Make no mistake about it, Christmas is expensive. Between holiday cards, gifts,
decorations, lavish dinners, family get-togethers, and seasonal travel, many find
themselves simply overwhelmed with the high costs of Christmas. If you happen to be
one of them, you’ll be looking to cut corners wherever possible this year. To help, we’ve
compiled this simple guide for surviving Santa’s annual financial assault. Here’s how to
get through Christmas on a shoestring:
Create a Bit of Breathing Room
Skip the store and avoid malls altogether by making gifts this Christmas. With the
endless catalogue of step-by-step DIY gift ideas floating around online, you can no
longer hide behind the excuse of “not being artistic.” Turn your favorite hobby into
a money saver by making jewelry for friends, framing your best photos, or knitting a
unique scarf. Home baked sweets are another great gift option. And don’t forget to
hand-make those holiday cards and gift tags! While this does demand your time, it also
can be a good money saving method and it also shows thought for others.
Don’t Wait
Start your shopping long in advance to capitalize on seasonal deals and great sales. It
is never too early. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself when the holidays roll around and
you’ve already taken care of a few major expenses.
Plans Save Money…
So make one, and stick to it. List out all the expenses you are responsible for, plan what
gifts to get and for whom, and don’t deviate from the list. Remember, the unexpected
expenses are what ruin your budget. Eliminate them if you want to ring in the New Year
debt free.
Be Strict
It is easy to buy small gifts here and there for a range of friends and family, be strict with
your list, who do you really need to buy for this year? Don’t fritter your money away on
gifts for those you don’t really know so well, sometimes a nice card and letter will do the
job just as well. It can be difficult to be strict, however you must preserve your finances.
Resist Temptations
Spontaneous purchases are the downfall of any tight budget. During Christmas, there
are more temptations than ever to indulge. Shops plough a lot of time and money into
their Christmas advertising, and it can be easy to be drawn in. As hard as it can be don’t
indulge! If you don’t need it, don’t buy it. No excuses!
Salvation Online
Not only will online shopping save money on petrol and keep you out of the spending
madness of holiday malls, it can also be the key to finding great deals. Make use of sites
offering vouchers and discounts, you can make large savings on meals out and gifts if
you hunt round, and remember to do some auction hunting on Ebay.
Today’s modern consumer culture, saturated with adverts wherever you look,
which puts an enormous amount of pressure on us to BUY. Never is this truer than
during Christmastime, when the retail world redoubles it efforts to empty our bank
accounts. These days, it is easy to get sucked into the commercial fervor and forget
what Christmas is really about. By spending a bit of extra time investing in what really
matters this December, you’ll find you can not only save money, but also be immensely
rewarded.
About the author: Kirsten is a writer for vouchercloud.com and loves nothing more than
looking for ways in which to save money.
