Indians love to celebrate holidays with energy and enthusiasm. What drives us is decorating our homes, buying new outfits, baking treats, and spending time with our loved ones. Festival purchasing increases our monthly spending. Everyone exhausts the budget. Check out the money management advice below if you are one of them that needs help managing finances throughout the event.
You’re probably busy assessing your money as the holiday season approaches. Many costs are on their way. You must be busy revising your grocery list. On top of that, you must be thinking about what to add and remove from the list to ensure that your holiday wishes are met while keeping your budget on track.
Because the events are so close together, they necessitate a significant investment. It is always necessary to plan ahead of time so that you have enough money to enjoy the celebrations without losing out on anything. So, the easiest way to go about it is to make a budget. It will make you happy when the holiday season is past. And we’d want to make budgeting a little easier for you. We have some financial tricks and recommendations to help you stay on track.
1. Calculate Your Expenses and Create a Shopping Budget
The costs have the ability to push you beyond your financial limit. In terms of general shopping, you might consider purchasing clothes, mobile phones, consumer durables, jewellery & coins, cutlery, fire crackers, fruits, sweets, and other items. It doesn’t stop there; in order to capitalise on the festive demand, many automotive manufacturers provide enticing discount deals to entice clients. However, you should not let them affect you too much. You only need to compute the entire spending and create a budget that works for you. A budget is something that varies from person to person. As a result, prepare your finances properly.
2. Don’t do Aggressive Shopping
Who doesn’t enjoy shopping, especially during the holiday season when there are huge sales everywhere? We may be able to obtain items at steep discounts because now is the optimum time for businesses and brands to profit.
Stores and online shopping portals provide several offers in order to promote sales, and when we see these deals, we begin purchasing impulsively since it is impossible to resist such enticing offers! But we must avoid getting into such a predicament. This will help us stay on budget and manage our funds over the holiday season.
3. Manage Finances during Festive Shopping
Look for savings in both online and offline stores. Make sure you don’t buy on credit, whether online or offline. You must have acquired reward points if you have used credit cards for a long period. Redeem your points immediately at numerous websites/stores to buy your favourite items. It will allow you to save money for other purposes. To cut costs, look for cashback incentives if they are available. However, only use them if they are within your financial means. Say no to wasteful spending. Consider whether you truly require it. So, even though credit card offers on mobile phones and washing machines are quite appealing, resist them to avoid falling into debt.
4. Tracking your Finances is a Strong Habit
You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Make it a point to acquire this habit as soon as possible, and you will see a good influence on your financial health. Once you start keeping track, you will notice where you are overpaying and will be able to save more. It will show you how much of your money you are saving and how much you are spending. Keep track of all your Diwali spending individually this year, and you’ll be able to make better judgments.
5. Don’t Buy Too Much on Credit
Keep track of your costs even if you opt to use your credit card. Take care not to overextend yourself and become bankrupt. And when we talk about using credit cards to make purchases, we typically think about the temporary gratification they provide. The ability to obtain anything we desire all at once. Credit card firms provide tempting discount offerings over the holiday season in order to boost credit growth.
What do many consumers do?
They splurge and splurge some more. It results in a tremendous pile of debt that most people find difficult to repay. When you fail to pay your dues on time, late payment penalties, interest, and applicable taxes are applied to your statement.
6. Select the best Spending Tool
We should also plan ahead of time which spending instrument would assist us in controlling our funds over the holiday season. Credit cards, such as HDFC credit cards and Axis credit cards, normally provide great discounts, but we must be careful not to spend more than our budgeted amount.
Rather of using credit cards, we should use debit cards since the amount is withdrawn from our account instantly, saving us from unexpected obligations.Debit cards now give savings! This will assist us not just in paying off our credit card obligations, but also in managing our budget.
7. Avoid Using Credit Cards
Buying one thing might lead to another, and the vicious shopping cycle never ends. This is why you should avoid using credit cards. To avoid using credit, simply withdraw the money and bring it with you when shopping. Instead, if you’re dead set on something, go with the third option, which is to take out a personal loan for a particular sum. In comparison to credit card interest rates, the rates are fairly modest.
8. DIY Festival Planning
During festivals, the best thing to do is spend time with your friends and family. And making DIY goods is a great way to bond with kids while also saving money. During the festival, you may create handcrafted lamps, lanterns, candles, wall pieces, paintings, and much more for your house. You may also save money by producing your own chocolates and candies.
9. Avoid the Temptation to Overspend
Unnecessary desires might cost you a lot of money. People are affected by their peers’ spending habits and want to emulate them. However, in doing so, many of them fail to consider the negative influence it may have on their money. So, if you are low on funds and overspend for the festivals, you may find yourself knee-deep in debt. To be cautious, think long term and carefully before spending money on anything.
Part with some of your savings to avoid becoming enslaved by debt. You can also utilise some of your funds to go shopping. Spend it on holiday necessities and enjoy a credit-free shopping experience.
10. Pre-book the Large Assets
If you intend to purchase a vehicle, phone, gold, or television, plan ahead of time. All of these costs are at their height during the festivals. To minimise overspending, book or purchase these items one month before the festival.