Festivals are the most joyous occasions. They bring with them a lot of positivity, holiday cheer, good food, good mood and an overall merry spirit. In India, there are fests of many scales. From one-day special puja celebrations, weeklong Diwali celebrations, ten days of Ganpati, Eid to Christmas. The celebrations are a perfect time to take a mini-break from work, meet up with family and friends. Festivities are deeply rooted in tradition and culture, sprinkled with modernity and filled with joie de vivre

As much as these Festivals are fun, if they are not budgeted well, they can also drain you out financially.  How do you go about planning your festive fund? 

1)   Go Old school, Make a list 

Detail every festive facet you need to organize and manage. This will help you focus on the priorities, root out the unnecessary expenses and keep you on track. Knowing what to do, planning the route makes it easier to execute and stay on path with your expenses.

2) Start Saving Early On

If you want to truly enjoy your festivals without just getting by, start early with your savings. This will help you benefit not only from a compound income but also prep you to weather any uncertain changes. Have a corpus in case of emergencies handy.

3) Shop Before Time

When you shop ahead of time, you save yourself last minute shopping stress and can compare and purchase items within budget. You can also snag goods at prices that aren’t notched up due to festive demand. 

4) Keep Your Budget In Check

At all times, it is important to stick to your budget. It’s easy to go overboard but planning and staying true to your budget will help you stay out of unnecessary debts. 

5) Have a Repayment Plan in Place 

Before you spend, have a financial repayment plan in place. You do not want to accrue a debt chain. To pay off one debt, you take on another. Keep your credit card bills in check. Over-running them and not having a repayment plan will rob your off the festive fun with unwanted stress. 

6) Time to Reboot and Save 

Festivals are a great time to press the reboot button and relook at your finances and do a situational review. Bring on board a certified and well-experienced financial planner to guide you with the smallest and largest financial concerns. Festivals are not just perfect time to spend and indulge. They are even better time to invest and save. It could be a head start with a simple SIP or a goal oriented savings scheme.