3 savings calculators for planning your holiday budget
By Jennifer Calonia/GOBankingRates
Spending too much money over the holiday season can be detrimental to a prosperous new year in 2014. While some shoppers prefer to simply keep a mental note of how their funds are being spent on gifts, saving smarter starts with using online tools to keep a holiday budget in check.
Using a savings calculator can be helpful when planning out holiday expenses, but there is a vast selection of calculators to choose from, each offering different insights into how to best save money.
GOBankingRates found a few great calculators to help you plan this year's holiday budget and beyond.
Christmas budget calculator
If you're seeking out a comprehensive holiday budget savings calculator, look no further than Beyond Bank's Christmas Budget Planner. The Australian-based financial institution clearly takes the holiday spending season seriously with this calculator, which accounts for everything from gifts and decorations to food and travel.
Another fun feature of this calculator is that, after tallying your total projected costs for the holidays, it assesses how much you'll need to save each week in order to afford your grand total.
Sometimes a general savings calculator is sufficient for your daily needs, but when it comes to big shopping occasions like the holidays, it's handy to use online savings tools designed to help you celebrate on a budget.
Holiday party budget estimator
Planning an event budget can be taxing, even for the most experienced of event planners. Holiday parties require crunching numbers in order to ensure that spending caps aren't surpassed and that all guests are accounted for when it comes to food, drinks and entertainment.
This party budget estimator from Evite helps you determine how to divide up your party budget without second guessing yourself.
Basic savings calculator
Whether or not you're shopping for gifts this year, incorporating a basic savings calculator into your planning process keeps savings efforts in perspective. The Single Deposit Savings Calculator from Flag Credit Union supplies users with the necessities when it comes to computing the future value of a one-time deposit.