Vincenza Vicari-Bentley, AFC
Empowering Financial Wellness Program Coordinator 

​Where are all my fellow spenders? (no offense to you savers)—you’re the yin to my yang!) At times being a spender works out perfectly for me. For example, when I’m putting together our monthly spending plan, I feel good about giving us permission to spend.  But wait...there is a spouse I need to confer with about how we spend.  So it’s important that you talk about money with your honey but not just once, it’s a continuous conversation. 

Guys, it is WRESTLING SEASON at our house!! Wrestling was always big in my high school and with my family, and now with a son that loves it, the tradition continues. Like many sports or extracurriculars, wrestling has some cost associated with it: Registration / Team Fees, Uniform and Gear Costs, Tournament Registration, Travel, Concessions or food (This one is a HUGE cost!), Team Swag for the participant and the family support, Fundraisers (every parents favorite). These add up fast and so do the collection of team t-shirts too! (TIP: For a cheap and fun way to save your t-shirts here is a step by step guide for a t-shirt quilt.) As a parent, I can see the benefits of any kind of extracurriculars for my kids, physically, socially, and emotionally and make sure to plan for them each month within our budget. Researching how to save on this cost, I have come up with some tips to get you through the season: 

I know you've seen it...many retailers are already promoting Black Friday deals and will continue to bombard us with a barrage of ads all month long. I've already started to feel a little FOMO. But before we jump the gun and dive in to holiday spending in 2020, I'd recommend a few things to help us stay savvy shoppers this season. 

Tip 1: Starting early can help you spread holiday costs out over a few months rather than everything hitting your bank account in December or January. This also helps with our efforts to give thoughtful gifts-which is always our intention-but sometimes we run out of time and simply pull the trigger on something less meaningful or more expensive than we'd have hoped. Start early, check things off your list and unplug from the holiday hub-ub to enjoy the reason for the season.

Tip 2: Create a holiday spending plan. Don't forget to include the gift exchange at work or any neighbor gifts you'd like to give out. Traditional activity's may have costs associated with them so don't forget that either. Once you've listed everything, set a per-person (or per activity, etc.) spending limit. I like to use a free app like Santa's Bag (or something similar) because it helps me easily track my per-person spending and visually shows me my progress. What a per-person spending limit does is helps me focus on getting the best bang for my buck within that spending limit.

Tip 3: Keep good records such that if an item you’ve purchased goes on sale at a better price later in the season, you can be a savvy consumer and return the item or ask for the difference in store credit. As for physical receipts, during the holiday season I make space for them in my coupon/gift card organizer that’s in my purse and always with me. Digital receipts can be difficult to track as they can get buried in your email. It’s as simple as creating a “Christmas 2020” email folder and dragging all online order confirmations into that folder.

Tip 4: A savvy consumer takes advantage of the sales and knows when to stop spending. The "good deals" will keep coming. We'll be bombarded all through December as well so once you've reached that per-person spending limit and checked everything off your list, be done. Unplug. Last-minute impulse buys can be budget busters! The sale season is only working for you if you don’t continue to buy, buy, buy.

Guest Contributor: Emma Parkhurst
USU Extension Assistant Professor

There’s something to be said about finding a gently used item for a fraction of the original cost. Ah yes, just the thought makes my thrifty heart happy! Whether you’re trying to save some money or you prefer buying used for environmental reasons, it seems as though there are more and more ways to buy secondhand. I first discovered my appreciation for sites such as Facebook Marketplace or KSL Classifieds after we bought our first home. During that last walk-through when the house was completely empty was pretty intimidating – so much space to fill! Rather than immediately hitting the big stores for brand new furniture, we decided to explore the options for secondhand items. Here are our biggest takeaways when looking to buy used:

Guest Contributor: Christina Pay, USU Extension Assistant Professor

​There are three shopping events each year in Utah that savvy shoppers look forward to with anticipation. These are known as case lot sales. Generally occurring in January, March and September, buying pantry items at case lot prices can save you money while helping you stock up on items you use on a regular basis.  However, don’t be fooled. Without a plan you may end up spending more money than saving it, so follow the tips below to help you make your own plan to find the best case lot bargains.