Christmas is a time for indulging yourself and you will likely spend beyond your normal budget on all the gifts, decorations, and food for the festive period. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it’s easy to get carried away and spend beyond your means.
According to Moneyzine, the average Christmas spend in the UK is £1,108 per person, with 22% of Brits saying they feel pressured to buy more than they need during the festive period.
To avoid overspending, it’s important to be conscious of which purchases are worthwhile and which are impulsive or unnecessary.
Here are five tips to help you spend mindfully during the festive period.
1. Set a Christmas budget
Budgeting for Christmas doesn’t necessarily mean cutting your spending or sacrificing important traditions. However, putting an upper limit on your spending makes you more deliberate about what you buy.
If you’re working within a budget, you may be less likely to make impulse purchases and overspend.
To set your budget, list all the necessary expenses – such as food and gifts – to get an idea of roughly what you’ll spend. It may be worth adding a little extra to your budget so you don’t feel restricted with your celebrations.
2. Plan your festive food carefully
Food is a big part of the festive celebration for many of us, and it’s also one area where it’s easy to overspend. The last thing you want is to run out of food when you have guests, so when you’re in the supermarket, it can be tempting to keep putting more in your trolley just in case.
However, this often results in mountains of leftover food, which goes to waste in January.
To prevent this, plan your festive food in advance. Consider exactly what you’ll need for the Christmas dinner and any other social gatherings you might have. By creating a list beforehand, you can shop with purpose instead of grabbing what you think you might need at the supermarket. The cooking itself might be easier too because you have a clear plan.
3. Set expectations with family about gifts
Gifts are another large expense at Christmas, especially if you have a big family. The cost quickly adds up if you buy a gift for everyone.
You might save yourself a lot of time and money if you set expectations with family and limit who you buy gifts for. For instance, you might agree to only buy gifts for the children and skip the adults. Alternatively, you could all agree on a price limit for gifts.
You may find that your family is receptive to this as they also want to reduce the number of gifts they need to buy.
4. Go for quality over quantity where gifts are concerned
Being more considerate about the type of gifts you buy can also help you save money. It’s tempting to buy a big pile of presents, but it may be better to go for quality rather than quantity.
One or two thoughtful gifts are far more meaningful than lots of impulse purchases you grabbed off the shelf while shopping. It may also be cheaper overall to buy one or two high-quality items that will last instead of lots of cheap presents, which quickly add up.
5. Don’t succumb to pushy marketing tactics
Christmas is a lucrative time for businesses and there is a lot of pressure to spend. If you want to keep your budget in check, it’s important to be aware of pushy marketing tactics.
Whenever you go into a shop or visit a website, you’ll be bombarded with sales and offers. Many websites show you how many items are left in stock to push you into making a rushed purchase.
If you succumb to these sales tactics, you’ll find yourself overspending on gifts or food you don’t really need. Instead, decide what you want to buy, write a list, and stick to it.
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Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.