8. Did You Blow Your Holiday Budget? Here's How to Recover!

Did the holidays leave your bank account feeling emptier than your toddler’s snack plate? Let’s talk about bouncing back, guilt-free.

Overspending during the holidays happens to the best of us—especially when kids, sales, and all that festive joy come into play. In this episode of Caffeinated Chaos, we’re tackling holiday budget hangovers with heart, humor, and actionable tips. Whitney shares her personal overspending stories (yes, she’s been there), judgment-free strategies to regain financial balance, and creative ways to save year-round. Whether you’re looking to tighten your budget or get your kids involved in saving, this episode has you covered.

Apps Whitney uses: 

• Store Loyalty Apps: Safeway, Target, CVS, and Walgreens
• Post Purchase: Ibotta

Recovering from holiday overspending isn’t about shame—it’s about learning, adjusting, and moving forward. You’ve got this! Share your tips and advice with our community - tag us on Instagram and we will share some of them on our stories. 

Cheers! Thank you for joining us for another episode. Have a chaotic moment, question, or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message or leave a review! If you loved this episode, share it with a friend who thrives in beautiful chaos too.

Let’s Connect:
Connect with us via email at ccpodcast@aguonstudios.com
Follow us on Instagram: @caffeinatedchaospodcast

Resources:
Goal-Setting Template
____________________________

Interested in being a guest on the podcast? APPLY HERE
Want to sponsor or run an ad on our podcast? Email us to explore options.

