We have less than a month until Christmas and you’re probably not thinking about how to save money this time of the year.
You are not the same.
Regular folks or rich people are all planning to splurge on Christmas gifts and New Year’s Eve parties, fancy clothing and a lot of fun.
The problem is that most of these people will start 2019 in even bigger financial mess, since they’ll max out their credit cards, get high-interest loans and forget about their money saving goals.
Christmas doesn’t have to be this expensive.
And you can still have a great time together with your family, while keeping your money safe and starting the new year properly.
Here are 5 tips on how to save money during the holidays
Consider giving fewer gifts
Is it really necessary to gift all your family members, friends and neighbors? When you have many people on your list, it’s easy to get carried away and over spend.
Right now we only buy gifts for our daughter, since she’s the young one and still believes in Santa Claus. We, parents, share kisses and hugs, plus a great time together with our little one.
We already have a lot of stuff, not to mention we can always go shop for what’s missing. There’s no reason to spend money on useless gifts, when they really don’t mean this much to us anyway.
Create a budget and stick to it
Now you know exactly who’ll get presents, so make a list, just like Santa does. Then write a number for your total budget and how much you are willing to allocate for each person who’s getting a gift.
Don’t go over your budget and keep yourself from overspending.
Start shopping earlier
Waiting for Christmas Eve to do your holiday shopping is just asking for trouble. Start earlier, look for great deals and slowly buy what’s needed for Christmas.
By the end of December you should have everything in place and worry about buying the food and ingredients that cannot be kept for too long (bread, some types of meat, produce etc.)
The presents should be packed carefully and hidden from view, until it’s time to gift them.
Start saving money as soon as you can
What if you put $30/month into a savings account or a simple jar and start this Christmas? Well, next year you’ll have more than 300 bucks to spend on gifts and decorations and not have to get into more financial troubles for it.
Of course, this might not work right now, as Christmas is just around the corner, but we know Christmas comes EVERY year. Instead of being unprepared for these expenses, save in advance and you’ll find it easier to enjoy the holidays and still keep your money.
Settle for less expensive decorations
Huge Christmas trees, new decorations every year, a lot of lights being lit for weeks – this can only break havoc on your finances.
We have successfully used a plastic tree for years, it didn’t make a mess, it was easy to stash away and it kept our costs down.
And it came at an excellent price: free, from a friend who didn’t use it anymore, since they moved into another house and tried to get rid of some of their stuff.
I have decorations since my childhood and we bough few during the years.
And, shock!, we don’t have Christmas lights on our house/windows at all. I see no reason to use up more electricity just to look cool.
So, if you want to start to save money during this holiday season, these tricks might help you achieve your goals.