Prioritizing your holiday expenses to avoid debt while preparing for emergencies is tricky, but less so with some handy tips and help from Delaware Title Loans, Inc. If you’re looking for a way to balance everything, you’ve come to the right place.

This quick article will dive deep into 5 tips you can implement to prioritize your holiday expenses more effectively. You’ll also discover loan options if you need additional funds to cover an emergency.

How To Prioritize Expenses To Avoid Holiday Debt

Unfortunately, there is no magical one-size-fits-all solution when budgeting for the holidays. That’s because your priorities are unique and likely different from those of others, even those who live on the same street.

So, to prioritize your expenses better and avoid holiday debt, keep these 5 handy tips in mind:

Tip 1: Start With Regular Expenses

First and foremost, you must always prioritize your regular expenses when planning for the holidays. That means you must ensure you have money to pay your utility bills, rent, and anything else that’s not holiday-related.

Sadly, people get so caught up in the holiday season that they forget their regular bills. Doing that is a mistake because it’ll leave you with late or outstanding bills to catch up on after the holidays.

So, begin your holiday financial planning with your regular expenses in mind. Once you’ve planned for them, you can move on to the fun holiday purchases.

Tip 2: Treat Food And Beverages As Basic Necessities

Holiday food and drink should be second the highest priorities for your expenses. These are some of the most basic necessities for the holiday season, regardless if you’re hosting guests in your home or visiting others.

For example, you’ll need food and drinks to serve to friends and family who visit you. However, you might also want to bring a nice bottle of wine when you go to someone else’s home.

Tip 3: Decorations And Lighting

Now that you’ve handled the most critical holiday expenses, it’s time to look at the areas where you can be more flexible.

The first one is regarding decorations and lighting. You’ll want your home to appear festive to reflect the season. Plus, you want your home to be memorable so your guests will be impressed.

Still, you don’t want to go overboard with these items, either. Instead, you can lower their priority on your holiday expenses to ensure there’s money for more important things.

Better yet, you can invest in reusable decorations so they continue providing value even in future years.

Tip 4: Rethink Gifting

Another area you need to be careful with is gifting. People often go overboard when buying gifts for others, causing them to have holiday debt to deal with later.

You can avoid that by rethinking the entire gifting process and prioritizing who you spend money on.

For example, you can prioritize your immediate family members by purchasing more expensive gifts for them. 

Everyone else, like friends and colleagues, should be less of a priority. You can save a lot of money by purchasing more modest gifts for them.

Alternatively, you can avoid holiday debt by making DIY gifts for your friends and family. These gifts cost significantly less but still carry a lot of value to the people you give them to.

Doing so will also make gifts an even smaller financial priority as they’ll require less of your money.

Tip 5: Prepare For Emergencies

You should always be prepared for financial emergencies, but ranking them on your priorities can be tricky. That’s because you need to have some money set aside for emergencies, though they may or may not happen.

One approach you can take is to set aside a small amount of your holiday budget for a possible emergency. Then, identify ways to borrow more quickly if that emergency fund isn’t enough.

Two examples you can consider are title loans and installment loans. Both are easy to qualify for, and you can get them quickly enough to save your holiday plans after a crisis.

Here’s how each option works:

• Title loan: If you own a car, you can use the lien-free title to get a title loan. Depending on your car's value, this option could help you get between $300 and $15,000. You’ll need to bring the vehicle in for a quick inspection as part of the process, but you can keep the vehicle once that’s done.
• Installment loan: If you don’t own a car, you can consider an installment loan. It’s an unsecured loan that could help you access up to $1,250 without collateral. If approved, you’ll get the lump sum as early as the same day or the next business day.

Having some money set aside and the option of a title or installment loan can help you enjoy peace of mind during the holidays without overly-prioritizing an emergency that might not happen.

Get Started Now!

Prioritizing your holiday expenses can be challenging, especially with many important things to pay for. Still, getting it right will help you avoid unnecessary debt afterward.

Remember to set aside money for emergencies, no matter how you prioritize your spending. You can always reach out to Delaware Title Loans, Inc. by submitting the online form with your details if you need to access more emergency funds.

Note: The content provided in this article is only for informational purposes, and you should contact your financial advisor about your specific financial situation.