It’s Never Too Early To Start Saving For 2018 Holiday Season

by Contributor | February 2, 2018 6:34 am

FULTON, N.Y. — The holidays have come and gone, but it’s never too early to start saving for this year’s holiday season.

According to American Research Group Inc., planned gift spending for 2017 was $54 above spending in 2016 as shoppers around the country spent an average of $983 on gifts.

With this high price tag, the average consumer spends the first few months of the new year trying to find the extra finances to pay their holiday bills.

To get a head start on saving for the holidays, experts recommend setting up a separate savings account to monitor their savings contributions closely and reach financial goals easier. Setting up a secondary savings account allows customers to automate savings contributions and makes it easier to meet a savings target.

Financial experts at Community Bank N.A. agree that the holiday season budget should not only be thought about at the end of the year.

“Most consumers are not even thinking about next year. However, if they start saving now for next Christmas, they won’t have to scramble to pay their bills, helping take the stress out of the holidays,” Community Bank N.A. Fulton Branch Manager Tina Stephens said.

One way to get your holiday savings goals on track is to set up a separate deposit account solely dedicated to your holiday budget and create payroll auto transfer directly to the account.

This method offers customers fewer financial worries during the holiday season by helping them set a savings goal months in advance.

“Creating a separate deposit account for holiday gift costs helps customers avoid becoming burdened with credit card bills come January,” Stephens said. “Community Bank N.A. offers Christmas Clubs, a deposit account that customers contribute to throughout the year with a payout in October, to aid customers’ saving ventures. This takes a separate savings one step further by removing the temptation to dip into your savings before the holidays hit.”

To set your savings goal for the 2018 holiday season, Stephens recommends reviewing this past year’s holiday expenditures.

This will give a ballpark estimate on costs for the upcoming year. Divide that number by the number of weeks left until the holidays to set weekly savings goals and review progress along the way.

It’s never too early to start saving and make the 2018 holiday season your easiest one yet. Projecting holiday expenses and opening a holiday savings account can make it easier to manage finances in advance of the shopping season — and may even prevent a holiday debt hangover.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/community/its-never-too-early-to-start-saving-for-2018-holiday-season/

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