Divas,
Now that the turkey and dressing is finally digested or burned off from the guilt ridden mornings in the gym over the last few weeks, the Christmas shopping bug has bitten… hard.
With just under two weeks left until Christmas, the scramble begins.
Does everyone have their lists ready or half way conquered?
WIth four children and a true lover of the Christmas spirit, I am fully aware of the joys and the struggles/stress the holidays can bring. I hope my tips will help you save financially focused and even thik out the box this holiday to avoid the hoilday heartaches and pocketbook burns.
If you are still sitting at home dreading going out on this weekend and can’t bring yourself to go online to scroll and click through Target, Walmart and Amazon (my favorite), follow my 5 Tips to a Healthy Financial Holiday.
- Face the facts.
Take inventory of your income, debt, expenses during this joyous time of the year. Your income does not magically increase in December. What you do with what you have will matter after Christmas Day.
Remember, quality time is far more important that any phyiscal gift. Make this year a year of experiences, take a short trip, create a new family tradition in lieu of shopping for gifts that may leave you in a bind after the holiday.
(PS… what happened to layaway? That was my life saver when my oldest was younger. Does anyone still offer or use layaway?)
- Giving, savings and investment should be on autopilot.
Make these the first items you pay each payday even more so during the holidays. Continuing these activities will keep you from over spending.
If anything increase your giving to others that are less fortunate during this time as “giving is a gift that keeps giving”!
- Build a holiday budget with the income remaining from the #2 allocations.
Avoid overspending!
Don’t create a headache that you will have to deal with after the holidays. Be creative and remember, Christmas morning is ONE day that many people pay for for 11 months thereafer. Creating a holiday budget can help you avoid the holiday traps and the holiday headache and “pocketbook” burn.
- DIVAS avoid bad debt.
Real DIVAS are mindful, wise, diligent and allllllllll about their money. You have the greatest buying power in the country right now so be sure to use that power to create wealth and not build that of others. The holiday can get us very twisted! Stay the course DIVAS and don’t create debt during this season that will take you years to pay back.
- Be creative in creating income!
Put your side hustle to work for you. Bake a cake, make a wreath, wrap some presents, run some errands, babysit for a family shopping.
Seek to make money during the holiday for what you already do. Don’t reinvent the wheel with producing your cash stream. The extra income can help you with your own holiday shopping without using your current income, pay off debt or meet your savings goal before the end of 2017.
Post your takeaways on the Divas Doing Real Estate FB page.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Yours In Real Estate,
Sherkica
