Finance

It’s official! Today marks American Thanksgiving, tomorrow is Black Friday. This means that the holidays are approaching quickly. Do your palms start to sweat a little as you  consider how you will purchase all of the gifts, plan the holiday meal and give to charity on your budget?

Here are 7 tips to help you save BIG this holiday season and eliminate financial stress.

1. Set a Budget & Stick to Cash

Set a budget and stick to it! It’s so easy to spend more than you can afford once the holiday sales and shopping events begin for the year. If you know what you can afford to spend, and you exercise willpower to stick to your budget, you can eliminate a lot of financial strain. Take out the amount of cash you can afford to spend and once that is done, so is your shopping. It does not get any easier than that!

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Let’s address your burning question: What is a Zero based budget?

You may have heard the Zero Based Budget term floating around lately.  It seems to be the new financial buzz word. Budget minded people often hear that they should have a zero based budget, but if you’re new to budgeting and trying to live frugally, it can be hard to figure out exactly what that means. Fortunately, it’s very easy to figure out and even easier to put into practice once you get the basics down.

To start, let’s talk about what a zero based budget is.  A zero based budget is almost exactly like the budget you currently have, or not, but with one big difference. You need to spend every, single, penny.   I know what you are thinking.. sounds like fun right?   Well you’d be right if you know that every single penny must be used and accounted for wisely.  With this type of budget, you will take any money that is left over after you’ve budgeted your expenses and assign it to either savings, debt or investments that’s it.

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