Transcript

0:35

Hello, friends. And welcome back for another episode of cafe chaos. Today's episode is for those of us who looked at our bank statements post holidays and thought, oh my God. Did I really buy all of that. If your holiday cheer turned into a little bit of holiday fear, once the receipt started rolling in. Well friends, you are in the right place. One, I am no stranger to overspending. I totally understand. Especially during the holidays. I am someone who loves the joy of Christmas morning. And also I have an adorable toddler who is super polite when she wants something. And I admit, I get caught up in the moment. Trust me. I used to teach coupons to in the past, my friends. I've hunted for the best deals. And in fact, this year, because of that, I actually ended up with more gifts than I needed for my toddler. And so I was thinking that I would just spend. And save them in the closet. For gifts throughout the year. However, my housemate who watches my children for me, when me and my husband are at work, he was unable to get away in order to get them a gifts. But I wanted to make sure that. She could open something from him. Um, on Christmas morning. So we totally did that. Hey. I have gifts in the closet that I'm not going to give her right now. So just pick one of those and wrap it up and put under the tree. And. To be honest. It's like her favorite thing from Christmas that she got, It was a blue scavenger hunt game, which parents, if you're a kilo's bluey, I'm not sponsored or anything like that, but like, it is a really quick and easy game to play. It's for everyone. It's really kind of easy to understand. Um, and everyone plays as a team. So there's no competition and it's really fun. And I highly suggest it. My toddler loves this game. In fact, she made everyone. Play the game with her when we went to a Christmas party. Very quick, very easy, minimal cleanup. I love it. I enjoy it. She really enjoys it. Okay. So moving on, here's the thing, when the holidays are over and life settles back down, it's important to take a step back and figure out how to recover. That's what today's episode is all about. No judgment, no shame, just practical tips to help you bounce back financially, plan smarter for the next year, and maybe involve your kids in the process. One, I'm going to say that I am not a financial advisor. Please take this as you will and do what you want with it. This is just what I do and how I reset myself. Okay. Let's start with step one, assessing the damage. I know, don't start rocking back and forth. And don't start panicking. Just let me remind you. This is a judgment free zone. My friends. Looking at the numbers can and probably will feel overwhelming, but it's the first step towards getting back on track. So, one thing we're going to do is we're going to grab your coffee, your tea, whatever you're just slipping on your favorite notebook or budgeting app. If you have one and all of your holiday receipts. So write down everything that you spent, gifts, deco, food, travel, even any last minute holiday outfits. And I want you to total it up. So. Let's be real. This might sting a little, but don't let it discourage you. Seeing the full picture helps you make the plan. And remember these numbers. Don't define you. They're just a snapshot of what has happened already. And the snapshots can always be edited moving forward. Okay. So next part is we've assessed the damage and now it's time for some quick wins. Think of this as kind of like triaged for your wallet. So here's things that you can do right now. So one you can pause unnecessarily spending January is the perfect month to kind of detox from the financial spending that you're normally used to. Skip the impulse buy stick to the essentials for just a few weeks. This will allow you to kind of recuperate the extra cash you spent. In the previous month, Too, you can also use cashback apps. Like I bought a C when I was teaching couponing to my friends a few years back. I would teach them how to use these apps as well. First off, there are two different types. There are types that you can use while shopping. So think of these as your loyalty apps. For me, it's like Safeway, Walgreens, target circle, those kinds of things. And then there's apps that you can use. Post-purchase like I bought a, so then you get cash back on items that you already purchased. So. I'm going to list some of the apps that I personally use when I go shopping. Down in the show notes. So you can check those out. Okay. Three. So any unused items, it's a great time for purging. And if you have items that are still usable, And in good condition, you can sell them second hand. So there's a still people kind of shopping, looking for discounted holiday stuff or gifts that didn't quite work out. Maybe they missed a party and they still want to send something to somebody. So if you know, If you have stuff that's still good. This is a good way to kind of purge. Stuff that you no longer need. And also get some cash from that too. And also to save some money, think of doing some DIY events. And activities with your family. So instead of doing the costly outings, maybe plan free activities at home. So some things that we'll do is like we'll have a family movie night with some popcorn here. You can also go online and see what free events are being offered in your city. So now that you have kind of done quick fixes, let's set ourselves up for success. Moving. Forward in the long run. One of my favorite strategies is using holiday sales for year round gifting. This is, a technique that I also used when I was couponing is when you see the holiday and after holiday sales, now it's a great time to stock up on stuff, especially if it's like on-sell because it was a limited edition, but it's not necessarily decorated in holiday stuff. Um, some examples of this is there'll be limited time sense. And, makeup which is really great. So these are perfect for stocking up on birthday presents, teacher gifts, or even surprises for your kids throughout the year. We've seen clearance aisles have like 50% off now. I was actually just at target the other day and a good portion of their Barbie section. Was 50% off. My daughter right now. Really likes Barbie. For. I don't know how she got into it, but she really likes Barbie. And so stocking up on like extra assessors for Barbie or like Barbies, little friend, pets are some things that she's really into. And so since they are on sale, I'm. Stocking up on them. Saving it in my closet where she can't find them and then using them for birthday gifts or gifts throughout the year. So, yes, my friends. Clearance Isles are now our new best friends. Okay. Think ahead of what you'll need in the next few months and grab it out at a discount. Are you going to any birthday parties coming up? Are you having any special holidays or gift giving. Events that you're probably going to need this for. It's nice to have kind of this stock. If you know you are going to use it, don't just buy something because it's on sale. Remember we want to get stuff that we know you're going to use for awhile. Okay. And so if you're really, you know, if you're ready to get really serious about budgeting, I highly recommend making sure that you have some kind of budget app or budget template. When I was couponing, I used a Google sheets template to kind of keep track of. What I was saving, what I was spending it on. So it's really easy. If you're tech savvy, you can use Google sheets, templates to create. An easy spreadsheet. It's easily customizable and you can use it to track every dollar. Other things too is like, if you have a free Canva, you can look up templates for easy budgeting. And these are may be a little bit more simple, but you can easily print them out and keep track on paper. If you'd rather have something written. Instead. Okay. So you can, um, kind of use it for anything. Do you want to use it for our holiday spending, and saving for that? Do you want to do monthly expenses? And, you know, if there's that big goal of the year that you want to do, maybe it's a trip you want to take. This is a really good thing to do for that as well. Is to start making a budget for that. Not think about like, thinking about, oh, maybe I need 5,000 for the whole trip, but actually going through and being like, okay, my flights are this much, my hotels or Airbnbs or this much. And how much money do you want to be able to have for food and, souvenirs. So let's break it down and let's be real. About how our spending is going to be and make a realistic budget that you think that you can save and stick to once they comes around. Okay. So I want you to be realistic as well. Okay. So now. Let's talk about planning ahead. So one of the best things that you can do for yourself now is to start the holiday fund. Like now. So even if it's something that's$5 a week. I know it adds up. So printable saving challenges can be a fun way of doing this. You've probably seen a bunch where you can color them in as you go. First thing I want you to look at is who are you planning on getting gifts next year? Okay. And once you get the down, I want you to also. Save for two additional people. In case new people come into your life in the next year. So you have your list and then add to, and if you know, no one new comes into your life. That's now money that you can put towards your savings or put towards anything else that you are using. Um, or you can just buy yourself something nice when it comes down to it. Okay. So once you know the number of people you're going to save for, I want you to then think about how much per person are you going to spend on gifts next holiday. So if you're going to buy five gifts and you want to spend a hundred dollars each gift. Then you'll know that you'll need to save 500, so you can break it down that way and then break it down by how many months. You're going to save. If you wanna break it down by month or weekly, you can do either one. Whatever makes it easiest for yourself. And remember, give yourself grace. If you are like, I can't stick to that. I don't know what to do. You know, it's not something that you have to dedicate to yourself right now. But I want you to one, just know that nobody is perfect. We all are. You know, emotional during the holidays, we tend to overspend. And that's okay. Life happens. It's a matter of what you do moving forward. So taking steps to be kind to yourself, but also remembering that you're doing better each day. And that you can now have the tools to make a plan for next holiday. Okay. At the end of the day, you know, it's really about making sure that the holidays are about the memories that we create, not the money that we spend. So, if you ever spent this year, don't beat yourself up. Just take a breath and then take the next right step that's for you. But. I am not an expert, like I said, so this is just stuff that I do. And if you've got tips for recovering from holiday spending or creative ways to save. I would love to hear them as well too. So share them with me on Instagram. Make sure to tag the podcast at caffeinated chaos podcast on Instagram. Send me a message and make sure you. Remember to give yourself grace. Embrace the beautiful chaos of life. And you've got this. Okay. I am so excited because starting Monday, we are going to start a series of guest interviews where we'll be able to hear more chaotic moments from just not just me from not just me. And as well as hear advice from. Others in, in different fields. So we have a bunch lined up. I can't wait for you all to hear it. They are. Um, parents, they are entrepreneurs. They are just people who are very inspiring in their life. And I can't wait to share. All the interviews with you. That will be coming starting Monday next week. So don't forget to subscribe to this podcast and if you really enjoyed it and you like what we're doing here. Please leave us a review. It really helps us get out there and for other people to find our podcasts. And hopefully we can inspire more people. All right. Goodbye. My friends. Give yourself grace, sip some coffee for me, and I will see you all next time.