61: Wrapping Up a Debt-Free Holiday: Financial Tips and Tricks

Ever dreamt of a holiday that doesn't leave you drowning in debt? Brace yourselves, because that's exactly what we're gifting you this Christmas! From my special series, "12 Days to a Debt-Free Christmas," you'll learn to strategize your spending, create a sinking fund, and set realistic expectations for your holiday budgets. Get ready to wrap your mind around innovative DIY gift ideas and clever ways to include those extra costs - shipping, charitable donations, and holiday treats - without breaking the bank.

But we’re not stopping at just saving your wallet. This episode is also about saving your peace of mind. Get a load of personal financial support and guidance at thefinancialmoment.com/support, because a debt-free holiday is the ultimate gift you can give yourself. Also, share these financial wellness tips with friends and family – after all, the holiday season is all about spreading love and joy. 

Tune in next week for more priceless insights on controlling your finances during the holidays. It's time to jingle all the way to a debt-free holiday season!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You're listening to Elevate your Paycheck, the podcast that is dedicated to transforming your financial journey. I'm Carolyn, your host and money coach that will guide you out of that paycheck to paycheck cycle and onto a path towards financial independence. Are you ready? Let's do this. Hey, welcome back to the podcast. I'm so excited.

Speaker 1: 0:27

This is our first episode of Elevate your Paycheck. I'm Carolyn, I am so ready to up level your money, and what better day for the first launch to be on my birthday, december the 7th. So I'm in a great mood for this launch. I have something special in store for you guys. You have to listen to the end of the episode, but it is going to be well worth your while. I think I'm also super excited because tomorrow I'm actually having a birthday party with all of my friends and family, and I don't think I've had like one of those kind of birthday parties since I was probably 16. So this is an exciting time and I'll tell you guys all about it next week, okay, so why don't we jump into this week's topic Now?

Speaker 1: 1:18

I know we're heading into the holidays. My birthday kind of triggers off the holiday season in my household. I'm adamant about having a Christmas tree up by my birthday. So that is a mandatory, and I think that's because, when I was born, my mom she kind of swaddled me up and put me under the tree and I guess I was like a gift to the family, and so the Christmas tree is very important to me and this whole season is a very important time in my life. But having said that, we can kind of get carried away with Christmas on the holidays. So I thought, well, what better way than to go through the 12 days to a debt-free Christmas? So I've launched this series on Instagram. So if you follow me there, you're only going to notice that I'm going to be putting out daily tips on how you can really have a debt-free holiday. And for my listeners, you guys, I think what I'm going to do is break it into three episodes. So make sure to share this episode and this podcast with a friend. What better gift can you give them than a debt-free holiday? So let's think about why having a debt-free holiday is so important.

Speaker 1: 2:32

The holidays, for some people, can bring a lot of stress and anxiety, and that's not just due to money. It can be the result of a lot of different factors. So it's important to me to help you alleviate at least some of the stress during this time of year. And what's the number one thing that can happen? We can go into debt. Why? Because perhaps we're trying to keep up with the Joneses, we're trying to impress other people, we're trying to make sure that our kids have what other people's kids have. There's so many different factors as to why we go into this debt at this time of year, so why should we avoid it? Well, number one a debt-free holiday means less financial stress. We talked about the stress that the holidays can bring.

Speaker 1: 3:22

Why put more additional stress worrying about money? Individuals can enjoy festivities without having the burden of knowing that this credit card bill is coming eventually in the new year. And what comes with those credit card bills if you're not able to pay it off in full, is interest. And why are you paying additional money on things that you've purchased in the past? It doesn't make any sense, right? We run around trying to get the sale and the deal, only to go and give that extra money that you've saved now to the credit card companies in interest. It really just doesn't make any sense, and this can lead to an effect on your credit score If you have this high amount of debt coming in in January, your credit score is going to be impacted, especially if you can't pay that off. So you really want to preserve all these things, right? These are the gifts that you want to give to yourself. The gift of being debt-free over the holidays means endless possibilities in 2024.

Speaker 1: 4:26

In addition, you want to protect your mental health, right? That's definitely resolution time in January, and then we head into February, where it's like the February blues and I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the weather in my area, but also it's the fact that you know all of the reality of your financial situation is coming to light during that time, and so you know it's just post-holiday blues. If you can eliminate that, why add to it? Right? We are in the last month of the year and if you do have debt right now, you don't want to add any additional burden to yourself, right? You want to enjoy the holidays with your family and friends. It doesn't mean you need to overextend, so let's set some realistic expectations. So I want you to take some notes as we go through 12 ways that you can ensure your holiday is debt-free.

