It's Okay... You will Survive this Holiday

It's no secret that holiday season has become more consumerist than ever. These days holiday lights are up, and Santa is in stores from October on. We start to hear about family vacations, Christmas dinners and New Year Eve plans beginning September . Kids start giving their 'want' list which includes most of what they hear and see on television. But, what if we are on a tight budget, or we are financially struggling to make it one day at a time. Do we plunge into more debt trying to keep up with the Joneses, and to satisfy everybody else' wants, or do we take a stand to make a decision for ourselves?

It's a personal choice, but it's prudent to take a stand for yourselves so that you don't look back at the holidays as a nightmare, but look forward to every year's holiday season. Here are a few ways to handle the most common challenges during holidays, on a budget:

Gifts: 

Giving gifts is an integral part of holiday season. There are two approaches we can take. 

One is to limit gifts to immediate family (spouse, kids and parents) and that too by giving just one gift. Research has proved that spending time with family is the best gift you can give. Click HERE for a research based analysis on the most important gifts.

Second is to expand giving gifts to a bigger audience, but limit the amount you will spend on each gift. Click HERE for an excellent gift giving guideline. Once you have identified people, HERE is a list of inexpensive, but useful gifts. Remember, giving gifts should be out of love and not out of duty!!

Holiday Meals and Parties:

Here is a quick question? Name all the dishes you had during the last holiday season? If you are like me, you cannot remember what you ate last week, let alone last year. So, it's not about setting up an expensive table full of dishes. It's about sharing experiences and spending time together. That doesn't mean that holiday dinners and parties should be french fries and chicken nuggets. HERE is a good read on making good meals on a budget.

Holiday Travel:

Traveling costs will escalate during the holiday season and the stress of traveling adds up due to crowded airports and roadways. But, there are lot of ways families can travel without breaking the back. Planning ahead of time, and booking tickets/hotels/cars way in advance, always helps to reduce cost. It's amazing that people travel across the country to see something new, when they have not explored their own city to its fullest. So, if you are tight on budget, decide to explore your city with family. HERE is an ultimate guide to travel when you are on a strict budget.

Decorations:

It's a good time to ask yourselves whether you are competing with everybody in your neighborhood, or if you trying to create memories with your family. Decorations are intended to celebrate holidays and there are several ways we can create our own decorations. HERE are some great examples.

If you are financially struggling or on a tight budget, you still can enjoy the holidays. However, you can also plan ahead so that the future years are the brightest for you. Your friends at Mayanah will help you attain your dreams.

5 Websites that Save YOU Money

Everybody loves a bargain. Don't you?  Especially during holiday season. It can be gotten in several ways. Cutting coupons is one way. Waiting for an item to go on sale is another. However, what if there is an opportunity to identify the lowest available price for a product, or if a coupon is available at your finger tips. Add to it the fact that most retailers match the lowest price. So the key then, is to find the lowest price for the product you want, in your local area. Here are 5 websites/apps to help you during this holiday season.

1) Retail Me Not:

It is a website that aggregates coupon offers and makes them available to consumers. It has almost five hundred thousand coupons of over 50,000 stores in various retail categories like apparel, accessories, automotive, baby and beauty products, furniture, home, garden, pets, toys etc. Their app can be downloaded from the App store and comes in handy in the middle of shopping.

Their website can be accessed HERE

2) Shop Savvy:

It is a mobile application that allows shoppers to scan the bar-code. Once the bar-code is accepted, the app finds local and online prices for the exact product. This allows shoppers to either get a price match at the store, or buy it from the lowest price store. The app is currently available for Android, iOS, Symbian and Windows phones. Their free app can be downloaded HERE

3) Price Grabber:

 This is another website that compares different websites that offers weekly deals and coupons. One advantage of this site is that they have buying guidelines that helps the shopper get the right product and the best value for the price. They have helpful search tools as well as vendor reviews. A con seems to be customer service issues during busy shopping seasons. Their website can be accessed HERE

4) SnipSnap:

 It is a mobile coupon application that allows users to take a photograph of a printed coupon in order to find or create a mobile coupon which can be redeemed at the register. Huge advantage of SnipSnap is that the users can share the coupons among themselves. Retailers are forced to honor these coupons because SnipSnap users can rate the store, thereby affecting the success score rating of the retailer. Since all stores are trying to get a high score, they will accept most of the SnipSnap user coupons. Their app can be downloaded HERE

5) Google Shopping:

 How can we avoid Google these days? Google Shopping is probably the largest and best known comparison shopping engine. It was previously known as Froogle, if you remember the term. It allows users to search for products on online shopping websites and compare prices between different vendors. How can you get there? Just Google it... That's right! Just google 'Google Shopping' and you can get to their website.

