HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) Cathy Snyder, a senior lecturer at James Madison University, said that, heading into the holiday, setting a spending limit can help you save money and encourage you to think outside the box.
“I actually encourage creativity. I don’t think that the dollar amount that you spend necessarily translates to the experience or the thoughtfulness behind a gift … So if your gut instinct says, I have to put this on a credit card in order to afford it, she said. ”I would probably say that’s too high. I would probably think pocket change $20, $50 something that you might miss but not struggle to recover from.”
Snyder said one common mistake is paying too much attention to social media. She said the power of suggestion is a major driver for overspending and warned that constant online influence can make it easy to blow your budget.
“I think social media influences a lot of our spending behaviors, and not necessarily in a good way. It’s great to see new things that are available and get new ideas, but if they don’t gel with your budget, they just don’t gel with your budget, and that may not be the smartest thing for you to do. So, you know, I would spend less time worrying about a social media post and more time worrying about the person, or people that I actually care about,” she said.
Another important tip from Snyder is not to wait until the last minute to get gifts if you can help it.
“I think with any holiday, people that tend to buy later, tend to spend more, tend to be a little bit more impulsive, and tend to maybe be engaging in a little bit more comparison behavior,” she said.
Snyder said it’s always a good idea to discuss budgeting with your partner as well.
“So I think just saying …what’s important to us? How much can we afford? What feels comfortable and put a dollar amount on it before the holiday arrives, like Christmas happens the same time every year. Valentine’s happens the same time every year. So having those conversations in maybe January sets a healthier tone,” she said.
She said a few trendy gifts right now are smaller but hold more value.
“Jewelry is typically the highest ticket price item, but candy and flowers are still at the top of the list. I think the trends this year are heading more towards smaller luxury gift boxes. So think chocolate dipped strawberries or personal care items, maybe some things that have kind of that small splurge more in mind,” she said.
Instead of buying multiple things, Snyder said to consider putting your money into one fun thing.
“Whether it’s to a park or supporting a local theater. Maybe doing a museum visit kind of depends on your interest, but I think there’s a lot of things that you can just do that are low cost, less than $50 per person, that would still be really meaningful experiences, versus collecting a lot of things,” Snyder said.
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