Christmas is approaching at high speed. The shelves are already full of goodies, festive catalogues are being sent out and the adverts are beginning to appear on the TV. Christmas often brings with it expectation and that expectation often costs money. How can you save money for the Christmas holidays? Let’s take a festive look!
It Is One Day
Firstly, it is just one day. There is an awful lot of build up to Christmas Day which brings with it a whole lot of advertising. The kids might go on at you about wanting this, that and the other and you may feel the pressure of the television adverts. The reality is though, Christmas Day will come and go and it’ll soon be Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve and the start of another year. There is no point in getting yourself into money troubles which will last well into that New Year! Don’t spend money that you don’t have. You can still enjoy a wonderful Christmas Day without shelling out loads of money.
Plan Ahead
One of the best things to do is to plan ahead for Christmas. As the event itself gets closer, the pressure mounts up. The list of presents might go up in price when you could have bought them for cheaper a few weeks ago and all of this brings added stress that you simply don’t need. By planning ahead, even throughout the entire year before hand, putting some money away here and then, buying items on offer, you can properly prepare for Christmas. Not many of us have a couple of hundred spare quid to chuck at gifts on Christmas Eve. A little bit of planning for the Christmas holidays goes a long way!
Stick To Your Budget
If you know how much you have to spend, make a budget and stick to it. If you only have £15 to spend on each child, only spend £15 on each child! Lots of us don’t have the cash to buy for extended family so tell them you won’t be doing that this year. They might wonder why but we all don’t have unlimited pots of cash to buy unnecessary presents. When you set a budget and stick to it, you don’t overspend. You might even be so good and not spend your entire food budget that you have that little bit of extra cash to put away for the ‘long’ month of January until payday.
Check out these 5 Christmas present ideas for under £5.
Be Wise
Like those Kings that showed up at the birth of Jesus, be wise! See what you can find in the charity shops that the kids might like. Wooden toys can often be found in charity shops and these can be traditional presents that the elves have made! Look for alternatives to what is on the list of your children. They can often be swayed onto other things if you’re able to talk positively about how ace these other toys are. They don’t need to know that you’ve already bought these toys on offer and they’re wrapped and in the back of the wardrobe.
Don’t overspend on food for the Christmas holidays either. The shops are closed for one day. Are you really going to eat three packs of cream crackers and drink six cases of lager? There is so much food waste after Christmas and you can cut back on your spends by only buying what you actually need.
Other Top Tips
Some other top tips include using points accumulated by swiping your supermarket card to pay for gifts. You could even save some money by making your gifts this year, or regifting something you got for your birthday. Switch supermarkets for your food shop to save some cash. Aldi are always saying they’re 30% cheaper. This means that the fourth food shop of the month is essentially free compared to what you’re used to spending! There are lots of ways to save money, you just have to be creative. Think about what your priorities are before you hand your card over or beep it on the scanner. Maybe consider shopping with cash and leaving you card at home. That way you actually can’t spend more than you have on you.
In conclusion, figure out some ways to save money now for the Christmas holidays but please don’t forget that you can have a fantastic Christmas Day with only a few quid to spend on it. It’s about who you spend the day with that matters!
