Before the Holidays Arrive: Give Your Budget a Reality Check

You don’t need to overhaul your finances before the holidays. You just need to know where you stand.

October is a good time to pause and take an honest look at your finances. Not because you need to panic about the holidays or suddenly create the perfect budget, but because you still have some time. There is time to look at what is happening with your money, prepare for expenses you know are coming, and make a few adjustments that could make the end of the year a little less stressful.

The holidays have a way of making everything feel a little more urgent. There are gifts to buy, meals to plan, travel to figure out, and sometimes a long list of other expenses that seem to appear between now and January. Taking a little time now to look at your financial picture can help you approach those expenses with a plan instead of simply hoping everything works out.

Start by figuring out where you actually are

Before you can decide what you want your money to do over the next few months, it helps to know what is happening right now. Take a look at your checking and savings accounts, your credit card balances, your debt payments, your regular monthly expenses, and your current income. Don't forget about subscriptions, memberships, or other expenses that may have quietly become part of your monthly routine.

You don't need to create a complicated spreadsheet to do this. Start with the information you already have. The goal at this point isn't to solve every problem or figure out exactly where every dollar should go. It's simply to get oriented.

And this is important: don't use the numbers to judge yourself. Use them to understand your situation.

Maybe you discover that you've been spending more than you realized. Maybe you've been relying on a credit card more often than you'd like. Or maybe you discover that you've actually made more progress than you thought. Whatever you find, the information is useful because you can't make an informed decision about where to go next if you don't know where you're starting.

Look ahead at the expenses you already know are coming

One of the easiest ways to get caught off guard financially is to only think about the expenses that happen every month. Your regular mortgage or rent, utilities, groceries, insurance, and debt payments might all be accounted for, but what about the expenses that don't happen every month?

October is a good time to make a list of those upcoming expenses. Maybe you know you'll be buying Christmas gifts. Maybe you have holiday travel, vehicle maintenance, property taxes, annual subscriptions, school expenses, birthdays, medical bills, vehicle registration, or other seasonal expenses coming up.

You may not know exactly how much each of these things will cost yet, and that's okay. The first step isn't necessarily figuring out how you're going to pay for everything. It's simply identifying what you know is coming.

Once you can see those expenses, you have an opportunity to make decisions about them before they become emergencies.

Don't forget to look at what's working

When we sit down to look at our finances, it's really easy to immediately focus on the things that aren't going well. Maybe you're frustrated about your credit card balance or disappointed that you haven't saved as much as you wanted to. Maybe your grocery spending has gotten out of control or you've had to dip into savings a few times.

But before you start making a list of everything you need to change, take a minute to notice what is working.

Maybe you've paid down some debt. Maybe you've stopped adding to a credit card balance. Maybe you've started tracking your spending, built a small emergency fund, or finally had a conversation with your spouse about something you've been avoiding. Maybe you've simply become more aware of where your money is going.

Those things matter.

Financial progress doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it's a series of small decisions that don't feel particularly exciting at the time. Giving yourself credit for those changes can help you recognize that you aren't starting from scratch.

Then take an honest look at what isn't working

Of course, a reality check also means being honest about the things that aren't working.

Maybe your current budget doesn't reflect what your life actually costs anymore. Grocery prices may have changed. Your income may be different. Your debt payments may be taking up more room than they used to. Maybe subscriptions and other small expenses have added up, or you've found yourself putting everyday purchases on a credit card because there simply isn't enough money left at the end of the month.

None of that means you have failed at managing your money.

It means you've learned something about your current situation.

Your budget is supposed to be a tool that helps you understand what's happening with your money. If something isn't working, that information gives you an opportunity to make an adjustment. You don't have to feel ashamed of the numbers before you can do something about them.

Choose one thing to work on before January

This is where I would encourage you to resist the temptation to make a giant list of everything you want to fix.

You don't have to completely overhaul your finances between now and the end of the year. Instead, ask yourself: What's one thing I could change that would make the next few months a little easier?

Maybe you could start setting aside $10 a week for holiday expenses. Maybe you could cancel a couple of subscriptions you're no longer using. Perhaps you need to set a realistic holiday spending limit or make a specific plan for one credit card. Maybe you need to start saving for an expense you know is coming, or finally sit down with your spouse and have a conversation about your finances.

And maybe your next step is simply asking for some help.

One small change probably won't completely transform your financial situation in three months. But it can give you a little more breathing room, and sometimes that's exactly what you need to start moving forward.

You don't have to wait until January

There is something about January that makes us want to start fresh. We make new goals, create new budgets, and promise ourselves that this will be the year we finally get everything figured out.

But you don't have to wait until January to begin.

October gives you a little bit of breathing room. The holidays are approaching, but they aren't here yet. You still have time to look at the numbers, think through the expenses you know are coming, and make a few intentional decisions about how you want to handle them.

You don't need a perfect financial plan for the rest of the year. You just need an honest starting point and a next step.

So before the holiday season gets into full swing, take some time to ask yourself: Where am I right now? What expenses are coming? What's working? What's not working? And what's one thing I can do differently before January?

You might be surprised by how much clarity you can get simply by slowing down and looking at the whole picture.

And if you're looking at your finances and thinking, I honestly don't even know where to begin, that's okay too. That's exactly the kind of conversation I have with families through Valkyrie Family Financial Counseling.

You don't have to have everything figured out before you ask for help. Sometimes the first step is simply sitting down, looking at the numbers without judgment, and figuring out what comes next. 💙