.”
Contact: Dawn Barnes
Virginia Cooperative Extension family and consumer sciences agent
Floyd County
(540) 745-9307
lbarnes@vt.edu
Contact: Michael Sutphin
Writer
Communications and Marketing
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Virginia Tech
(540) 231-6975
msutphin@vt.edu
Writer: Susan Suddarth
Student Intern
Communications and Marketing
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Virginia Tech