Keeping Your Finances from Being Derailed by the Holiday Season
Kevin Turner • November 10, 2025
Tips to Avoid Financial Wreckage Coming Out of the Holidays
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As the year begins winding down, many people look forward to spending time with family and friends during the holidays in November and December. No matter what holidays you celebrate, or even if you don’t celebrate them at all, once the calendar turns to November, there is a different feeling in the air, in large part because the holiday season is approaching. As much as people may look forward to the enjoyment of getting away from the normal grind and connecting with loved ones, this time of year can also be stressful, especially from a financial standpoint. Whether it comes from making travel plans and dealing with their associated cost, hosting a family gathering and paying for food and decorations, or purchasing gifts for loved ones, you can find yourself with a much higher outlay of cash than normal, which can put you in an uncomfortable financial position. It is often the case that the damage done at the end of the year is what causes people to create their New Year’s resolutions to get their finances in order to get off to a better start in the aftermath. Unfortunately, after the dust settles and you get back into your normal routine, you may forget about the lessons learned and end up repeating the cycle again as the next year winds down. The good news is that you don’t have to stay on that seesaw that creates financial stress, but with some attention to detail, you can keep the holidays from taking your financial plans off course. With that in mind, we have a few tips to help you change the dynamics during this holiday season so you can feel better about things going into next year.
Don’t Get Caught up in the Sales Hype
Whether it is Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or the day after Christmas, this time of year, retailers promote their BIG Sales, promising massive discounts on the items they offer. This is not to say you can’t get a good deal during these specials, but it is important to understand that they are primarily advertising to get you in to look at what’s available, knowing that even if you came for the sale, you may leave with other items that may not have even been on your mind. It’s the psychology of sales – hit your brain with the adrenaline of feeling like you are getting a deal, and then you are loosened up for anything else that catches your eye. If you are going to shop during these times, it is a good idea to go into it knowing what you want and what you are willing to pay for it. If the deal helps you get there, that’s great, but beware of stretching yourself because the discount just seems too good to pass up. Whether there is a sale or not, if you know what amount is reasonable to pay for any item, it makes you a more informed shopper and allows you to pay a fair price for your purchase. It is also helpful to understand that typically there is so much profit margin in a lot of items sold to the public that even when an item is deeply discounted, you may not be getting the deal you think you are. Retailers are not in business for the purpose of making their customers happy. They are in business to turn a profit, and if they can make customers happy in the process, all the better.
Plan Your Purchases Well in Advance
If you are one who is inclined to give gifts to others or even yourself during the holidays, even as the big discounts are promoted, retailers know that people who may not normally shop are in the market for purchases, and they often can take advantage of the situation. If you know that you are going to be purchasing gifts to be given during the holidays, by planning in advance, you can be on the lookout during the course of the year and perhaps find good deals on items without the pressure of knowing you only have a short amount of time to make your purchase. Not only does planning well in advance give you a better opportunity to possibly obtain a better deal, but you also can determine what you are willing and able to pay for something, and set aside money for it if needed, again without the looming deadline of the holiday upon you. For example, if you planned at the beginning of the year for what your expected holiday spending would be, you could see the total of your spending compared to your available savings and income coming in during the year, and if you had the ability to do so, you could start early creating your own layaway type program if you didn’t already have the cash on hand to cover those purchases. Then as opportunities presented themselves during the year, if you could purchase your planned gifts at a good discount, that would keep more money in your pocket.
Establish Reasonable Limits…And Stick to Them
This final tip naturally follows the first two. One of the reasons people get financially stressed during the holidays is spending well outside of the norm. We can have a tendency to justify that because it is a special time, it's okay to go overboard with spending. In previous generations, that may have not been as much of an option when you could only spend what you had the money for at the time. Because credit is now ever present, you can spend more than you have and simply finance it, but that is not an effective financial approach to buying what you want to purchase. Whether you are throwing a party that gets more extravagant than planned or buying gifts, it is easy to spend more than you intended during the holidays. Unless you’ve made provisions for it, you may end up paying way more than the value of what you purchased when you tack on the interest and potentially other charges that go along with financing something that wasn’t meant to be financed. A better approach is to determine what is reasonable to spend for your holiday activities and do your best to stay within those bounds. You may not wow your loved ones doing things this way, but you are also less likely to dig yourself into a hole that makes it more difficult to support your loved ones in the ways that they actually need you to.
Stewardship Emphasis
You will be happier and come out further ahead when you don’t spend money you don’t have on things you don’t need.
The Empowerment Channel | Volume CCXLIII | Dedicated to Promoting Financial Education through Stewardship