How much will you spend this holiday season?

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A new TransUnion survey reveals 30 per cent of people will spend between $250 and $500 this holiday season on presents. 23 per cent will spend between $101 and $250 and 19 per cent of people will be spending up to $1000.

Most people we spoke with on Broadway in Vancouver say they think those amounts are far too much and they won’t be spending more this year.
All of them said they’ll dish out the same as last year or maybe even less. In fact many say they’re fed up with the holiday season and people expecting expensive gifts all the time.

We even heard this a few times “I’ll be buying earthquake supplies for my entire family instead of presents.”

TransUnion is giving some tips to help save this winter:
    
Track it – Keeping track of expenses during the holidays can be a chore, but by doing so, you can take the stress out of tracking your expenses and avoid overspending. Before starting your holiday shopping, obtain your credit report and make note of your account balances and available credit.  Take a sticky note and at the top write how much you’ve allocated to spend.  Maintain your credit card account balances below 30% of your available credit limits. Keep a real-time running tally by recording purchases on the sticky note.

Consult your calendar –   Compile your gift giving list into dates when you will most likely see the person you’re buying a gift for. If there are people that you traditionally see after the holidays, why not take advantage of post-holiday sales, reduce your pre-Christmas shopping stress level, and free up some of your finances. When dealing with a large family or group of friends consider a “Secret Santa” or grab bag option that has a monetary limit per gift.

Cash Out – Adopting cash-only gift buying policy can keep your finances on track during the holidays. Once you have allocated how much you are going to spend, withdraw that amount of cash and put it in an envelope with the gift list on the outside. When the cash is gone, the shopping stops. You’ll eliminate overspending and avoid opening your mailbox in January.

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