By Shanice Davis

Christmas is approaching and holiday shopping is becoming more inevitable.

For college students, holiday shopping can be quite pricey and can put an enormous dent in one’s

wallet; however, there are ways one can levy some of those expenses.

At CSUSM, many students share the same struggle of digging in couch cushions for coins or

miraculously running across 20-dollar bills in jean pockets, and for that, students are no strangers

to the notion of cost effective shopping strategies.

One way to prevent overspending this Christmas is to take a good look at your accounts and

weight the amount of money earned versus necessary future expenses. It’s important to set a

realistic expectation and admit how much you can spend. It’s then that you can decide what

stores you are realistically able to shop.

“I think you can set limits for yourself and just know how much you have and what you’re able

to spend,” CSUSM student, Troy Stephens, said.

Another similar option is to abandon credit and debit cards at home and only withdraw enough

money to cover the items you specifically want to buy.

“In order for me to go holiday shopping without breaking the budget, I leave my debit cards or

credit cards at home and take out the amount of money I could use,” CSUSM student Stephanie

Cervantes said. “I think knowing how much money I’m trying to spend on each person is a good

idea.”

A similar option is budget out how much you want to devote to each person on your holiday list

and withdraw cash accordingly.

“What I’ll do is have a certain amount that I will be spending on each person,” CSUSM student

Diana Garcia said. “For example, I have three people in my family besides myself and let’s say

that I’m going to spend 50 dollars on each person, I’ll only take out 150 dollars from my bank

account and make sure I carry it in cash so that I don’t use my cards.”

Additionally, prior research of local deals and pricing is a good idea.

“I look for discounts on groupons and such,” CSUSM student, Heath Brown, said.

Regardless of how everyone is going about their holiday shopping, don’t forget to rack up on

deals to get more bang for your buck.

Happy Spending and Happy Holidays Cougars.