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Financially Preparing for the Holidays
The holidays are approaching fast and before you know it, the holidays will be here so it's a great time to begin implementing tactics that will help you financially prepare for the holiday season. If you haven't begun setting aside cash for the holidays, don't panic, but be weary that some personal sacrifices may have to take place in order to be prepared.
Make a list of the absolute necessities within the household budget for the month (mainly bills, groceries, transportation, rent/mortgage and minimum payments to debts outstanding). Retrieve you last month's bank statement and add up all the debits you see, compare the total number of debits from your bank statement with the basic necessity list created, and is the number larger from the bank statement versus the list you created? If so, let's work to cut some cost throughout the list that will allow you to put more cash aside for the holidays. If you feel propelled to take on any form of new debts for the holiday season, please don't. If your contributing to a retirement plan currently, consider lowering how much your contributing over the next three paychecks to save more money (while this will alter your tax liability slightly for the end of the year, it won't be as costly as new debt). Consider working overtime, finding a part-time gig, selling fairly used items that you have no need for, just do what you have to do to avoid taking additional debt in exchange for happy faces during the holidays.
Next, compose an "I Want Everything" shopping list for the holidays, then slash the list by 50 per cent (keep the slashed portion of the list for next year birthdays and holidays). The finalized list is now done, implement a plan to begin purchasing, for the rare items that sell fast, consider putting them on layaway soon. Add the layaway items to budget list created earlier and be mindful of date required by the retailer to pay off the item in order to obtain them in time. For items that you consider expensive, don't rush to place them on layaway, we have Black Friday (in-store and online retailers) taking place on November 23rd (it has been rumored that major retailers may have a post-Black Friday sale in order to capture more market share before the actual day) and Cyber Monday (on-line retailers) on November 26th. Check out what's being offer on these days for the expensive items on your shopping list to save some money versus placing them on layaway. In 2011, consumers spent $52.5 billion during Black Friday and $1.3 billion during Cyber Monday, so be ready to grab some stellar deals.
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During the month of October, we had the opportunity to provide our expertise on financial matters involving small business and individuals. Click the images below to read them and be sure to click the Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus button to share with your friends and family. Thanks!
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XNE Financial Advising, LLC is a financial service company that focuses on core financial management of individuals and small businesses. An independent, fee-only firm located in the state of Virginia that provides services to individuals & businesses on financial and business management matters with concentration of clients inside the tri-state area of Metropolitan area of the District of Columbia, (DC, MD, and VA) with minor concentration of other states.
Mr. Epps has a bachelor's degree in Information Systems Management and graduated Cum Laude of his class. Mr. Epps spent nearly eight years with a middle market investment banking firm and within his recent capacity at the firm, Mr. Epps served as a Registered Representative (Broker) where he was responsible for preparing, collecting, maintaining, and disseminating financial analysis for the banking sector. Mr. Epps is a current holder of FINRA Securities Licenses 7 and 63, an IRS Registered Tax Return Preparer (December 2011), Certified Microsoft Office User Specialist, Intuit QuickBooks Certified User (Pro/Premier Versions) and he's company is an Authorized IRS e-file Provider.
Sincerely,
Xavier Epps
XNE Financial Advising, LLC
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