4 ways to focus your budget and help ease financial stress this season, according to a financial educator

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• Financial worries can make the holiday season more stressful than joyful.
• Building a budget for the holidays ahead of time can help ease stress, says a financial educator.
• Travel, groceries, and gifts are three areas you can focus your holiday budget on.

Between travel costs, making large family meals, and buying gifts, the holidays can be a financially stressful time of year.

While inflation rates are down from historic highs of up to 9% during 2022, they still haven't quite met the Federal Reserve goal of 2%, and a Trump presidency might drive the inflation rate back up soon. This means you might need to prepare for higher prices on holiday-related goods and services, even compared to the high prices of the last couple of years.

If you don't make a plan for how to budget for the holidays, you can end up needing to spend more on groceries, travel, and gifts than you thought you'd have to. Patrina Dixon, CFEI, RFC, founder and CEO of It'$ My Money, has four ways to help you budget for the holiday season as you head into December.

1. General budgeting for the holidays

Before you can budget for specific savings goals, you have to make a budget for your general finances. Dixon recommends starting your budgeting plan with a simple pen and paper.

"Pen and paper is always going to be my go-to, followed by Excel, because you are literally putting the numbers in," says Dixon. She says that making your budget by hand instead of using a budgeting app that automatically fills in your income and expenses helps you gain a more intimate understanding of what's going in and out of your account.

Once you're confident that you understand your finances, she says, budgeting apps can help make the process less intensive.

2. Budgeting for travel and transportation

Budgeting early is an important part of holiday planning in general, but it's especially important for travel.

"When you can, plan the travel early," says Dixon. Flight prices tend to go up the closer you get to departure, and shopping ahead lets you take your time and review the options available to you so you can get the best deal.

Making use of travel credit cards can also help you get good deals on flights and hotels. Depending on your needs and spending, some of Business Insider's top picks include the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, and American Express® Gold Card.

"Check your credit cards, look at your rewards points, see if that can offset some of your costs for hotel and flight accommodations," says Dixon. This can be even more effective if you plan out your points usage in advance and regularly use credit cards that offer miles for airlines or points for hotels you know you're likely to use.

Even with budgeting, you might not have the funds to travel home for every holiday — or you might prefer to use that money elsewhere. In those cases, Dixon says that saying no can sometimes be your best option."Be comfortable with saying that, unfortunately, I can't come for Thanksgiving, but I will come for Christmas," says Dixon. If you're looking for ways to cut expenses, limiting travel can help free up your budget.

3. Making a budget for meals and get-togethers

Thanks to previous years' high inflation rates, food still makes up a disproportionally large part of people's budgets this year. "This year has been very interesting in a lot of different ways, including things being way more expensive than they have been in the past. So the stresses that I commonly see are greater," says Dixon.

Luckily, there are ways to save on groceries when planning for big family meals. One easy way to save is to switch from preparing the entire meal yourself to hosting a potluck-style meal where everyone brings something.

Not only does having everyone prepare a dish spread out grocery costs among everyone, but it also lets you learn more about your family. "This allows the talent of other family members to also come front and center," says Dixon.

Other ways to save when buying groceries for meals include looking for sales, using coupons, and buying at cheaper stores or stores that are better suited to bulk purchases. Using money-making apps — for example, Ibotta — or rewards credit cards to get cash back on grocery purchases might also help you save on food.

4. Ways to save money with gifts

Buying gifts for friends and family members can be a huge hit to your yearly budget, but making specific plans ahead of time can help.

Dixon says that writing down the names of everyone you want to buy a gift for, along with the gift you want to give them and the total amount you want to spend on them, can help you avoid overspending.

If you end up going under budget on some gifts, you can put that extra money in a high-yield savings account to boost your savings. Top high-yield savings accounts are still paying 4% to 5% APY, so you can grow your money with more competitive rates than traditional savings accounts offer.

If you regularly receive gift cards, you might be able to use those to buy gifts for others. Dixon says that she regularly forgets to use gift cards more than once or twice, which leaves money on the table — money that might expire or be eaten up with fees over time. "Pull out those gift cards, see what those balances are. Maybe you can buy somebody a nice gift," says Dixon. Cash-back debit cards and credit cards can also help you save some money on gifts.

Sentimental gifts can also help keep costs down while still being meaningful. Dixon says that buying a framed picture of a meaningful event, like an anniversary or birthday, can be a cost-effective way to give a great gift to a loved one.