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Health & Fitness

Budget Mondays

Monday – 11/18/2013

It’s Monday – a painful day for most people, yours truly included. Sometimes it is made even more painful as we remember just how much money we ended up spending over the weekend.

Budget

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It’s one word that can make people cringe, angry and sad all at the same time, a rare occurrence indeed. There are plenty of reasons for this – people are told at work that their budgets are being cut, their ideas cannot be funded because they are not in the budget, and in our personal life, our budgets don’t usually quite match up to our desires.

It might be painful to think about, but the holiday shopping season is quickly approaching. Holiday lights, meals, festivities, and all of the other activities that make the holiday season so enjoyable can also do quite a bit of damage to your budget — but that does not mean it has to be that way. Being generous and thoughtful with gift giving does not means that this time of year needs to be unfriendly to your budget. Let’s look at a few tips and strategies that can make holiday shopping fun, festive, and budget friendly!

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     •Make a list – this may sound like common sense, but by writing down the gifts you plan on buying and the stores you want to visit, you can cut down on impulse purchases and budget-unfriendly purchases

     •Keep track of what you are spending, especially if it is on credit. Remember, these charges do have to get paid off later

     •Be creative! If everyone in your family watches the same shows, make that a theme of your gift-shopping. While not a classic holiday tradition, a marathon of the Walking Dead, with popcorn, extended features, and never-before-seen clips might be something you start this year!

     •Also, use the apps that are available in order to maximize on savings as well as comparison shop for the best deals available.

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