Speaker 1: 5:22

All right, first up is a holiday budget. Now, it doesn't really sound like the two words go together Holiday sounds like super fun and budget sounds like super boring but it doesn't have to be that way. You just want to make sure that you've created a plan. That's what this is really all about is just creating a plan of what you're going to do over the next few weeks. Okay, I know I'm a little bit of a nerd when it comes to spreadsheets and things like that, but I have a spreadsheet that I think it dates back to 2009. And I probably have an earlier version of that spreadsheet as well, and I list out some categories that I know I'm going to spend money on over this season and I put a dollar amount beside each one. In the gift section, I actually list out the people that I'm going to buy a gift for and again, I put a budgeted amount for each person and at the bottom, I total it up and that's the amount that I need to make sure I have for the holiday season. And the idea is that you create a sinking fund for this season, right? Because you know you're going to be spending extra money. So the total at the bottom, you divide that by 12, and this is what you want to save for the upcoming year. So you're following December. When it comes around, that money will be sitting there. You know it may vary depending on the people, things that you're going to be doing on the season or whatever, but at least you have set up some money aside for this purpose. So I wanted to go through what my categories are to help you create a similar budget, and this can be done on a notepad or it can be done in your phone, it can be done on a spreadsheet, however you want. Don't make it complicated, just want to make sure that you have something written down somewhere.

Speaker 1: 7:12

Okay, so first category is gifts. We talked about that and really get detailed about this. You know, list out your family, your friends, your colleagues, your neighbors, your teachers sorry, your kids teachers, maybe your teachers, you know whomever you're going to buy a little something for, right. You want to really list it out and put a conservative dollar amount beside it, right, and I say conservative because we can always bump up the budget if we have room right, but at the beginning we really want to be as conservative as possible to see what our total is at the end. So that's one section, the gifts. And in the second section, a lot of us forget about this, but it's the decorations. And you know, most of the time I get my husband to pull up the boxes from the basement and bring them up and you know I start decorating the tree and the house and et cetera, but I'm like you know there's just something missing, right, and then off to winners or marshals, or home sets. I go to try and, you know, fill in the gaps, right, and so decorations needs to be included on that budget and you're going to put an amount that you think is reasonable to spend.

Speaker 1: 8:24

Now, the next category is food and drinks. This is probably the largest of all the categories because you know we do have a lot of eating activities during the season. Now, it could be that you are hosting Christmas dinner, but it could also be that you're going out for dinner. A lot, right, a lot of us have office parties. You know our friends are inviting us over, we're having parties at restaurants, get-togethers, things like that. So I'm not only am I talking about budgeting for your holiday meal, I'm also asking you to factor in these other events. So pull out your calendar, see the events that you have scheduled and really kind of come up with an amount for each one of these things that you're going to put into your food and drink category.

Speaker 1: 9:12

Okay, Next up is travel expenses. I know some of you don't live in the same city as your families, and so you need to kind of think about that. Right, if you're going to visit your family or you're going to go visit a friend, are you just going to do some traveling, like you during the holidays? Then again, have a separate budget for that right. And travel comes with lots of different things transportation, accommodation, flights, car rentals, gas. You know there's so many things that come with travel and that's probably for another episode, but if that is something that you're doing around the season, then definitely factor that in as well.

Speaker 1: 9:48

Okay, here's something that we tend to forget, and that is postage and shipping. So if we're sending off gifts to people that are, you know, far away and maybe they're alone at Christmas time and you just want to cheer them up and having them have something come to their door, then think about the postage and the shipping. One tip that you can do is actually order something on Amazon and have it directly shipped to that person, so you kind of avoid the shipping costs. You know Amazon may charge you shipping if you don't have Prime, but you may kind of save yourself a little bit if you just ship it directly from the supplier. Another category that you may forget about is any charitable donations that you make during this time of year. Now, not only are you helping that particular charity, but it's also paying you back as well, because you're going to be able to claim that on this year's income tax. So, honestly, that's a win-win.

Speaker 1: 10:48

So next up is entertainment and activities. What you want to include in this category is a is things that you're going to be doing around the season. So whether that be concerts or theater performances or different holiday attractions, I remember when my kids were home for two weeks during the holidays. It was just so much fun. You know you're home and you're driving you crazy after the excitement has worn off for Christmas and they just wanna get outside and do things. So just budget for that, right. You know, if there's no snow on the ground, you're gonna have to take them somewhere to keep them entertained and off the video games. So just make sure that you have something kind of set aside for that as well.

Speaker 1: 11:28

Now, sometimes what I would do in the gift category is also add a little line for myself and my family, because there is clothing that you'd kind of tend to buy around this time of year and you know you wanna look a little nicer for Christmas Day or you're going out to holiday gatherings or you have a work party. You know you gotta budget in for a little bit for clothing expenses as well. One additional tip with this is maybe just want to buy one piece. So if you already have a skirt, you're buying a new top. Or if you have a top and you wanna buy some new pants or whatever right, try and mix and match within your wardrobe and that's going to make you spend a little bit less money.

