As we battle heat waves across the country and actualize our greatest summer vacations, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that the holiday season is a mere four months away. Crazy, right?

If holiday shopping is something you have a hard time planning for, we’re here to help. In fact, we’ve put together a holiday budget guide, complete with a free template, to help you plan your gift-giving approach and look forward to the holiday season with no stress!

Plan your gift-giving with intention

When it comes to planning your shopping list for the holiday season, start by deciding exactly who you’re buying for and what you’re getting them. 

With this handy Quicken template, you can start planning out this year’s gifts, as well as all the additional expenses that the holiday season seems to throw at us.

Thanks to the spirit of the season, it can be easy to get carried away with good cheer. Whether you’re shopping for your closest friends and family or you want to pick up something little for everyone from coworkers to your doorman at your apartment, it’s time to get organized. Big or small, bought or homemade, approaching the season with intention is a surefire way to stay on track.

This process can be as casual or as in-depth as you want — start by making a list of your family, friends, and anyone you may want to give a gift to. Then, jot down some potential gift ideas for each recipient. You don’t need to have the exact cost of the gifts yet — think of this section just as a comprehensive list to identify who you’ll be buying for. 

Work out your budget

Once you’ve identified all of your targets for a hefty dose of holiday cheer and goodwill, it’s time to start working out the budget. 

So, why start with your list of gift recipients instead of starting with a bottom-line figure you want to spend? Excellent question! Knowing exactly who you’re buying for keeps you from expanding the list just because you can — “I have this much to spend, now who can I buy for?”

Instead, every dollar is earmarked for your preset gift list, preventing any last-minute overspending or, even worse, forgetting to buy a gift for someone you love! 

Get started by downloading the worksheet above. It has rows for each recipient, their gift(s), and how much money you plan to spend. But just how much should you spend? This is subject to interpretation — there’s no formal minimum expense for showing people you care about them. 

A good rule of thumb, though, is to not overextend yourself — the season is about giving, not about spending beyond your means. Set a realistic figure as your overall gift budget, informed by the list of people you’re buying for, and do some research across online retailers or at your local mall or marketplace. 

If you find yourself exceeding the budget you’ve created, go back to your worksheet and make adjustments. With proper planning (not to mention hitting the sales on Labor Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday), you should be able to stick with your plan and not overspend.

Don’t wait, start saving

Start with a sinking fund

Simply put, sinking funds are essentially savings goals. While it may be alluring to stash cash in old-fashioned envelopes, it’s never fun to misplace or lose track of a hundred dollars — or worse! Instead, opt for virtual stashes, like a new savings account at your bank, or a savings goal in Quicken or Simplifi. 

How you start stashing away for these savings goals is up to you. Whether you decide to transfer money from your biweekly paycheck, work a side hustle to finance your holiday gift-giving, or receive a windfall of cash like a bonus, adding funds to a savings goal can set you up nicely for the holidays. 

There’s no hard-and-fast rule on how many sinking funds you need — you can create one for travel, home repairs, entertainment, and more. By creating one and continually depositing money, you’ll be prepared to buy gifts for everyone on your list. 

How can you get started? 

When creating a holiday savings goal or a sinking fund, start with these three steps. 

  1. Who is the purchase for? It’s time to get specific — list who you’re buying for and what you’re getting them.
  2. Decide how much you want to spend. Take a look at how much you’ve spent in the past few years on gifts, and let that be your guide to inform this year’s budget. By deciding how much you want to spend, you can take the guesswork out of gift-giving and avoid impulse buys. 
  3. Identify how much you’ll need to save. Once you know how much you’ll need, it’s time to determine how much you should add to your savings week over week. 

Fortunately, it’s still August and there’s plenty of time to contribute to your sinking fund, especially if you’re planning on doing most of your shopping after Thanksgiving. 

So, what do those contributions look like in a real-life scenario? You’ll need to take a look at your personal budget, but the idea is to contribute whenever you have an inflow of cash. If you’re paid twice a month, you may have up to nine paychecks left before the holiday season kicks off. 

If you plan on spending $1,000 on holiday gift-giving, you’ll need to contribute $111.11 to your sinking fund from each of those 9 paychecks in order to hit that figure — barring any windfalls of cash or extra income you want to contribute. The idea is to play around with that figure so you’re not overextending yourself financially to meet it. If you can’t free up $111.11 per pay period, you’ll need to either lower the savings goal or start a side hustle to make more. 

How to enjoy a stress-free holiday season

Remember, the holidays are about being together with the ones we love and expressing our gratitude for the relationships in our lives. They’re not about going overboard (at least, not financially). A $10 gift with meaning outweighs a $100 gift any day of the week — or any month of the year. It’s the thought behind it that shows how much someone means to you!

Still, it does feel great to buy someone you love something that they really want. By using the printable worksheet above and planning ahead in Simplifi or Quicken, you can stick with your plan and make this coming holiday season your best holiday season yet!