MoneyHabitsControl your money, change your life |
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Coping with the cost of Christmas (cont.)Tips for a financially better Christmas: In January of each year, make a list of the people for whom you intend to buy Christmas presents for. Of course it will probably grow or shrink as the year goes on, but use it as a starting point. If you have a specific gift in mind for any of the people, write it down so that you can be on the lookout for special deals throughout the year. Make pacts with others to not exchange gifts. Don’t be surprised if other people happily agree to forgo gifts (in order to save money, and stress, themselves). Limit your gift-giving to just children in the family and very close family members and loved ones. Consider setting up a savings account at your bank where you can automatically deposit a small amount each month (your total Christmas budget divided by 12). This requires a lot of discipline throughout the year though so that you don’t borrow, or take, from this account. When times are tough it’s often far too easy to dip into your savings and think that you’ll put it back later. People rarely do. If you do have big-ticket items to buy, see if you can’t ‘gift pool’ – where you share the cost of the item with others who would also like to buy the recipient a gift. Sometimes it’s just needs someone to ask the question and others would gladly join in. If you are still paying off your credit-card from last Christmas, make this Christmas the year that you don’t pour fuel on the fire. Get through the this Christmas without resorting to using your credit-card or any other form of credit, and concentrate on living, and giving, within your means. Start your Christmas shopping in January. Not only are the January sales on, but many seasonal items such as wrapping paper, Christmas cards etc., are all heavily reduced to clear. Take advantage and stock up for next Christmas. You’ll be surprised at how quickly a year can go by. Set up a box for each of the people you’re getting gifts for, and as the year goes by, pick up bargains and specials along the way and put them in the box, no matter how cheap ‘n’ cheerful some of the individual items may be. By the end of the year you’ll have a great gift basket to give and you won’t have noticed the cost at all. It’s an easy habit to get into, and it actually becomes quite fun. You can tailor each of the boxes to the individual, or, when you find items that would be good for everybody, just buy in bulk. You’ll actually find that this might help you with your own monthly finances, as you’ll be constantly on the lookout for bargains. Don’t forget that you can include things like foodstuffs and clothing. A gift basket is a fantastic gift to give, and a very useful one to receive. Some ideas for year-round bargain hunting:
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