December is the ultimate month of shopping and spending. It is the time of the year when malls and streets overflow with people who all have the same goal: spend their hard-earned bonuses for holiday gifts and feasts!

For those who don’t want to start the new year with a drained wallet, here are a few steps on how to do your holiday shopping wisely:

Step 1: Make a gift-giving list

This is the part where you organize the long list of family, friends, godchildren, and other people you’re going to buy gifts for. Shorten the list by prioritizing the most important people in your life. Then write your simple gift idea for that particular person. Treat this activity as special, limited, and exclusive.

Step 2: Search and research

Once you have your list of people and their possible gift counterparts, start searching for exclusive sales, big discounts, special offers, great deals, and other promos whether in malls or online stores. Do a research on the items on your list and write down their price range for reference.

Step 3: Use your Maya to shop and monitor expenses

When you have completed the pricing, get the total possible cost and load up your Maya with that amount. In this way, you would only be limiting yourself to use your Maya for purchasing and to monitor your spending. No actual cash on hand, no impulse buying.

To load your Maya account, just go to your Maya app and click “Add Money” where you will see a list of Add Money partners. Select your preferred option and follow the instructions.

Step 4: Stick to your budget

It’s okay to be generous, but stick to the budget you have set for this particular list. If you see something that is better than what you have listed, do not be fooled. Follow what you have written. This is where you can test your strength, courage, and willpower to avoid temptations and unplanned purchases.

Step 5: Save the excess for the new year

Okay, so you’ve finished checking everything on your list and you still have a few pesos in your Maya account you got from cashbacks and discounts. Do not be tempted to spend whatever’s left from your budget for other stuff that’s not in your list. Just keep it there for next year. It’s lucky to have money in your e-wallet at the start of 2019.

No matter how many steps you follow, the main idea is to spend your money wisely and go shopping with purpose. Keep in mind that whatever you purchase this month will bring you closer to that P10,000 daily and P10 Million in the grand draw of the #PayMayaPaMore raffle promo!