Budgeting For Christmas
What Are Your Tips?

by Shelley
(Leeds)

How can I get better at budgeting for Christmas and how can I also save money? Christmas is only a few months away and I usually find I overspend. It actually makes Christmas a real worry and I don't enjoy it at all. Thanks

Answer:

This is a very common problem that can be solved in very much the same way as you would budget for other things.

As Christmas is an annual cost, I would recommend putting away some money each month into a savings account to spread the cost, how much will depend on how expensive Christmas is for you.

First get an idea of all your costs such as, buying gifts, Christmas dinner, extra alcohol, don’t miss anything out. You can use our great free Christmas worksheet to help you work out all the different costs.

To work out how much you will spend on gifts. Make a list of those you wish to buy gifts for and next to each name a budget of what you can spend. There is also a great tool to help you keep track of this in our free downloadable Christmas worksheet.

Remember that how much you spend on gifts has nothing to do with how much you love the gifts’ recipient. Make sure the total that you are budgeting for Christmas is an amount that your household budget allows for. If you are over you have two choices reduce your Christmas budget or find a way to bring in extra income.

The sooner you are able to start setting money aside for Christmas the better. This will give you more time to go sales shopping and prevents buying overpriced gifts out of desperation.

A great tip is if possible budget some money for after Christmas too. Often you can stock up with decorations, Christmas lights and Christmas cards for the coming year at ridiculously discounted prices.

Once you have created a budget for the first year, the second year will be much quicker and easier as you can use your budget as a starting point.

Hope that helps.

The Budgeting Steps Team