The Gift Card Budget
Me: “I’ll take a medium Caramel Swirl Iced Coffee; cream, but no sugar”
Dunkin’ Employee: “Is that everything..?”
Me: “… and a boston creame donut.. and you know what — an order of hashbrowns”
Dunkin’ Employee: “Your total comes to way more than you originally planned on spending. First window please.”
We’ve all been there. For some of us, it may happen twice a week. How is it so difficult to limit our spending, with the smell of donuts, hash browns, and 2 for $5 breakfast sandwiches? I think there is a pretty simple, and effective answer — the Gift Card Budget.
What is the Gift Card Budget?
To put it simply — the gift card budget is a way to pre-pay for things that you regularly purchase (coffee, groceries, gas) where you might over spend on non-essentials. The perfect example is when you go to Dunkin’ for a coffee, and get suckered into buying a donut and hash browns.
The beauty of the Gift Card Budget, is that it makes it easier for people, couples, and families to budget.
How Does the Gift Card Budget Work?
We will use Dunkin’ coffee as an example — because that is my favorite coffee.
A medium Dunkin’ coffee costs $2.79 (after tax in PA). On average, if you work 5 days a week — that totals $13.95 per week.
Each month, on average, you will spend $56 or $13.95 x 4 weeks.
Here are the 3 simple steps to take to set up your Gift Card Budget
- Figure out how much you spend on coffee, groceries, gas, etc.. per month. Use the above breakdown to calculate.
- Load that amount onto a gift card
- Track your spending throughout the month, and make sure you are only buying what you planned on buying!
Now — what if you bought a donut and hash brown, twice a week, because of over indulgence?
Adding $2 to your bill, say.. twice a week, is simply $8 extra a month. That is a 14% increase in the bill per month.
Why The Gift Card Budget?
Why not just create a budget for myself and stick to it? No one is perfect, and often we are tempted to purchase that extra item because its “only a buck”. That’s what the Gift Card Budget is effective.
The Gift Card Budget allows people to set their specific budgets up front monthly, weekly, or bi weekly. This makes it easier to track your spending at each store that you frequent, and cap it at $x.xx per month.
Also — with the world in a state of shutdown, and small businesses not sure when they are able to open back up, it might be a good idea to buy a gift card from a small business now, for future use! Why is that a good idea?
A. Small business gets cash infusion now
B. You might be able to get a good deal ($60 paid for a $75 gift card)
Let me know if you give this a try! If you are looking for an effective way to save cash, and spend less excess, the Gift Card Budget may be for you.
