Howtomake sureSantais theonlyone intheredthis Christmas...
Experts predict we’ll spend an average of £800 on this year’s festivities, so how can you enjoy the big day without getting yourself into debt? How to start a savings fund
Finding the cash to save is the difficult part – but most of us don’t realise how all of those odd pounds here and there can add up. ● Cut back on takeaway coffees and meals out. Don’t stop all your treats, but cutting out two or three coffees could give you a fiver to put away each week. Skipping just one takeaway a month could give you £20 towards your festive fun. ● Try to have a no-spend day each week, where you don’t splash any cash. It’s a great way to use up all that food sitting in your freezer and cupboards, so you’ll cut back on waste too. If you manage to do this, you can put a few pounds in your festive piggy bank. ● Take packed lunches to work three days a week. Shop-bought food is expensive. You could save £10 a week. ● Be smart with your weekly shop. Buy only what you need and will actually use. Write a list and stick to it and don’t get tempted into offers and multi-buys you don’t need. Use any cash saved to add to your fund or to pick up a few Christmas essentials to avoid having to do a huge shop the week before the big day. ● Now’s a perfect time to clear the clutter around your home in preparation for guests coming to stay and to make room for your Christmas stash of new goodies. All those bits collecting dust and lying at the back of drawers and cupboards could earn you some money at a car boot sale, on eBay or gumtree.com. Definitely worth a bit of effort sorting them out and selling them.
Christmas is just one day and isn’t worth getting into financial difficulty for
The easiest way to help afford the festive season is to keep the cost as low as possible.
We all get carried away and think we need to spend a fortune. But you can have just as much fun if you’re canny with cash. ● Re-use Christmas decorations. Vintage and retro are the big trends at the moment, so you will be bang on if you dig out and dust down those older decorations. And everyone loves being reminded of the good old days of their childhood. ● If you’ve kept hold of some of last year’s Christmas cards, cut them with pinking shears and turn them into gift tags. Keep some copies of your Daily Record and use the paper tied up with string to create quirky, retro-looking gift wrap. ● Cook your Christmas meal from scratch. It will be cheaper and healthier – and you can keep an eye on portion sizes, so you don’t end up binning a mountain of food. ● Set a spending limit for Christmas presents. Think about asking family to do a Secret Santa so you can chop the number of gifts you have to buy. ● Keep an eye out in charity shops as they often have new items at a fraction of the full cost. ● Think ahead to next year and buy cards, wrapping, presents and other bits in the January sales. As soon as you get this year sorted, it’s time to plan for a totally debt-free Christmas next year.
Save £10 a week from late December and 52 weeks later you’ll have £520 in your festive pot. Push it to £15.50 and you’ll have more than £800.