Don’t let the excitement of the holiday season (and end of year sales) railroad your finances.

Too often people get caught up at this time of year, putting all kinds of things on their budget,but that’s such an awful way to end the year. To enjoy the gift-giving season without any guilt-ridden overspending, you’ve got to set up a Christmas budget and stick to your plans. Once you’ve got your plan set, you can shop, spend and enjoy the season without feeling ashamed for going overboard.

What Is a Zero-Based Budget?

First things first. Before we can dive in, you need a little background on zero-based budgets. It’s pretty simple: Your income minus expenses equals zero.

In other words, if you earn #100,000 a month, you want every naira you spend, save, give or invest to add up to #100,000 too. That way you know where every one of your hard-earned naira is going.Without a budget, you might look up one day and find you have no money—and no clue about where it even went. That’s why having a zero-based budget is so important all year long, especially when you’re trying to keep your Christmas spending from going off the rails.

How to Make a Zero-Based Christmas Budget

You need a plan—and the Christmas budget is your plan. Here’s how to make one in three easy steps:

1. Write down your monthly income.
2. Write down your expenses.
3. Subtract your expenses from your income to equal zero.

How to Set Up Your Christmas Budget

1. Plan how much you’ll spend this year.
   The amount you should spend is based on what you make, what you’ve saved, and what you can move around in your budget to get the job done. So, crunch some numbers and see how much you’ve got to play around with for Christmas this year. Set your budget for Christmas gifts. And whatever amount you decide to spend, just make sure you stick to it.
2. Create a Christmas budget category in your sheets or jotter
   List the people you want to buy for and how much you plan to spend on each of them. This includes everyone from your family to that co-worker you got for Secret Santa this year. At this point, every naira you’ll spend is attached to someone’s name, just like categories in a normal budget.
3. Add the names of everyone who needs presents.
4. Track your spending as you go.
   Want to know how you don’t overspend? You track. You track hard. You track often. Keep up with all that spending as you go. Log in to your budget (on your sheet or jotter) and  record the expense!
5. Move amounts around when needed.
   If you budgeted #7,000 on gifts for a family member but hit a few black friday sales and got everything you need for only #5,000, then take that extra #2,000 and put it to good use. You can buy Aunt Ida another gift or add that amount to another budget category where you might need a little more wiggle room
   That’s the beauty of your Christmas budget—this thing’s not set in stone. You can change up the planned amounts after you put them in there. And you should. Real life might strike, and you’ll have to move the money around. That’s okay. Adjust it if you need to. Just make sure you don’t overspend the total amount you set up for the entire Christmas gift section.  
   A little effort and restraint now will pay off big time later on.We wish you a merry Christmas and happy new year in advance. Always remember that Sudrex comes in 3 variants which are Sudrex Headache & Fever, Sudrex Cold & Cough and Sudrex Joint & Muscle Pain to provide you fast relief #ReliefMoment with Sudrex.