spend less and still have fun this Christmas!

Christmas can quickly become a time of financial dread and whilst we all want to spoil our loved ones now more than ever, it’s important to spend within our means. Careful planning and budgeting doesn’t mean your Christmas will be any less magical, if anything you might be able to enjoy it a little more knowing that when January arrives you won’t have to worry about recovering your financial position.

Take a look at the ways you can spend less and still have fun this Christmas…

gifts

Isn’t it an amazing feeling when you buy something for someone knowing they’re really going to love it!? Well to tell you the truth, more often than not, you get this feeling when you’ve put a little effort and thought into their gift, opposing to a last-minute buy. Besides these last-minute buys normally result in spending more because you have no other choice and time is running out. So our advice to you… don’t leave shopping until the last week of Christmas, if you haven’t started already START NOW, give yourself chance to shop around, compare and find the perfect gifts for your loved ones that fit within your budget. Don’t forget, you can sometimes find awesome deals online; voucher sites have unique gifts and experience days you might not find in stores.

Another way to cut costs this Christmas is to stop buying gifts for certain people. That may sound harsh, but when you get older, adults buying gifts for one another does seem unnecessary when you already have everything you need. Try doing a Secret Santa with your Brother, Sisters, Cousins, Mum and Dad instead. This way you can up the price limit for this one person but only have to buy one present. You’ll be dying to hear who bought who what and you’ll probably get one quality present you really like rather than lots of little bits.

food

You can almost guarantee you’ll have some leftovers this Christmas. However, to minimise waste and cut your spending, have you ever thought about sending over a menu to your dinner guests before you do your food shop. Here’s what you need to do… send a dinner list of every single food item you can think of to your guests (yes including sprouts) and ask them to tick which ones they like. When you receive the responses, you might find there are some items not ticked at all, in which case you don’t need to buy these items. For others items you might find you have a couple of ticks, and for some you find everyone has ticked. You see, now you can gage how much of each food item you need to cook rather than guessing who’s having what. Plus your guests have had the chance to choose all the items that make up their perfect Christmas dinner.

entertaining

Whether you’re thinking alcohol, games or outings, there is no need to go overboard. Some of the most special Christmas memories especially for your children can be made snuggling up watching a movie, driving around looking at decorated houses, elf on the shelf or reading a letter from Santa, which don’t cost a penny. Try to remember that spending more won’t make your Christmas any better, it’s about the quality time you can spend with your loved ones.

traditions

There are some things at Christmas that are a must, but there’s also room to create your own traditions and switch things up! Take Christmas cards for example, in this day and age, why aren’t we taking advantage of technology to send unique and fun e-cards; you can get the same message across without having to waste paper or money.

You may think that spending around Christmas has no limits, you can’t put a price on fun, but you know the same as us that the more you spend this Christmas, the more careful you will have to be in January and even perhaps for months after that. Anyway, after the year we’ve had, the thing you should be valuing the most out of everything is being able to see family, even if it is just for 5 days. Create a Christmas that is special to you and your family this year.