The winter holidays are approaching once again. Depending on your situation, you might be eyeing your budget more closely this season than previous ones.

If you feel your finances are stretched too thin, the holidays might add to your stress.

At the same time, the holidays are the perfect time to take a step back, assess your situation, and find new opportunities. Those opportunities include focusing on the people and things that most matter to you.

Managing your spending is the first step to getting the most from the holidays. Here are a few ideas that may give you (and your loved ones) some much-needed breathing room this year.

Have Earnest Conversations With Your Loved Ones

This year has given everyone a fair share of ups and downs. Rising costs of living, significant life changes, shifts in employment status, and other matters might affect how much you can budget for the holidays.

At the same time, your friends and family might feel the same way.

As you draw up your holiday plans, be mindful of how others might think and feel during the season. If your family and friends are planning get-togethers during the late fall and winter, now’s a good time to hear one another’s thoughts on what to do—and how much everyone’s willing to spend.

You don’t need to get too in-depth with people’s money matters. Drawing from some of the concepts of loud budgeting, you only need to share how much you’re comfortable spending during the holidays.

This is also time to brainstorm with your circle to find activities that are mindful of everyone’s situation. If back-to-back road trips in November and December are giving you spending anxiety, propose online meetups or other lower-cost alternatives.

Other ideas you can pitch include:

• Doing a potluck-style dinner party
• Gift exchange with a low spending limit
• Dance party in your neighborhood
• Donating time at a local charity

Practice Budget Discipline While Holiday Shopping

Gift-giving is a longstanding practice on many holidays. If you’ve been saving over the year and have already set aside a spending budget, you’re already in good shape.

At the same time, retailers are ready to pull out all the stops to get you to spend. While Black Friday and Cyber Monday remain very important sales days, retailers are getting craftier by hosting “Flash Sales” sporadically throughout the year.

Having a budget and sticking to it is a foundational money management skill. If the fear of missing out on a sale tempts you, you may need to implement a few tricks to stick to your plans. Here are some suggestions:

• Put your holiday spending money in a separate account. Establish your budget and transfer that money to a separate account. Use that money for gifts. Once it hits zero, then that’s it. You’ve reached your spending limit.
  Some financial institutions offer “Holiday Club accounts” that fulfill this purpose and can even go the extra mile by only making the funds available during the winter holidays. Such tools can help keep your spending in check.
  
• Use a prepaid card. Instead of using credit, fill up a prepaid card with your holiday funds. This strategy works similarly to having a dedicated bank account but uses a card for a specific purpose.
  

Make Your Budget More Flexible by Selling Old Stuff

A little more spending money never hurt. It can be used to buy a last-minute gift for someone or cover a sudden trip to the grocery store to get that last ingredient for the roast.

If you need to generate some quick cash for those “just in case” moments, you can start by selling what you no longer need.

We always think spring is the time for major cleaning and garage sales. The truth, however, is that people are always looking for deals on the secondhand market. (It’s also how thrifty shoppers buy gifts for the holidays.)

Selling things you no longer need may help you clear up your space and provide peace of mind.

You can host a garage sale the old-fashioned way. However, you can also use online platforms. Auction sites make it reasonably straightforward to sell online (just be mindful of shipping costs). Social media platforms like Nextdoor and Facebook have marketplace features to allow people to sell to others locally.

The holiday season can be busy and stressful. During it all, remember what matters most. Spending time with your loved ones has more value than any gift money can buy.