12 Reasons You Should Start Holiday Budgeting (2024)

Most of us are no strangers to the financial stresses of life, but they seem to be heightened at certain times of the year. Our anxiety appears to be elevated during the holiday season. To rid ourselves of pressure during this time, we must ask ourselves what is causing it.

If you’re anything like me, it’s the financial burden of buying gifts for everyone. No matter how much someone suggests doing “secret Santa” and drawing numbers, we can’t help but feel obligated to buy more and more.

One of the reasons you should start holiday budgeting this year is to open your mental space for more important things. Often, we don’t realize how much a lack of planning contributes to our anxiety because it causes mental clutter.

It is this vicious cycle that we can’t seem to get out of. Lack of planning, especially financial planning, causes anxiety, which causes us to lack clarity. Without a clear mind, it’s nearly impossible to budget for anything. We end up living in default, which is NEVER the place you want to be in when the holiday season rolls around, for your mental health’s sake.

Holiday budgeting will make your life a little more organized and clear some space in your head to focus on more important things.

Productivity is directly affected by anxiety and stress. How much you accomplish in your everyday life is determined by your level of organization.

Suppose you want to be as productive as possible in the holiday season when pressures are increased and expectations more significant. In that case, you need to have your finances organized accordingly.

When holiday budgeting is in place, you’ve adequately planned out an area of stress that you know will be there ahead of time, you will be more productive.

A few years ago, I planned my first family vacation that was completely paid for ahead of time. I was amazed at the amount of pressure that was relieved simply by scheduling and paying ahead.

I still look back on that vacation as the first relaxing and enjoyable vacation I ever went on. Now I refuse to vacation when it isn’t planned that way because of the stark difference in enjoyment.

There is something to be said about genuinely being able to relax and enjoy things. It’s nearly impossible to do that when you have financial pressure on you. Once I planned that vacation, I realized that I could apply that to every financial obligation in life, vacations, birthdays, and holidays!

Budgeting relieves financial pressures all year. When the pressures seem so much more heightened around the holiday season, it can be life-changing for your mental health!

My favorite holiday, hands-down, is Thanksgiving. Over the last 10 years or so, it’s felt like more of a day to celebrate sales than it has gratitude. That has been deeply disappointing, to say the least.

A holiday that has always seemed to keep us grounded has suddenly become more about what we need to buy and who we need to buy it for. It’s about standing in line all night long for an item that we are sure our aunt will love.

There’s nothing wrong with shopping on Black Friday; believe me, I love it, but it just seems to overshadow the true spirit of Thanksgiving, and that’s sort of sad.

We need all the help we can get to keep the spirit of the holidays alive. Holiday budgeting can help us with that. If we plan out the gifts we want to buy and the finances for them ahead of time, this leaves room for our hearts and minds to focus on being grateful for what we have.

Budgeting will help us not get caught up in the hustle of the season; budgeting will keep us out of the rat race of it all!

Comparison is toxic to your mental health in general but seems to be more prevalent during the holidays.

Sad to say, but the holidays can bring out the worst in us. Our temptation to compare ourselves to others is at an all-time high during this time of year.

Social media can be our enemy, making us feel less and less adequate as we see what everyone else bought their kids or, worse yet, what others got that we didn’t get.

When we don’t budget, there is often little to nothing left to purchase things for the adults in our lives and especially our significant other. The expectation of receiving what you wanted or giving your significant other what they wanted becomes less and less likely as the season progresses.

Lack of planning and budgeting on our part leaves us feeling inadequate and increases our anxieties. Holiday budgeting can eliminate these pressures because you’ll have each gift saved in advance, including your own!

The pressure of the holidays can take a toll on our mental health and on our relationships. When we feel anxious, super stressed, overwhelmed, and under-prepared, it is pretty likely that those around us won’t get the best version of us.

In the moments in life where I feel pressure, especially societal and financial strain, I tend to be more high-strung and less and less kind. For me, the holidays put my feet to the fire, so to speak.

Budgeting for the holidays has helped me have more time, mental space, and energy for the relationships I value most.

I can sit and have a cup of coffee with my grandma instead of running to TJMaxx for that last-minute gift. Or help my daughter set up and play with her new gifts, giving her the quality time she desires.

Holiday budgeting will give you the freedom to build upon your relationships!

One of the reasons Black Friday shopping is so popular is the deals you can get on high-quality gift items. Lower prices mean more of a chance of purchasing sought-after gifts that are generally too expensive. What if you could plan for those gifts in advance or purchase them during a sale in July?

Holiday budgeting removes the pressure of “having” to stand in line on Black Friday for the expensive, high-quality items you want. Plan for high-quality and costly gifts. You will be able to purchase them during a time of year when they are in lower demand and possibly get the same sale as you would on the day after Thanksgiving.

Here’s a gift planning chart to help you with that!

I love the new year. Something about a fresh start and new opportunities seem to liven my hopes and dreams for the future.

When we overexert ourselves during the holidays, we can be left with anxiety and fear as we enter the new year. The burden of the debt we accrued during the holiday season starts to weigh heavy on us.

Debt is not all we gain when we don’t plan, we gain anxiety that becomes out of control as we try to clean up the mess we just made.

Holiday budgeting can relieve anxieties DURING the holiday season and after it’s gone. This leaves us in a better mental space for the coming year, fully able to embrace a new year with a new focus, new clarity, and new dreams!

Getting into debt for a car or a house seems to sting a lot less than getting into mounds of credit card debt for gifts. The satisfaction of your purchase wears off quickly when you aren’t constantly reminded that you’re using the items you purchased.

As the holiday season ends, the last thing you want to deal with is debt that you must tackle in the coming year. If you get yourself into loads of debt for Christmas gifts, you will spend the entire next year paying that off.

You will have to budget that payment and end up not having enough for the following year. You will likely repeat the same behaviors that left you full of debt and anxiety the year before.

Holiday budgeting is crucial to your mental health and financial freedom for the year ahead. If you plan and budget in advance, you will always be looking forward with excitement and not behind in regret!