Christmas comes but once a year. Many of us celebrate the festive season and exchanging gifts can be a huge part of the festivities. Think back and try to remember how much money you spent on Christmas last year. Maybe you’ve forgotten, perhaps you’re still paying it off! In this blog post, we’re going to look at how to plan and stick to your Christmas budget.
Figure Out How Much You Need
The first step when looking at your Christmas budget is to think about how much you are going to need. If you can work out how much you spent last year, fantastic. That gives you a ballpark figure to work off. If you cannot remember, or perhaps don’t want to spend as much, this is when you need to get a pen and paper and write down how much you can spend on each person. Be sure to include Christmas days out and activities such as ice skating and a visit to Santa. You should also incorporate your food and drink into this. Once you have written all of this down, you might be shocked and surprised at the figure. This is when you can look at making savings.
Does this tally up with what you can afford? You might have an expected amount of money you want for Christmas but is it attainable? Many of us have other things are are saving for, be it a house deposit or maybe a new car. Christmas should not impact those other savings and goals you have.
Start Paying Into A Dedicated Christmas Pot
One of the best ways to stick to a Christmas budget is to have a pot of money put aside for Christmas, ahead of the festive season. Have you ever found yourself at the end of November and then been overcome with worry about where to find a lump sum of cash for Christmas?
By opening a dedicated Christmas pot, we can save throughout the year. Let’s say you have a Christmas budget of £400. That works out to be £33.33 a month. Put this away every month and you’ll have your target amount by December, plus a little bit of interest if you open an account with a decent rate.
You could even slash it down even further and pay in weekly. Our £400 goal works out to be £7.70 a week. This is much easier than finding a lump sum in the hustle and bustle of the festive season.
Make More Of Your Budget
Once you have your budget, you need to look at how you can stretch that to absolutely maximise every penny of your pot. That means looking for special offers throughout the year. If you know what your loved ones are going to want for Christmas, finding them at bargain prices throughout the year is much better for your wallet than paying extortionate last minute prices. Or even finding yourself staring at an empty shelf – you’ve all seen Jingle All The Way, right? Your budget is set in stone but that doesn’t mean you can’t make more of it. Stretch it as far as you can!
Use Cashback Apps, Find Freebies, Visit Charity Shops
A great way of looking at Christmas is through a thrifty pair of glasses. If you shop, make sure to shop via a cashback site. If you are spending £400 and get an average of 5% cashback across your purchases, that’s £20 back in your pocket! Do the same with cashback cards, even ones that give you 1% on your purchases. That’s £4 you can claw back in your Christmas budget.
Don’t be afraid to gift things that you get for free, or shop at charity shops for bargain prices on great goods. Many charity shops stock new goods and the donations that they get can be fantastic. You might need to look through rails and containers, but you really can find some hidden gems!
Stay Within Your Limits
It is so important to stay within your limits when you have a Christmas budget in place. When you start shopping outside of the parameters you’ve set yourself, it can be a steady downfall. You don’t want to be paying for Christmas well into the New Year. Don’t be afraid to say no, have conversations about cutting back on gifts and even ask loved ones to bring food with them or contribute to the Christmas dinner shopping costs. If you plan properly and have a dedicated pot that you actually respect, your Christmas budget can be all you need and you can have yourself a merry little Christmas!
Remember What Christmas Is All About
At the end of the day, you can figure out every aspect of your Christmas budget and stick to it completely. But we should all remember what Christmas is all about. if you have a faith, it might be the Nativity story and the birth of Christ. For others, it might be spending time with friends and family. The gifts are often superficial and the food will fill our stomachs. But the memories we make at Christmas time last a lifetime and those are all about who is around the Christmas tree, not what is under it.
