Everyone knows that the last quarter of the year is one of the best times for shopping. Ask any shopaholic about the endless festive sales provided by all major brands and you will know that it is the season for some serious shopping. Even people who live paycheck to paycheck save money throughout the year to be able to spend on once in a year sale during the festive season.

So how do you prepare your budget to be able to reap the benefits of such amazing discounts without putting a dent in your budget? Here’s how:

1. Do not be an impulse buyer and stick to the shopping list –

Impulse buying can put a dent in your budget and seasonal discounts are one of the reasons why people splurge in sales more than what their budget would actually allow. So it is wise to create a shopping list of what you actually need so that you do not waste money in buying something that’s not even useful to you. This will keep you aligned with your actual requirements and you can easily spend money wisely and reap the benefits of discounts this festive season.

2. Define a shopping budget for your festive sale splurge –

The best way to not go overboard on shopping is to create a shopping budget. This will ensure that you spend wisely and are also able to manage other expenses and your monthly budget for the months to come. Often times it happens that people go under a lot of credit card debts because of their inability to shop under a budget.

3. Add your favorite items to a wish list to ensure you watch the discounts and save time –

One of the best ways to reap the benefits of a sale is to save the products you need on a wish list of a website and keep monitoring during the sale and discount season. This is a fast and effective way to compare prices on different website and grab the best deal.

4. Say hello to reward points and those cash backs offers –

When we swipe our debit or credit cards or use netbanking for retail purchases, we become eligible for reward points and cash backs. Using these reward points and cashbacks during the festive season is a great way to save money and also optimally use your rewards.

5. Personalize on gifts to save money –

Festive money is also a time when we gift our loved ones something special for the holidays. The amount of money people spend on expensive packaging or buying greetings cards can easily be saved by making handmade items at home. Youtube, Pinterest and Google in general are loaded with tons of Do-It-Yourself projects for the festive season that make for a really unique gift option. So get creative and gift something personalized to your loved ones that will be more thoughtful than anything money will buy.

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