If you need further assistance in saving money and being debt free visit our Facebook Page or Contact us.

Research proves THIS as the best gift for Holidays

Gift giving, especially during the holiday season, has long been a favorite subject of study of human behavior, with economists, financial analysts, psychologists, anthropologists and retailers all weighing in on the results. Each group has its own reason for much interest in people's feelings and gift-giving behavior. They have found that giving gifts is a surprisingly complex and important part of human interaction, helping to define relationships and strengthen bonds with family and friends. Indeed, psychologists say it is often the giver, rather than the recipient, who reaps the biggest psychological gains from a gift. A group of 10000 people across all age groups were asked to comment during the 2015 holiday season - pre and post holidays,to comment on how they felt about giving and receiving gifts. Out of the 7340 people who responded, there was a clear winner and a distinction between the top two gifts and the rest. Three out of four who responded agreed that the holiday season is getting more stressful and materialistic. So here are winners:

1) TIME 

28% of respondents expressed spending time with their friends and family as the best gift they could get for holidays.  It's a fact that most Americans are feeling more time-constrained than ever. With waking hours largely consumed by work, precious minutes remain for the daily list of to-dos, including exercise, housework, and keeping up with social media. For most, time has become an even more valuable resource than money. Indeed, twice as many Americans would prefer two weeks of vacation over two weeks of extra pay. People’s sense that time is scarce decreases their willingness to give time to others — be it individuals or worthy organizations. So, when somebody is willing to donate his/her time, that is considered as the best and lasting gift by all segments of respondents.

2) PERSONAL GROWTH

26% of respondents wanted gifts that will help them grow professionally and personally. It is a broad area and covers activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitate employability, enhance the quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations. 

Wall Street Journal reports that 70% of people are living paycheck to paycheck and financial stress is at its highest. It is no surprise that learning more about finances and having a financial coach is highly desirable. If you would like to know about how to provide a gift of financial coaching to your loved ones, please contact Mayanah Financial Coaching at www.facebook.com/TheMayanah.

The list was followed by Gift Cards (10%), electronic gadgets (8%), toys (7%) and household goods (5%). With research so conclusive about what people need, will you provide what they need - Time and Personal Growth or will you end up giving more "stuff" that they don't need. 

3 Regrets starting Black Friday. Do you feel this?

REGRETS! 

We all feel it -  in one way or the other, of having gone with the flow. This happens in career, marriage, social life, and practically all walks of life. However, the number of Americans feeling regret after Black Friday and Cyber Monday increases year after year.

Believe it or not, Black Friday is an American tradition. After the Thanksgiving meal, people run to the stores to fight for DEALS - forgetting that they were thankful or supposed to be grateful a few hours earlier. Retailers have marketed the Black Friday event so that people actually forget what they want to buy and instead spend dollars on what they feel like buying. Cyber Monday is a new practice where we continue to spend money on DEALS the Monday following Thanksgiving. The real problem with these DEALS is that they are not something we need but bought just because their prices are low. In essence, Americans are buying things that they do not need.

Wall Street Journal reports that 70% of people live paycheck to paycheck, and 40% of people will either add on to their existing debt or add new debt from Black Friday until the end of the holiday season. This indicates that Americans buy what they do not need with money that they do not have.  

Here are 3 regrets Americans will have after the holiday shopping season starting on Black Friday:

1) Regret of working extra to pay off debt.

            Since 60% of Americans have added to their debt load, they are forced to spend more hours at work or take up second and third jobs during evenings and weekends. This will have a catastrophic effect on their health, and their happiness level drops significantly. This is in addition to the lack of productivity due to overwork. The truth is that they will start hating the "stuff" they have bought. Research shows that their self-esteem also drops due to constant work.

2) Regret of not being able to spend time with family

          When people are forced to work long hours, they are deprived of spending quality time with their spouses and children. It is proven that marriages collapse due to this reason, and children's lives are destroyed because of a lack of parental attention. This is a personal and social problem as the next generation of Americans are growing up without adequate parental guidance.

3) Regret of not attaining their goals

           When we are spending all that we earn to pay back our debts, we cannot think or save for our goals and dreams. It may be traveling around the world or taking classes in our areas of interest. It could also be being unable to invest in our retirement funds. It is no surprise that the average person retiring today in America has less than $25,000 in retirement. The thought of not being able to attain the goals and dreams demotivates them and adds to the remorse regarding their purchases.

To avoid these regrets, you must make a plan and stick to it. It is no secret that an accountability partner and a guide can help you in this regard. Have you ever thought about meeting with a financial coach? If so, we recommend Dave Ramsey's Financial Coaches. They do not sell any products and so work as a coach for you. If you would like to know more, please visit us at Mayanah Financial Coaching. Take action now, to avoid regret later !!