{"id":3044,"date":"2024-11-10T15:47:31","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T15:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lcfcu.org\/wph\/workarea\/?p=3044"},"modified":"2024-11-10T15:48:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T15:48:01","slug":"5-tips-to-spend-less-this-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lcfcu.org\/wph\/workarea\/5-tips-to-spend-less-this-holiday-season\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Tips to Spend Less this Holiday Season\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>With all of the upcoming festive fun, spending can get a little out of hand. This year, try these holiday spending tips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Set a Budget: <\/strong>The first and most important step in spending less during the holidays is establishing a set-in-stone budget. This dollar amount should include all holiday-related purchases such as food, gifts, postage, travel (car or public transportation), as well as meals out while shopping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Make a List (and stick to it):<\/strong> Before you go shopping for gifts or ingredients for a holiday feast, make a list of the items you\u2019ll need. Then, when you get to the store or shop online, refer to the list. If it\u2019s not on the list, don\u2019t buy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Always Plan Ahead:<\/strong> While it feels better to give than receive, it can also get expensive. To keep from giving too much and blowing your budget, write out a list of people who will receive a gift from you and how much you are willing to spend on each person. Remember, just because someone buys you something doesn\u2019t mean you have to return the favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Keep Your Receipts:<\/strong> Then use those receipts to track and add up every holiday expense after each shopping trip. If you have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lcfcu.org\/loans\/personal\/credit-card\/\">Library of Congress FCU credit card<\/a>, you can track those expenses online. The goal is to add up every shopping trip so you know exactly how much you\u2019ve spent and what you have left in your holiday budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t Wait Until the Last Moment:<\/strong> Late holiday shoppers will either pay more or they\u2019ll be forced to buy gifts that nobody really wants. Shop early and you\u2019ll have the luxury of sale prices, online options, and other incentives.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Stories from the Stacks blog is for everyone.<\/strong> From those facing financial challenges to those who simply want tips or a better understanding of their relationship with money, this is designed for anyone interested in advancing their financial life story.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/r\/BlogTopicSurvey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Let us know what topics you\u2019d like us to explore next!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With all of the upcoming festive fun, spending can get a little out of hand. This year, try these holiday spending tips. Set a Budget: The first and most important step in spending less during the holidays is establishing a set-in-stone budget. This dollar amount should include all holiday-related purchases such as food, gifts, postage, [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","attr_subtitle":[""],"attr_date":[""],"attr_excerpt":[""],"attr_secondary_image":[""],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories-from-the-stacks-blog"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Tips to Spend Less this Holiday Season\u00a0 - Library Of Congress FCU<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"5 Tips to Spend Less this Holiday Season - \u00a0With all of the upcoming festive fun, spending can get a little out of hand. 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