Start planning your budget by writing down all of the things you're planning to accomplish for the holidays. Don't forget the little things, like holiday cards, and budgeting for the extra electricity for the outdoor Christmas lights. Your list might get pretty long, especially if your family tends to be the main hub during the holidays.
You'll want to start prioritizing your list. Perhaps you don't mind basic boxed greeting cards, but you absolutely must have a special bottle of wine for Thanksgiving. Allocate accordingly. I've found it easier to leave space between each line on my "need" list so I can cut each item and re-arrange back and forth as I think about what is more important to me. It's a little more work at first, but it helps me plan the budget easier.
After you have your list ready to go, you'll want to plan the total amount of your budget and STICK TO YOUR BUDGET. Once your budget is set, then you can start the shopping! Have your budget and list ready to go before you step foot in a store. Once Halloween is over, most stores will start rolling out their holiday sales because they want your money! You can use this to your advantage - stores like Walmart will have holiday layaways. If you have your budget ready, you can already snag a more expensive gift and pay as you go along this holiday. Stores like Safeway currently have their gas rewards program that can help you too - where you get 4x rewards points just for purchasing gift cards to stores like Amazon. If you know you will be buying gift cards to give as gifts, or you are planning to holiday shop and know where you will be spending money already at, you can come out a little ahead. Other stores will probably follow suit, so take a moment to check out ads online before heading out!
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