There would always be a time to make merry and celebrate with friends and family. Shopping is normal during this period, be it birthdays, baby showers, anniversaries and yes the next big thing valentine. People tend to forget that saving should be part of our daily lives and do a lot of excessive spending. Humans love to impress especially their loved ones   forgetting the consequences of over spending.  So we all require a back up plan .in order not to be in such a situation, we have put together, 7 tips for you to spend wisely, and still have spare cash throughout the year. 

Write out a timely Budget
It is important that you know everything that your money would be spent on, from gifts, groceries, food stock, to clothes, you must have an overall budget. Make a checklist of everything according to category, put a price on everything and then sum it up. This would give you an idea of how much you are to spend and you must stick to it so as not to have a financial hangover at any point in time.

Put a cap on individual items/gifts
For every individual item, there should be a maximum spend. For instance, if you are gifting 6 family member, and 4 friends, you can budget a maximum of N5000 per person. So regardless of who the person is, the gift must be N5000 or less. This would help you stick to the overall budget arrived at above.

Ask guests to bring something
If you are having a party, or a get together of friends and/or family, consider asking everyone to bring in something of their own. Family will be ready to help always even if they are little things such as drinks are easy to purchase for people. Imagine ticking off drinks completely from your checklist. That can be as much as 30 – 40% of your total budget!

Start buying on time
During festive periods such as valentine, prices would typically go up. It is therefore advisable to start buying on time, and in bits. Rather than buy all your items at once, from on pay check, consider buying months or weeks before Any form of festivity. This would reduce the burden on you. Also, don’t be afraid of letting stock go out. Remember a stitch in time saves nine.  

Use cash to shop
Using your card to shop can lead to spending way more than budgeted, because you have access to more money than you have planned to spend. It is advisable to withdraw the exact money you have budgeted and take to the store, so as to stick to the budget. Also, try not to stare at things that you do not need too much. You can do this by carrying a check list and ticking off every item on the list, when shopping. This requires self-discipline, but we believe you can do it!