Have you ever noticed that gifts you need to purchase for people always seem to sneak up on you over the course of a year? Sure we all know about Christmas but what about birthdays, baby showers, and everything in between. This is why planning for these expenses for the year, every year, is very helpful. Here's how to plan for them.
Make a List
Whether it's a paper list or a note in your phone, write down every holiday, birthday, and special occasion you need to buy gifts for. Look at a calendar if it helps you to think of everything that comes up in a year. For holidays, also include the names of everyone you are responsible for buying for. Me and my husband split things a certain way. For holidays and birthdays he covers his family members and I cover mine. This kind of simplifies it for me because why put that all on just one person?
Whether it's a paper list or a note in your phone, write down every holiday, birthday, and special occasion you need to buy gifts for. Look at a calendar if it helps you to think of everything that comes up in a year. For holidays, also include the names of everyone you are responsible for buying for. Me and my husband split things a certain way. For holidays and birthdays he covers his family members and I cover mine. This kind of simplifies it for me because why put that all on just one person?
Set a Budget
Budgets can depend on the person or the occasion of course but setting a rough budget for each person on your list is important. I generally use the same amount for family members for Christmas and their birthdays. I have a certain budget for my husband for his gifts also.
Add it Up
Now you can add it all up and see what your estimated gift expenses can be for the year. Make sure to add a buffer amount for those gifts that come up randomly for baby showers, etc.
Set Money Aside Regularly
So now you have a rough idea of how much you'll spend in a year. Now it's time to set money aside for gift expenses. I have a share in my bank account specifically for gift money. Every payday I transfer a set amount in. I also get rewards on my credit card that I use for groceries, etc. so when the cash back reward is available every month I transfer it to my gift fund. I make sure I set enough aside that it won't stress me out when it comes time to buy gifts for people.
Now remember, your first time doing this, you likely won't have a huge amount saved up for that first year. That's why I recommend trying to put a whole bunch of money in that fund the first couple months from anywhere you can. After you have some money saved up it gives you a little pot of money to start with and as long as you add to it regularly you should be fine. I notice my gift fund is usually pretty low after Christmas but that's okay because I don't have many things to buy gifts for in the first couple months of the year.
Hopefully this helps you handle the sudden need to buy gifts for people throughout the year without stressing out or going into debt!
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