The holiday season brings joy, family gatherings, and often gift-giving. Managing holiday spending thoughtfully can help you enjoy the season without impacting your financial health. Here are some budgeting strategies for the holidays. As always, these are general recommendations. For personalized guidance, feel free to reach out.

 

1. Set a Realistic Budget

Creating a budget specifically for holiday spending can help manage your finances. Start by deciding on the total amount you’re comfortable spending, then allocate it across all holiday-related expenses: gifts, travel, food, decorations, and activities. The National Retail Federation recently reported that Americans planned to spend an average of $902 on holiday expenses, which may serve as a helpful reference.

• Tip: Track your spending as you go and adjust if necessary to stay within your budget.

 

2. Prioritize and Make a List

Listing out gift recipients and prioritizing expenses helps keep spending manageable. Begin with immediate family, close friends, and essential purchases. After listing these, evaluate if you have room in your budget for additional purchases.

• Tip: Small, meaningful gifts often have a big impact. The National Endowment for Financial Education suggests focusing on thoughtful gestures over high price tags.

 

3. Use Cash for Better Control

Research from Capital One Shopping shows that spending with credit cards can lead to three times higher expenditures than using cash. Setting aside cash for holiday spending is an effective way to avoid going over budget.

• Tip: Withdraw only the amount you have budgeted for gifts and other expenses to help reduce impulse purchases.

 

4. Start Early and Leverage Rewards to Spread Out Costs

Shopping early can help avoid last-minute expenses and spread the spending load over several months. A Deloitte survey  found that early shoppers are more likely to avoid debt. Early shopping also allows for comparing prices and waiting for sales.

• Tip: Try shopping during Black Friday or Cyber Monday. If you use a credit card with cashback or rewards, consider applying these rewards to planned purchases and paying off the balance immediately.

 

5. Consider DIY and Low-Cost Gift Alternatives

Handmade gifts or gifts of time are often appreciated and can be budget-friendly. Nearly 62% of Americans surveyed by One Poll indicated they would appreciate thoughtful, low-cost gifts as much as expensive ones.

• Tip: If you have a skill like baking or crafting, think about creating a personalized, low-cost gift.

 

6. Set Boundaries on Holiday Activities

While holiday activities add to the season’s joy, they can also increase costs. Prioritizing activities helps manage these expenses. Low-cost or free gatherings, such as potlucks or at-home movie nights, can still create memorable experiences.

• Tip: Organize potlucks or other shared gatherings to help offset food costs.

 

7. Approach Holiday Loans Cautiously

Holiday loans or buy-now-pay-later plans may seem convenient, but they can lead to post-holiday debt. Bankrate reports an average interest rate of 12.38% on personal loans, depending on credit history.

• Tip: Aim to stay within your budget and use cash or debit to help reduce debt accumulation.

 

8. Plan for Post-Holiday Expenses

Holiday spending doesn’t necessarily end when the season is over. Setting aside a small amount for post-holiday bills and expenses can prevent January’s financial strain.

• Tip: Include a cushion in your holiday budget to cover any post-holiday expenses

 

9. Reflect and Adjust for Next Year

After the season ends, reviewing your budget and identifying any adjustments can help improve planning for future holidays.

• Tip: Keep a record of your spending and note areas where you went over budget to make future holiday planning easier.

 

By planning and budgeting carefully, you can enjoy the holiday season without the stress of overspending. For additional insights, check out Chapter 3 of Wealth on Purpose by Bryan Ballentine.

If you need guidance, give us a call. We’re here to help you achieve a financially healthy holiday season.

 

 

Sources: Located at the bottom of article

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Golf Tip of the Week:

‘Wish putting’ is ruining your short game. Here’s how to fix it

It happens on putts between four and eight feet. The putts that are just too long to be given, but short enough that you’re still expecting to make them. That dynamic has the effect of robbing golfers of confidence. Golf Digest’s No. 1-ranked teacher, Butch Harmon explains:

“I call it ‘wish putting,’ because you wish you made it after you missed it,” he says. “You’re trying to wish it in because you’re afraid of it.”

It’s an anecdote Harmon tackles in this Golf Digest schools series, and thankfully, he’s got a solution to that problem. Here’s what to do.

