Enjoying the holidays without reaching January worried about debt is possible, according to experts, who say that the key is to control yourself.
The end of the year is already felt and the Christmas holidays are getting closer and closer. That is why it is necessary to plan the expenses for dinner, gifts and even the “short vacations” that Christmas and New Year’s Eve bring with them.
Two experts explain the step by step to put together the Christmas budget and thus avoid a start to the year with debt.
Guillermo Maldonado, director of the Entrepreneurs Club, assures that the time to create a budget is now and requires commitment.
“You have to understand the situation we are in and the antecedent, that in 2020 we had a pandemic that locked us all in and the vast majority did not have savings, emergency funds, it caught us by surprise, and now we also have to go well freed, ”he says.
For Alfredo Arízaga, director of the Business School of the SEK University, the budget must be put together every time an increase in remuneration is received, as happens next month with the thirteenth salary.
“My suggestion is that every time we start a new job, or receive an increase in our remuneration, we make a budget that reflects what items we are going to dedicate our income to,” he says.
This budget, Maldonado suggests, structure it with any tool with which the citizen feels most comfortable, is a calendar, in Excel or in a mobile application like Evernote.
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First, You must write down the income to be received. For example, fortnight and end of the month of November and until fortnight of December. The thirteenth salary, bonuses or other income.
Then, make a list of what you plan to spend on, such as Christmas dinner, gifts, possible invitations to events, transportation, daily food, basic services, debts already acquired and various.
In the gifts part, Maldonado advises set priorities like family. “If they are people from work, who are not so close, if it reaches me well, if not, no. The same happens in the events to which I am invited. If the budget gives me to go to all of them, that’s fine; if not attend the ones you can. The idea is to set a limit and thus help you make better decisions”, He expresses.
Alicia, a private sector worker, has a salary of $ 550. Her common expenses for food are $ 280 for food, $ 12 for transportation, $ 140 for rent, $ 58 for basic services and internet. You have $ 60 left.
With the tenth, who aspires to receive the same, He plans to buy gifts for his nephews and spend $ 80, $ 150 for both dinners, $ 50 for walks and $ 20 on taxis. With that budget, he hopes to reserve $ 200 of the tenth. He affirms that he has already taken precautions and does not plan to go into debt.
Arízaga points out that the Budgeting based on income and expenses is simple and that the idea is to have a conservative projection.
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According to the Global Consumer Study, published by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), Christmas shopping budgets are still 13% lower than in 2019.
For Maldonado, this indicator is due to the economic blow of the pandemic. And what in his opinion has also caused purchases to be anticipated.
This also points to the study, which surveyed 13,000 people, where one in four adults started shopping in September and October.
But the director of the Entrepreneurs Club also thinks that citizens are waiting for Black Friday to save a little on purchases, which advises to do it without using a credit card.
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“It is not advisable to go into debt to buy gifts. You have to remember that it is a means of payment ”, he emphasizes.
Meanwhile, Arízaga considers it essential that within the budget an item is allocated for savings and do not get carried away by emotions.
“We must not forget the need to allocate a fixed percentage of our savings to a fund that we do not touch except in extreme cases. This fund should help us to be able to sustain when we retire at a standard of living similar to the one we have in our productive lives. The sooner we start saving a part of our income, the better it will be. For example, a 25-year-old who saves $ 150 a month will have, at age 65, when he retires, an amount saved of approximately $ 250,000, ″ he explains. (I)
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