Diwali, Christmas, New year, Dusshera, and the list goes on. Since our country is a rich amalgamation of cultures and traditions, there is no dearth of festivities and celebrations throughout the calendar year. Our traditions embrace the joy of giving and gifting sweets, clothes, jewellery etc. But giving also means a lot of spending! Looking back on the long holiday season that just came to an end, has it burnt a hole in your pocket? Do you wish you hadn’t splurged and been more judicious with your festival expenses? Here are some easy tips for managing your money during the festive season. Make sure you don’t make the same mistake in 2021!
- Curbing expectations
First things first, understand your financial position in life, embrace it and alter your needs and expectations accordingly. If you have just taken a huge home loan or emergency cash loan, curb your expectations of a lavish festival season. Don’t plan on having a fancy week-long getaway for christmas holidays or spend on expensive clothes when the strings in your purse are already too tight. Be prepared to upcycle your old festive clothes and reuse them to make a style statement!
- Making a festival expense budget
Like the saying goes, ‘ a job planned well is half done’ the key to managing your money wisely is to chart out a feasible budget for the festival season. When you don’t put down a clear-cut budget, you might end up spending more than you can actually afford. Make a list of items according to their level of priority and put down an approximate budget for each item. It can be sweet boxes for friends and relatives, new clothes for the entire family, upgrading home appliances or utilising the holidays with a short vacation. Prioritise them while also being keen on saving up. Do not go overboard with your shopping and empty your festival bonus. Make sure to set some amount aside as your savings. You can use a save money app to guide you in the process.
- Expense Tracking
Following up on the planned budget with expense tracking is equally important to managing your money during festival season. Make a habit of noting down every purchase you make and the mode of payment- cash, credit card or debit card. This helps you track the money saved or exceeded against your budget for each item. It also helps you be aware of the remaining balance in savings account and credit card bills. If you have trouble being organised and making note of each expense you can use a save money app to do the same.
- Make use of festival offers and deals
Almost every retail and ecommerce store flashes their end of the year sale banner during the festive season. This is one of the best money saving tips to religiously follow every year! Right from groceries and clothes to home appliances and vehicles, everything is on sale during the festive season. Buying the necessary items on slashed prices enables you to save up big bucks. Make sure to collect and use coupon codes and cashback offers.
- Avoid impulsive shopping
As much as shopping during flash sales can be a huge money saver, you should be wary of not getting carried away with all the offers and discounts and end up buying stuff that you don’t need. With easy credit options like early salary loans and personal loans it is tempting to splurge and mount on your debt. Remember always not to exhaust your spending capacity.
Meeting extra expenses with external credit support
Worst comes to worst, if you do need some financial assistance for any high-priority purchase during the holiday season you can avail a festival loan which are essentially instant personal loans. Many banks and NBFCs offer attractive loans specifically for the festival season with discounted interest rates, processing fee waiver etc., as its main features. Festival loan amount ranges from Rs.5,000 to almost 4x times the salary of salaried individuals to buy gifts, clothes, home appliances etc. Since they are unsecured loans i.e, without holding any collateral, the interest rates are on the higher side - from 10% going up to 24% based on income, required loan amount and credit history.
Another easy and unburdening method of procuring emergency credit is to take a gold loan. It is normal that every Indian household has gold jewellery stashed away in lockers as a lifetime investment. Why not use it temporarily to meet your liquidity needs? A gold loan has the most attractive feature of low interest rate as it is a secured loan, i.e, gold is pledged against the loan amount.
One of the best NBFCs in the gold lending market is Rupeek offering competitive interest rates starting from just 0.49% per month. They offer the highest per gram rate for your gold jewellery ensuring you get the maximum loan amount. They are the first in India to introduce the concept of instant doorstep gold loans, where the gold evaluation and KYC is done from the safety of your home within just 30 minutes of applying online. Next time you are in a liquidity crunch during the festive season simply log on to Rupeek Website and click the apply now button. Simply follow these useful money saving tips and have a stress-free 2021 festive season!
