Listen Money Matters - Free Your Inner Financial Badass. All The Stuff You Should Know About Personal Finance.

Whether it’s a holiday, a birthday or an anniversary, we all have special days to celebrate.  Find out how to do it up without spending too much. It’s easy to budget for the expected holidays but what about the random co-worker birthday, the niece’s confirmation?  Rather than budgeting “X” for each event, set a dollar amount on how much you spend on each gift.  If you’re giving a check as a gift, make sure to log it somewhere in case the recipient doesn’t cash it right away. Be more selective about what holidays you give gifts for.  Come home without an anniversary gift and you might be in some trouble.  But do you and your significant other really need to buy each other Sweetest Day gifts?  That is a made up holiday.  Focus on the big ones. Have a frank discussion with your extended family.  Once you have a significant other, the number of people you are expected to buy gifts for can increase exponentially.  It’s unfair to be expected to buy a gift for your seven nieces and nephews when you don’t have chi