Media City Credit Union, a local financial cooperative who returns its earnings back to its Member-Owners, focuses on helping people and giving back to its community. As the holiday season approaches, Media City CU aims to provide effective tips that will help you stay on track and prepare for exciting holiday celebrations.
As the fall season begins, it is customary to start planning for holiday activities. Whether it be Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year, and beyond, holiday festivities can quickly add up to impact your overall seasonal budget. In order to avoid financial stress during the holiday season, it is important to prepare and learn ways to save where you can. Here are some tips to consider while planning your holiday celebrations:
- Plan in advance. During the summer months leading into fall, work to plan ahead for your holidays. By booking travel months in advance, taking advantage of early sales (or sales from last season), and coordinating with loved ones, there are several ways to save by simply planning your celebrations and travel ahead of time. For example, if you anticipate extra costs for a particular holiday, use the months leading up to set aside some extra savings to cover the extra items in the budget. Utilize websites that compare travel options, or sign up for rewards programs for airlines and hotels to be informed of deals and earn points to put towards travel. Booking travel in advance can sometimes alleviate the increased cost of traveling during the holidays.
- Search for sales on holiday items. Every year, retailers often hold sales on holiday items both ahead of the holiday itself and immediately following the holiday. If you are an early planner, take advantage of discounts a year in advance on decorations and the like.
- Skip a payment to allocate funds towards holiday spending. Media City CU will allow its members to skip a payment in the months of November or December (available for auto loans and personal loans). Skipping a loan payment allows you to use that portion of your budget to allocate extra funds towards holiday spending.
- Coordinate meals with your loved ones. If you are planning on hosting holiday meals, create a menu with your loved ones and have everyone bring a dish or two to help balance out the costs. By participating in potluck style events, everyone gets to share their favorite recipes and try new things, while keeping the tradition of enjoying a meal together as a family.
- Don’t overspend on gifting. It can be fairly easy to fall into the trap of overspending during the holiday season, especially on gifting. Aside from looking into sales and discounts on items you anticipate to purchase, it is also helpful to stick to a list or budget for holiday gifting. Whether your loved ones enjoy gifting each other individually, or choosing one person in a Secret Santa style gifting, make sure to set an appropriate budget for yourself as to not overwhelm yourself during the holiday season. Bonus tip: go in on bigger ticket gifts as a group to split the cost and still ensure that the receiver gets a gift from their list that they truly cherish.
Budgeting ahead for the holidays is the most beneficial way to save yourself the financial stress during the busiest season of the year. Plan, prepare, and do your research in order to find the best deals and ways to save on meals, travel, gifts, and other holiday necessities. Work together with your loved ones to create memorable celebrations without breaking the bank. After all, ‘tis the season to avoid overspending and simply spend quality time together. To learn more about services offered at Media City CU, reach out to our team or visit our website at mediacitycu.org.
About Media City Credit Union
Media City Credit Union has served its members since 1936 when we were founded by
employees of Helms Bakeries. A credit union is like a bank, only better. Media City offers checking, savings, credit cards and loans, yet profits are returned back to members in the form of reduced fees, higher savings rates and lower loan rates. Media City CU is a financial cooperative, giving back to its member-owners.
The credit union provides fee-free access at 75,000 ATMs worldwide and provides online account access. If you live, work, worship, or attend school anywhere in Burbank, or if you have a relative who is already a member, you can become a member too. As soon as you join, your family members also become eligible. Media City CU partnered with the ChangeWorks Foundation and by making a minimum $25 donation to this wonderful cause (Media City matches the $25 donation), you also become eligible for membership. New members enjoy immediate access to all services, including loans.
