How To Create A Gift Shopping Budget You Can Easily Stick With

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.

Want to make sure you’re staying within your gift shopping budget this year? Super! Here’s a simple 5-step-method to create a gift shopping budget that you can easily stick with!

The holidays are around the corner, and today I would love to share this simple way to create a detailed gift shopping budget for the holidays.

When shopping for gifts one of the biggest mistake to make is not to have a budget.

I don’t know about you, but I’m the first to admit that I’ve shopped gifts without a budget, and what usually happens is that you see something you know your friend or a loved one would like, and you grab it and then you see something else and you buy that as well.

Then when you go through all the gifts you’ve purchased, you notice that some have awesome well-thought-out gifts and for some, you’ve bought nothing. Then quickly you go back to to the stores (or do online shopping) and you just get something regardless of the price.

And then the holiday budget you were hoping to stick with is just a distant memory.

So if this has ever happened to you, then this year is the perfect time to do yourself a huge favor and take a few minutes to try out this quick-budgeting method.

When having a budget, you’ll continue feeling good about gift-giving… even after the credit card bills come after the holidays!

• So the key is to be realistic with your budget and most importantly stick with it. 
• And if you write everything down on a piece of paper or in a notebook the better.

And these are the steps to create a gift shopping budget for the holidays that is going to be so easy to follow:

1. Decide on your overall gift shopping budget

To stay on budget (especially if your finances have been affected by the pandemic) the first thing to do is to decide how much money you can afford and want to spend on holiday shopping.

That amount is your overall budget. 

This is as high as you’re willing to go, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to spend it. At the same time, this is the moment to be realistic and set a number you’re not going to regret you spent after the holidays.

Step 1: Write down your overall gift shopping budget

2. Write down different groups you’re planning on buying gifts to

After the overall budget has been decided, my favorite way is to divide all the friends, colleagues, teachers, neighbors, and loved ones into groups.

So write down next all the different “groups” you’re planning on buying gifts for. The groups can be f.ex:

• friends
• family
• nephews, aunts, uncles
• kids
• kid’s friends
• teachers
• neighbors
• and all those amazing people who make our lives a bit easier, like
  • the mail carrier
  • your hairdresser
  • the dustman
  • the school bus driver
  • the school custodian and/or secretary
  • your co-worker
  • or to anyone who you want to say how grateful you are for all they do.

Step 2: Write down all the “groups” you’d like to buy gifts for

3. Divide the overall gift shopping budget between the “groups”

And after you’ve decided all the “groups” you’re planning on buying gifts for, it’s time to divide the overall budget between the groups. So how much would you like to spend on the gifts for the kids, how much for the family, how much for the teachers etc.

So as the third step, divide the overall budget between the “groups” of your choice.

Step 3: Divide the overall budget between the groups

4. List the people you’re planning on buying gifts to under each group

After you’ve divided the budget between each group it’s time to list the people you’re planning on buying gifts for.

Each person needs to land under a group.

So if you have a group called “family” write all the names of the people who go under that category.

If you have a group called “teachers” then write down all the names of the teachers you’d like to buy gifts for.

Step 4: List the names of the people you’re planning on buying gifts to under each category

5. Divide the group’s budget between the people in each group

And once you’ve written all the names under each category it’s time to divide the “group budget” between those people and loved ones in your life.

So divide “the group budget” between all the people you’ve listed under each category.

Step 5: Divide the “group” budget between the people you listed in each group

Now you have a realistic view of how much money you can spend on everyone’s gifts.

And only after you’ve decided on your budget for each person it’s time to start looking for the gifts online or from the stores.

I know we all want to give awesome gifts. But the people who really care about you don’t want you to spend more than you can afford.

And if you plan in advance, you can give well-thought-out gifts while sticking to your budget.

And now… have fun shopping for gifts!

Download Gift Shopping Budget Printables

You can download these pretty gift shopping budget sheets by clicking the link under the images. The PDFs come of course without the big bow logo 😀

DOWNLOAD: Gift Shopping Budget Sheets

---

Want to remember this or share it?

Pin this post – How To Create A Gift Shopping Budget For The Holidays – to your favorite Pinterest board or share it on Facebook!

Gift Forward by Sharing This Post! <3