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There’s never more temptation to impulse shop than around the holidays so I’m sharing a few strategies you can use to stop seasonal impulse buying.

The holidays are upon us and instead of telling you how to get the best deals I want you to stop buying stuff altogether. I’ve got 5 strategies to help you stop holiday impulse shopping.

I’ve also got a Debt-Free Christmas Planner you can download for free that’ll help you keep track of everything around the holidays that costs money. From gifts and parties to traditions and dinners as well as a tracker to help you start saving for next year.

Celebrate the holidays debt-free

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5 Tips to Stop Overspending Around The Holidays

If you find yourself going over budget every year, use these strategies to take back control of your holiday spending.

Know holiday marketing tactics

Stores and brands use marketing tactics to get you to impulse spend. two of the most popular around the holidays are deals and self-care.

According to a study by Slickdeals, 85% of impulse purchases are on some kind of sale or discount.

While self-care is essential, now more than ever, stores are going to use it as a way to convince you to impulse spend. Marketers will prey on the stress of the year or holiday season and encourage you to treat yourself.

Understand why you buy

We all have memories and feelings about the holiday season. Some good, others maybe not so good. But whether the feeling is positive or negative, those feelings cause us to spend.

Someone who longs for the Christmases of their youth might overspend out of nostalgia. Frugal freaks who love getting a deal will find plenty in this season. Others may want to be seen as a great aunt or caring person and show it through gift-giving.

It’s totally fine to spend for these reasons, you just have to identify them and protect your vulnerabilities. Don’t let feelings control your spending, be aware of them, plan for them, and know that you control your spending.

Translate price to hours worked

$20 may not seem like a lot but it may take you an hour or two of work to take home $20 after taxes. Would you give that person you’re giving a gift to, 2 hours of your life?

And calculate how much you take home each week then compare that to what you’re spending on the holidays. Is it worth spending your entire paycheck on Christmas?

Use a prepaid card

Get a gift card for the amount you’ve budgeted and spend only that. 

Another tip: Stop giving gift cards. They cause you to buy things for people you normally would’ve and you spend more on them.

Don’t give everyone a gift

I can’t tell you how many times I remember walking through a store around the holidays and seeing cute wrapped chachkies and being like, “oh I’ll get this in case I need a gift for someone I don’t realize yet.”

Gifts are not tit for tat. You give without expecting anything in return. So choose your gift list with intention and don’t feel bad if you receive a gift from someone not on your list.

That’s all for now. Don’t forget to get your Debt-Free Christmas Planner to stay on budget this holiday season.

And if you want to keep better track of your money, sign up for Personal Capital to start tracking your net worth and see your progress toward your financial goals. And when you sign up using the link above you’ll get a $20 Amazon gift card after you connect any investment account like Roth IRA, 401k, etc with at least $1,000 in it. So you can get one extra gift this season. 😉