Unmentioned Holiday Spending Advice

It's that time of year, where the holidays are just around the corner. But before you being your Black Friday shopping spree keep this holiday spending advice in mind, brought to you by Forbes:

1) The human element: Although you might make a budget, when you actually go into the store, oftentimes, that budget goes right out the window. The reason? Your emotions. Once you enter the store, you begin to think that your friend, parent, or significant other deserves more than a $20 dollar gift card. So, you begin searching, oftentimes spending more than you had originally intended. The key to avoiding this is to be aware of the emotions of the gift recipient. If you are in tune with one another, you won't end up wasting money on gifts that you might like but that the recipient won't really appreciate.

2) The reciprocity rule: We've all been there. You are exchanging gifts and you receive an expensive gift. The feeling of guilt washes over you, as you realize that you did not spend nearly as much as they did. Or worse, you're in the store, and you think that the gift recipient will spend much more on you than what you're planning to spend on them, so you decide to get something else instead, something more expensive. Forbes says, the "unwritten reciprocity rule" is more about dollars spent then it is about value. However, shoppers should try to reframe the rule, making it about the value of the gift instead of just the amount spent.

3) The "add-ons": You're shopping in your favorite store with a goal in mind, to buy your friends gifts. But out of the corner of your eye you spot that sweater than you've been drooling over for a month now. You're more likely to purchase it now, maybe even using the excuse, "Well, this will be a holiday gift for myself..." In addition to these purchases, stores often use tactics which help encourage shoppers to spend. They change the lighting, music, and merchandise layout, all to make sure that you spend. All of this drives up the statistics of holiday spending, and making quite the dent in your wallet. The best thing to do is to be aware of these tactics and don't let them sway you.

Be sure to keep these pieces of advice in mind when heading out to do your holiday shopping!

To read the whole Forbes article click here.

Happy Shopping!

Savvy Student