One Simple Tool to Keep Christmas from Breaking the Bank

It’s that wonderful time of the year once again…

Christmas time. Well actually it’s currently Advent but you know what I mean.

For some of you, it snuck up when you were least expecting it despite the fact that Christmas always falls on December 25th.

Oops.

I fully admit to being one of those people this year. Having a baby on November 10th meant that my time to mentally and financially prepare for Christmas sort of went out the window. Until yesterday…when we had the Teixeira Family Budget Committee Meeting and we had $0 in the Christmas category.

That means Christmas expenses are going to come solely from December’s budget…which is doable by cutting costs elsewhere but we should have saved for the past several months in smaller chunks.

I’ve read the statistics. The average household is planning to spend over $861 on Christmas gifts this year. To us that sounds like a LOT and we don’t plan on spending anywhere near that. To others that might be about right or nowhere close to what you plan to spend. We simply want to write this blog post to be a blessing to all of you, no matter what your Christmas budget may be this year.

For those who have saved up or are like us and all of a sudden need to squeeze Christmas into your December budget, there is a tool designed to help you keep track of your Christmas spending. This way Christmas spending can be budgeted and tracked – reducing damage to your bank account, financial peace, and relationships.

Why are we using Dave Ramsey’s My Christmas Budget web app, and why you should too:

1. No Fighting.

We don’t want to have any money fights associated with Christmas. Not only does setting aside a specific overall dollar amount cut down on the potential arguments but this app lets you break down spending by person or event on your list. That way you can’t even fight over how much to spend per person or worry about going over or under budget for the important people in your life.

2. No Guilt

Budgeting = Freedom. I can go to the mall and joyfully spend lots of money (to me) in one fell swoop without guilt since I know my budget won’t lead me into harms way. I can be guilt-free about walking to my car with a dozen store bags since I know it was all planned and accounted for. Ahhh, I can feel the peace now.

3. Keeps My List Organized

When I am out shopping I always forget who I am out shopping for or who I already bought gifts for etc. The app allows us to track who we’ve shopped for by name and even enter the details of what we purchased for them.

4. Balance and Intentionality

I love how the app allows me to take my overall Christmas Budget and spread it out over the people and gift exchanges I plan to be part of. This helps us think in advance about what we want to spend on certain people, why we want to spend that amount, and what items may fall into that budget realm….making shopping even easier.

That’s why we are using Dave’s Christmas Budgeting app and a few reasons why you ought to download it too!

Protip: You can use this website like an app by visiting it on your iPhone in Safari, then clicking the share button (square with an arrow coming out of it) then selecting “Add to Home Screen.”

Have a wonderful rest of your Advent season as you prepare for Christmas!