Christmas, one of the most anticipated, celebrated and wonderful events around the globe, is sometimes also the most expensive and stressful time for the families, especially parents of small kids who wait the whole year for the letters and gifts from their dear Santa.
A wholesome budget is required on Christmas for decorations and different charity events. Despite all pressures and stress, everyone wants to make this time memorable so that it can last forever in one’s memories.
Many families and people start to cut their costs down from the very beginning of the year so that they can spend maximum on Christmas without spending the coming months in debt.
Everyone needs to make careful adjustments in order to remain within the budget. So here are the magic tricks that will help to make necessary adjustments during the year. By having some guidance from these one can avoid being in debt and can also enjoy Christmas with full zeal and zest.
For further money saving advice there are some great websites out there such as https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
Start saving from the start of the year:
From the very beginning of the year start your savings for this most awaited season of the year. This will help you to save specifically for Christmas and you would be able to spend all of that specific savings without any hesitation or guilt as it would be only for that purpose.
Go with crafts rather than expensive gifts
It is not necessary to spend money on expensive gifts. You can give homemade creative gifts with love to family and friends. It would save money as well as increase affection among the families.
Make a detailed budget:
Making a shopping list is very important in order to get a crystal clear idea of whom you are going to buy what gifts. This will also help you to keep track of what you have already bought so that confusion and double spending can be avoided.
Set boundaries:
Define boundaries and strictly stick to them so that you can avoid going over the budget.
Ask for wish lists
You can ask close ones what they want so that you can avoid wasting money on different things that don’t make them that much happy.
Don’t pile up shopping at the end:
Shop the gifts around the year so that you can avoid piling up in the end which can create adverse effects on the pocket. Piling up can make one have panic attacks too. So to avoid such a situation you should start shopping right from January or at least February.
Re-gifting
You can re-gift duplicate items. Sometimes people receive similar gifts from different friends so they can re-gift such items. This strategy will not only help in cost control but also avoid the collection of similar things.
Bake and cook for friends:
Homemade baked items make one of the best gifts to be given. Cookies, pastries, cupcakes and small pizzas can make the day of the friends.
Give Plants as gifts
You can grow small plants in beautiful pots in order to give them to the guests. Some plants grow themselves in water too so all you can do is buy beautiful crystal pots and put some water and the stem of the baby plant and here you go. This could be a beautiful and eco-friendly gesture.
Make baskets of hot beverages:
Make cute and attractive baskets of chocolates, cakes, coffee or some other hot beverages. You can buy these baskets from any small shop that can also help in cost control very efficiently.
Share games with other families:
Instead of spending a huge sum on different board games, you can share them with other families. This will not only help you in your costs but also the other family too.
Avoid long distance travelling:
Traveling is a great idea if you have some extra amount with you. But to avoid going over budget you can avoid or at least limit the travelling. Moreover, instead of visiting multiple relatives at a time, you can have one visit at a time and another one maybe next year. This will help a lot in cost controlling and avoid you from going over budget too.
Letters from Santa:
One of the very effective ways to control the cost is that you can make cute little letters for the kids and send to them via post labelling them as the letters from Santa. These Santa letters can cut costs and can make Christmas for the kids more enjoyable and memorable. Santa letters can include some advice too that can have positive effects on kids’ behaviour so you can have many benefits at the same time.
Price Comparison:
Before buying the stuff and gifts, you should compare prices at different stores and online too so that you can have the idea that from where you can buy cheap stuff and save your hard-earned money.
Buy from sales:
You can start buying from sales even if they are way months before. This will lead to saving money and will also avoid piling up things right before christmas. This should include non-perishable items otherwise this would add costs instead of cutting.
Don’t buy things only because they are on sale:
Sometimes people buy unnecessary items from sale just because they are on sale so this can lead to more costs rather than controlling them. Just buy those things and items that are necessary even if there is a sale on other items and stuff too.
Avoid going to fancy places:
Keep things simple and relax. Avoid going to fancy places for gatherings and dinner. You can have a peaceful meal at home with your friends and family. This will help you to have a soothing and calming experience during holidays in addition to cost control.
Book cafes in advance:
Even then if you plan to go outside with family or friends, then you should book places in advance to avoid high prices during peak season. This hike in prices is just not because of the high demand but also due to the high prices of decorations and stuff during the Christmas season.
Don’t give excessive gifts:
Sometimes people buy more than one gift for a person and even expensive ones too. One gift for a person is more than enough. There is no need to go overboard and have a hell of a lot of gifts that can leave you in debt. This strategy will help to maintain a balanced budget and balanced relations too.
Search for yellow stickers items:
Frozen items usually cost fortunes but buying them is necessary too. Now, what to do? Simple! Search for yellow stickers. Some weeks prior to the festival, some stores come up with yellow sticker freezer items that are really cheap items and can help to control your costs.
Don’t use credit cards:
No matter what happens, just stick to your debit card or cash. This will help you to spend more carefully and in a thrifty way. The use of a credit card mostly makes you buy stuff that is not affordable and this leads to debt. But as we are here planning our Christmas debt free the use of credit cards is banned if there is not any emergency need.
