It's July. Why in the world would we want to start thinking about holiday time in December right now. One of the biggest financial hangovers people have in their budgets is when they overspend during the holiday season. Now that we have hit July, I have some smart money moves tips that can put a few of those dollars back in your and maybe even take some of the stress out of your life. Here are five money ideas for doing Christmas, Chanukkah, or whatever holiday you celebrate with your families in December to save you some money.
- What's On Sale Now - When you are out and about at the stores, you should always take a peek at the clearance racks. You might find some cool piece of clothing, shoes on sale, or some piece of technology that is being upgraded to a new version. For sure, all summer clothes will start to go on sale, so this can be an excellent time to snatch those deals up now. What many people don't realize is that you can find excellent savings on fitness gear and tools as well during the summer. Also, your credit cards including American Express will have some of their own merchandise in their rewards section on clearance as well. So, you might be able to find an excellent deal with points (not even cash) to purchase a gift for the holidays now.
- Amazon Prime Day - We don't know the exact date yet, but Amazon Prime day has been leaked to be on July 16th and July 17th this year. Usually, they will announce this right in the beginning of July. though historically U.S. and foreign shares have traded roughly on par with one another. This is Amazon's version of Black Friday or Cyber Monday, but a GREAT time for you to be looking for discounted deals on gifts now instead of doing this over the holidays.
- Use AI - If you are having trouble saving for the holidays and typically go into more credit card debt than you would like to admit, consider using a modern day version of AI as a savings account until you start shopping. Digit (digit.com) is an AI machine that tracks the spending patterns in your bank account. When they know it is the right time of the week or month, they will automatically take some money out and put it into an FDIC insured money market account. Digit helps force the discipline to save on a monthly basis. The only downside is the $2.99 a month fee.
- Get A Travel Deal - The best deals on airfare and hotels for the holidays typically happen during the month of October. However, you will want to get your air watch alerts beginning in July, so you can track the deals for when October comes. More importantly, flexibility of travel is one of the key cornerstones to really getting the best travel deal during the holidays, so you should make sure that you talk to your boss now about what days you can take off during the holiday season, so you can travel from a weekday to a weekday versus a weekend to a weekend. This will put some money back in your pocket.
- Make A Savings Challenge Now - We are about 21 weeks away from Black Friday. If you think you'll spend $1,000 during the holidays that means, you'll need to start banking $50 a week now or $7 a day. Whether you go the simple route like a change jar or have money systematically taking out of your paycheck, getting those funds set aside today will take the bite out of racking up credit card debt during the holidays.
If you want to set up a time to challenge yourself to do better financially please go to oXYGen Financial to set up an appointment today.
If you would like to receive more information on making smart money moves for your future, be sure to contact us today!