 

1. Don’t ask if the putt is good

If your opponents give it to you, then great. But don’t expect them to give it to you. It can put you in a negative, fearful frame of mind, and distract you from the task at hand.

 

2. Aim the face first

After you read the putt, step into the putt, but align the face of your putter before anything else. Aiming your putter where you’re intending is one of the key tenets of good putting, Harmon says, so dedicate some specific time to getting it right.

3. Elbows in

Harmon says golfers, especially when struggling with the yips, should practice keeping their elbows close to their torso. This helps prevent your big muscles from taking over.

“Think about where the yips come from,” Harmon says. “They come from your wrists and arms.”

 

4. Get comfy

Another simple, but essential, piece of advice from Harmon is to make sure you’re comfortable over the golf ball. If you don’t feel comfortable over the ball, you’re not going to make a confident stroke, he says, which is the key to conquering wish putting.

 

5. Putt with your left ear

Once it’s time to hit the putt itself, Harmon says to think of putting with your left ear (for right-handed golfers). Your left ear should stay facing the hole, and if you do that, you’ll never give yourself a chance to look up early.

“I’m never going to see it go into the hole,” he says. “I’m going to hear it go in the hole.”

 

Golf Tip adapted from golfdigest.com ⁱ

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Recipe Tip of the Week:

Cornbread Stuffing

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, divided

1 large Vidalia or Spanish onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

3/4 cup water

6 cups cubed (1-inch pieces) store-bought or homemade cornbread, about 1 pound

1/3 cup fresh sage leaves, about 12, stems removed

2 large eggs, beaten

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter; add the onions and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring often, until light golden, about 6 to 8 minutes and remove from the pan to a small plate. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the water, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet and allowing the water to simmer just a couple of minutes to infuse in the onion flavor. Remove from the heat.
3. Put the cornbread in a large mixing bowl. Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a small pan over medium heat and let it bubble until the milk solids to start to turn golden. Add the sage leaves and briefly fry until beginning to crisp, about 30 seconds. With a slotted spoon, remove sage and put on top of cornbread to drain and crisp. Remove the butter from the heat. Add the eggs and cooked onions to the cornbread and pour the browned butter over the mixture. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the onion infused water, a tablespoon at a time, gently folding, until cornbread is evenly moistened but not soggy. Pour the dressing into a 9 by 11-inch baking dish and bake in the preheated oven until the top is golden brown in color and the dressing is set in the middle, about 30 minutes.

 

 

Recipe Tip adapted from foodnetwork.com ⁱⁱ

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Travel Tip of the Week:

 

Travel Tip adapted from travelandleisure.com ⁱⁱⁱ

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Copyright © 2024. Ballentine Capital Advisors. All rights reserved.

 

Our mailing address is: 

 

Ballentine Capital Advisors
15 Halton Green Way
Greenville, SC 29607

 

Sources:

• National Retail Federation Holiday Spending Survey
• Deloitte Holiday Shopping Insights
• Federal Reserve Data on Personal Loan Rates
• Credit Karma Survey on Gift Giving
• National Endowment for Financial Education
• Cash vs Credit Card Spending Statistics
• 62% of Americans reveal they want to be the best gifter this holiday season

 

Disclosure:

Ballentine Capital Advisors is a registered investment adviser. The advisory services of Ballentine Capital Advisors are not made available in any jurisdiction in which Ballentine Capital Advisors is not registered or is otherwise exempt from registration.

 

Please review Ballentine Capital Advisors Disclosure Brochure for a complete explanation of fees. Investing involves risks. Investments are not guaranteed and may lose value.

 

This material is prepared by Ballentine Capital Advisors for informational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as a substitute for personalized investment advice or as a recommendation or solicitation or any particular security, strategy, or investment product.

 

No representation is being made that any account will or is likely to achieve future profits or losses similar to those shown. You should not assume that investment decisions we make in the future will be profitable or equal the investment performance of the past. Past performance does not indicate future results.

 

Advisory services through Ballentine Capital Advisors, Inc.

ⁱhttps://www.golfdigest.com/story/wish-putting-mistake-butch-harmon-fix

ⁱⁱhttps://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/cornbread-dressing-recipe2-1949480

ⁱⁱⁱhttps://www.travelandleisure.com/celebrity-cruises-early-access-2024-black-friday-sale-8735438