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How Can You Control Your Spending During the Holiday Season?

Sources report that the technology in existence has made overspending easier. It is, in fact, getting people stressed most especially during this holiday season. Credit Karma reported that one out of every four people stated that they typically get indebted as a result of overspending during the holiday season.

The survey was conducted on 1,041 adults last month. One notable cause of overspending during this holiday period is Sales. The survey revealed that even those who work with budgets always get the temptation of spending more whenever they sight good sales during the frenzy that comes after Thanksgiving.

One out of four respondents stated that they get indebted during the holiday season as a result of overspending

Social media As A Cause Of Overspending

Credit Karma reported that a lot of users of social media (about 40%) have a higher likelihood of buying whatever they find on the screens. That gets worse during the holiday season.

The survey discovered that young people are more likely to overspend. Specifically, the survey found that it is more likely that over half of the millennials will go ahead to purchase the things they find on their social media accounts during the holiday period.

The reaction is most times spontaneous when people are prompted to purchase the things they find on the social media. A lot of the respondents stated that they regret purchasing the things they did. Of the people who responded to the survey, the millennials were the ones who were the most likely to respond that they purchased things they didn’t plan for and their remorse came in as the highest. About 86% of them responded that it was a mistake.

In the survey, a lot of respondents said they regretted purchasing the things they bought

A study conducted by a different agency showed that about one out of three people who have bad credit run at the risk of getting indebted during the holiday season. The survey was conducted on over a thousand consumers in the U.S. early in January when people still had their memories of holiday spending fresh.

Americans who have credit problems are those who are likely to incur a new debt that averages $800 during the holiday season.  A problem most people have is that they don’t have a safety net. Over half of the consumers regardless of the credit scores had to handle an expense they didn’t expect during this past holiday season. As a matter of fact, people who have good credit have a harder time with an emergency expense.

Also, Elevate’s study showed that people who were considered to be prime consumers had a higher likelihood of taking on new debt as financial setbacks creep up during the holiday season. Generally, people that have good credit spend more on travel, gifts, and charity during the holiday season. People that don’t have good credit tend to spend nothing on travel and in instances where they do, they spend less.

According to Elevate’s Center’s executive director, Jonathan Walker, those who are non-prime consumers turn out to be good budgeters. Those who have worse credit significantly tend to budget more than those who have higher credit scores.

People with good credit spend more on travel, gifts, and charity during the holiday season

How Can You Control Spending?

Clean Your Browser

According to author and personal finance expert, Nicole Lapin, there is a smart way through which advertisers can ensure that they keep showing you things you checked out hoping that you will end up buying the item. Each time you check out something online, you leave cookies behind. You need to be savvier than the advertisers and so endeavor to clear cookies when you are done browsing. That way you do not leave anything behind for retailers to trail.

Reduce Your Time On Social Media

The research indicates that even when people have good intention, spending excess time on a social media platform comes very easy. For those who are social media junkies, using an app that keeps tab of how long you spend on your phone helps. For instance, Android devices have the Digital Wellbeing app that helps to track details of usage by reading, productivity, and social networking.

Make use of a debit card or cash

Using a credit card makes it easy for you to overspend. Two out of three of those who took out the survey by Credit Karma said they incurred the holiday debt using credit. Rather than using a credit card then you should stick with a debit card or cash. As soon as the money is all out, do not purchase anything till the next time you get cash.

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