How To Make (And Stick With!) A Holiday Budget

Holiday spending can be a drain, both on your wallet and your mental health. But fear not — you can still celebrate Christmas within your limits while having a jolly time.

According to the National Retail Federation, 2025 holiday sales grew 4.1% to just over $1 trillion — the first time holiday spending has ever crossed that threshold. The average shopper budgets around $890 on gifts, food, and decorations. Unless you don't celebrate the holiday, you'll likely find yourself contributing to that figure, too.

Luckily, there are ways to indulge in the season of giving without any shameful feelings of overspending. You simply have to set up a Christmas budget, save money in a dedicated Christmas fund, and then stick to it.

Once you set up your plan, you can shop, spend, and feel the season's cheer without feeling guilty for going overboard. Holiday shopping doesn't have to bust your budget — let's cover some ways you can cut back on holiday-related expenses and still bring your loved ones joy with the help of Pool.

In this post, we'll learn:

• How to create a Christmas budget
• Why you should keep the next holiday season in mind
• How to split Christmas expenses
• How to think of cheap and creative gift ideas
• The best way to collect money for holiday-related expenses

Create a Christmas budget

Holiday spending often gets out of control when shoppers fail to match their budget with their shopping list.

To avoid overspending, consider how much you can afford to spend this season and then make a list of all your holiday obligations, including Christmas parties, travel, decorations, gifts, and groceries. Then, note a dollar amount next to each item, slightly overestimating.

Pro-tip: You can simplify your Christmas budget and finances with Pool. Pool is a platform where you can collect, manage, and spend money solo or with others.

On Poolmoney.com, you can set up a Pool dedicated to putting aside money for holiday-related purchases. For example, you may set up a Pool called "Christmas Gifts" and aim to contribute $350 by a specific date.

Have other holiday expenses you need to save for and want to organize them into separate Pools? No problem — you can create as many Pools as you want, like "Neighborhood Holiday Party," "Christmas Eve Dinner," or "Holiday Decorations." It's up to you.

Pool is a fantastic budgeting tool because the money you contribute to each one stays there. So, you won't be tempted to spend the money you save for the holidays the next time you go out for drinks with your friends.

Keep next Christmas season in mind

You'll be spending money anyway this holiday, so why not challenge yourself a little? Consider setting some money aside for next Christmas, too.

At the end of this upcoming holiday season, analyze what you spent on food, gifts, travel, and decorations — then think of ways you can save even more. Start putting a little money aside in a Pool to pay for those expenses.

Split holiday expenses with others

One of the best ways to stick to your holiday budget and make your loved ones feel special is by splitting gifts with others. After all, you can buy more expensive, extravagant, and spectacular gifts that people really want when you pool your money together.

Let's say you want to treat your parents to a vacation of a lifetime this Christmas. You can set up a Pool for airfare and invite your siblings and other family members to join. Once they've signed up and joined the Pool, they can contribute funds directly from their linked bank accounts, making it easier to organize shared holiday expenses and larger group gifts.

You can also split other holiday expenses with others with the help of Pool — everything from holiday dinners to party supplies. You can even set spending permissions on Poolmoney.com, so no one person has to do all the shopping.

For example, if several siblings are purchasing a larger gift together, everyone can contribute to a shared Pool ahead of time. Then an approved Spender can use the Pool debit card to purchase the gift using the group's funds, eliminating the need to collect reimbursements afterward.

Think of cheap and creative gift ideas

On the other end of the spectrum, you can stick to your budget by spending less on gifts. Since gift-giving is such a big part of the holiday season, it's easy to fall into the trap that more expensive is better. But that's not always the case!

Creative, meaningful, and thoughtful presents are always appreciated — even if they are less costly. If you have a particular skill or talent, consider offering those up as your gifts. For example, if you have a green thumb, you could offer to start a garden for your loved one. Or, if you are an artist, you could paint a portrait of your friend's beloved dog.

The options for creative gifts are endless. Some other cheap gift ideas are:

• Baking mixes
• Plant cuttings
• Dog walking services
• Handwritten letters
• Coupons for homemade dinners or quality time together
• Anything delicious and edible (hello, sugary sweet Christmas cookies)

Some people are even bigger fans of non-physical gifts because they're more likely to get used and will not add extra clutter. Food for thought!

What is the best way to collect money for upcoming holiday expenses?

There's no need to open a new bank account for the upcoming holiday season — just use Pool. Sign up at Poolmoney.com and create Pools for gifts for your loved ones, decorations and wrapping paper, food for candlelit holiday dinners, and winter escapes at the beach or the ski slopes.

You can also pay for every holiday-related expense directly from the Pool quickly and transparently. Here are five more reasons to use Pool for your holiday expenses:

1. Pool is easy to use

Set up your free Pool and invite family members or friends to join in minutes. Whether you're splitting the cost of gifts, holiday dinners, decorations, or travel expenses, Pool gives everyone a dedicated place to organize shared holiday spending.

Once members have joined the Pool, they can contribute funds directly from their linked bank accounts. Pool keeps contributions and spending activity organized in one place, making it easier to stay within your holiday budget.

2. Each Pool you set up is free

Set up your Pool and use it for as long as you want without paying any maintenance or service fees. Pool is free — simple as that. Pool is free to use and does not charge service, maintenance, or transaction fees, helping you keep more of your holiday budget focused on the things that matter most.

That goes for contributions toward extravagant gifts, roast turkeys, advent calendars, Christmas trees — you name it. There are also no balance limits, so you can accrue as much or as little money as you want for your Christmas budget.

3. Share admin roles with fellow Christmas contributors

As Pool admin, assign admin roles to anyone you want so they can share Pool tasks with you. Admins can view transactions, invite members, manage permissions, and—if granted spending permissions—use the Pool debit card to make approved purchases on behalf of the group.

For example, you can give your sibling spending permissions so they can buy that Peloton for Mom and Dad while you take care of picking up the fresh apple pies from the local bakery.

However you divvy up the holiday tasks, everybody can see these various activities in the Pools you create.

4. Create as many Pools as you want

Together with your fellow holiday revelers, you may decide to create multiple Pools for different expenses relevant to the season. For example, you may collect Christmas tree fees in one Pool you share with your housemates.

You may create another Pool with your family members to buy more expensive gifts for loved ones. And you might dedicate one Pool for Christmas Eve dinner and share it with the attendees.

You can decide what works best for you to make your season merry. Pool is flexible. Another reason why people love Pool is that it keeps holiday money separate from personal accounts — no need to start a new bank account or transfer money in and out of other money apps.

Your holiday-related money comes into your Pool and stays there until you spend it with the Pool debit card.

5. Pay for holiday purchases with the Pool debit card

Every Pool has a free digital Pool debit card to use anywhere Visa is accepted. You can also request a physical card to pay for in-person purchases — perfect for shopping mall trips.

As Pool admin, you can set spending permissions so trusted loved ones can spend with you and lighten your load.

You can lock your card anytime on Poolmoney.com. And, since the Pool card doesn't include transaction or overdraft fees, you get to spend all of what you collect for the best holiday season ever.

With Pool — the platform that simplifies budgets and makes holiday buying a breeze — Christmas can be jolly and bright.