Speaker 1: 12:11

And finally, don't forget about festive treats and different traditions that you may have. I know a friend of mine. She gathers with a group of friends and they do this all day baking thing right, and they bake all these different types of cookies and treats and whatever, and they split it all up and they each have their packages and they have something to be able to entertain with throughout the season. So you know they probably pool in their resources, but you wanna make sure that you've kind of budgeted for that, above and beyond the grocery amount that you've already allocated. Okay, did I capture everything? Well, that's what's on my list, but if there's something that's missing, make sure you add it in there. This way, you're just overly prepared for the season.

Speaker 1: 12:54

So the second thing that you wanna think about when you are considering giving gifts to the individuals this is the second column, I think, in my spreadsheet is what I'm actually going to purchase and depending on the year, like I said, this goes back to 2009,. So my budget fluctuated based on when you know it was happening in my life. So, coming up with alternate gift-giving ideas, really kind of get into what that person likes, what their interests are, and then determine what it is that you're going to buy. You know a lot of people have lists these days and they're great, they're good for suggestions and things like that, but sometimes the creativity gets lost and the things that they have on their list is beyond your budget and so kind of still going into the theme of what it is that they like and want, but having something that is special thought about by you may help to save money in the long run. So a friend of mine is really into kayaking and camping and all the outdoorsy things Probably the total opposite of me, but anyway. So I was thinking about what to buy her for Christmas. One year I decided to get her a phone charger that is operated based on solar energy, so when she's out on the lake, you know she can still charge her phone and be able to take pictures and do all the fun things. When she got that gift, she was just over the moon, because you know, her phone always dies and so you know. It's things like that where you kind of think about what is important to the person and then you can get creative and find things that they would have never even thought about themselves.

Speaker 1: 14:44

Another way to really cut back and scale back on the amount that you're allocating towards the holidays is to really do DIY things right. There is so much I mean Pinterest alone can give you so many ideas. There's YouTube, social media oh my goodness. People have definitely done every idea that you could possibly think of. So if you're really into saving money and you're had a little bit of a creative gene in you, then go to the internet. They'll tell you all the different ideas that you can do so you can do a DIY for decorations, for gifts, for teacher presence, like there's just so many things that you can do that can help you to scale back on the amount that you're spending. Okay, so we did talk a lot about the budget and, like I said, I don't want to scare you guys with that. I just want to make sure that you have planned appropriately so when you go out there, you know exactly how much money you have to spend on each area. So, remember, today is my birthday, so I have a special gift for all of you.

Speaker 1: 15:51

A lot of people have shown interest in having some coaching, which is, you know what? Just a little bit of help when it comes to this many management thing, right. And now that I have been doing it for a little while, I have noticed that when it comes to, you know, setting up the budget, examining the expenses, you know, doing the work, a lot of people kind of like, oh, do I have to? This is uncomfortable, like I don't like using spreadsheets. You know there's so much resistance there, right? So I thought, okay, what can I do to give you guys a special gift that's going to set you up for 2024? So with my current coaching package, it comes with six sessions, and normally we do three sessions once a week. I give you a little bit of a break to do some work and then we do three more sessions.

Speaker 1: 16:40

So, within all of this, we talk about goal setting, we analyze your current state that's including your debt. We create a budget, we really analyze your cash flow, create a cash flow statement, review your current income and expenses, we plan for the unexpected and so much more. To be honest with you within this time period, so, as a bonus, if you reach out to me within the next 48 hours, I am going to include a personal audit and budget done for you. What that means is I'm going to do the work that you guys hate doing and comb through your expenses and really set you up with a custom budget. Now, honestly, this is priceless, because I don't normally do this at all. I work with you to develop a budget, but I thought you know why not be generous it's my birthday and give you guys as much help as you possibly need. So if you want to partake in this program, the cost for my coaching services will go up in 2024. So you'll be getting the 2023 pricing and, on top of it, I'm going to do this free audit and budget for you.

Speaker 1: 17:57

Managing your money does not have to be complicated. I know a lot of you feel overwhelmed. Perhaps things that have happened within 2023 have had a negative impact on your finances and you really don't know where to start to fix it. Really, take some time at the end of this year to reflect on your situation and determine what it is you're going to do about it, and if you don't know how to come up with a plan, then definitely reach out. There are so many different ways that I can assist and help you, and I want 2024 to be your best year ever.

Speaker 1: 18:36

So I hope you guys have a wonderful week and make sure to tune in next week, because we're going to keep going with our debt-free holiday tips and share it with a friend. What better gift can you give someone than a debt-free holiday? So have a great week and I will see you guys same place in same time. Thanks for listening to the Elevate your Paycheck podcast. If you love this episode and need deeper support, head to thefinancialmomentcom backslash support to see how we can support you, no matter where you are at today. We help our clients organize their finances, create savings, eliminate debt and create a roadmap to their financial goals which makes them more in control than they've ever dreamed possible. So head to thefinancialmomentcom. Backslash, support and make this the next step in your financial journey.