Shopping for gifts doesn’t have to lead to financial stress. Learn how to budget your holiday gift spending, and make this the year that you finally come in on (or under) budget.

How To Budget Holiday Gift Spending

Here’s how :

1 – List whom you want to shop for.

Print out a copy of the Holiday Gift Spending Worksheet: Click here to download , and use it to list everyone whom you plan to shop for (friends, relatives, teachers, pets, etc.).

2 – Determine how much you can afford to spend.

Review your finances to determine how much you can afford to spend on gifts. Set this figure as your overall holiday gift budget.

3 – Divide your gift budget among the people on you gift list.

Look over your gift list, and decide how much you would like to spend on each person. Then, total up the expected spending for all gifts, and make sure it does not exceed the gift budget that you established in step two. Rework your figures as necessary.

4 – Brainstorm gift ideas.

Go through your list again, and jot down gift ideas that fall within the budget range that you’ve set for each person.

5 – Track your spending throughout the season.

As you purchase gifts, note their cost in the “Actual Spending” column of the worksheet. Then, calculate how much over or under budget you are with each one.

6 – Tweak your budget to cover any instances of overspending.

Don’t panic if you overspend on a gift; just scale back your spending on another gift to make up for it.

Tips:
1- Don’t be afraid to make changes to your budget – a good budget is always evolving.

2 – Hang on to a copy of your gift budget after the holidays are over; it’ll be helpful in planning next year’s budget.

3- Use the Holiday Spending Worksheet to establish an overall holiday budget.

Source: about.com

How do you know if it’s time to refinance or consolidate your loans? Let me ask you another question. When is it a good time to put money back in your pocket? EVERY YEAR you should take a home loan health check to find out if the loan you have is still saving you money. A lot can happen in a year, life circumstances can change, you may have taken on extra debts and rates may have moved substantially so you owe it to yourself and your cash flow to check your home loan and debt situation every year.

What reasons have other people like you, refinanced for?
Every client at Assured is unique, just like you. The reasons to refinance or consolidate are unique also.  You may be looking to;

• Invest in a new car to keep the family safe on the road
• Install a new pool so you can holiday at home
• Gain some extra funds to secure your children’s education
• Put in that new bathroom you’ve always been talking about
• Pay off your home quicker and gain financial freedom
• Build an extension for the new family addition or just gain some extra space.
• Increase your cash flow to give you a little breathing space
• Landscape your yard and create a great place to relax and play
• Reduce financial stress
• Use the savings you create each month to put away for a rainy day.
• Change to a home loan that has different term which work better for you eg. No monthly account keep or redraw fees. 100% offset facility etc.
• Take a well overdue holiday
• Increase the term of your mortgage so that you can reduce the monthly repayments and free up cash flow
• Getting cash out of the equity in your home loan for whatever reason you feel is needed.
• Roll all your payments into one so you have one convenient payment and interest rate.