Save Money This Holiday Season
With less than a month away from Christmas, you will get bombarded with promotions and advertisements. So we recommend you plan ahead by creating a reasonable budget, making a gift-giving list and thinking outside the box.
Group gifts
Think about people on your list and who you may ask to chip in to help reduce costs. For example, maybe your siblings would like to contribute for present for your parents or grandparents.
Pulling names
Suggest to your family that instead of buying for everyone on the list, you pick a name out of hat and just buy for one person. You can also set spending limits for everyone so that takes the financial pressure off buying for lots of people with cash you may not have.
Homemade gifts
You may have fine-tuned your culinary skills or learned how to knit during the current pandemic. This is the time to put those talents to good use by giving fresh baked goods or a cowl or scarf for presents.
Skip a Payment
If your financial institution offers a skip a pay option, this might be a good time to take advantage of the offer and free up some cash for holiday gift. Qualified members at Bellwether can skip a payment of their eligible consumer loan for a small fee.
Use Reward Points or Redeem Cash
It’s a good time to check out those rewards points or cash earned through your credit card purchases. You can redeem them for gifts or money and give your wallet a little break. Don’t have a rewards or cash back card, Bellwether has options for you.
Prepare for 2021
Now is the time to start saving for the next holiday season. Open up a Bellwether Community Credit Union holiday club and put away a little each week. If you save $10 a week, you will have $520 by next Christmas.
Spend within your means
It’s tempting to get everyone what they want. It’s important to draft a budget and stick to it. Make sure you check and track all your spending including online shopping, layaways and point of sale purchases with both your credit and debits cards.
Be smart about your spending in 2020 and get prepared for next year. Happy Holidays!
Lori Holmes is the Vice President of Marketing at Bellwether Community Credit Union.
