Budgeting for Christmas Time 

In our last blog post we discussed how to budget for travel: several strategies that can be used to attribute time and financial resources in a way which maximises enjoyment while holidaying. At this point in the year, most of our readers are probably wondering how they are going to afford Christmas and all the other homebound expenses that occur during the end-of-year holiday season. Keeping with the holiday theme, we decided it was a good idea to help our readers budget for Christmas time. In the following post, we discuss a range of ways you can financially prepare for the most wonderful time of the year: Setting budgets, taking advantage of specials, tracking your spending and moving money around can all be used to this effect. 

Setting A Christmas Budget 

Setting a Christmas budget is easy when you understand how a regular budget works. Plan for as many Christmas expenses as you can think of. Food, presents, travel, alcohol, New Year’s Eve celebrations and New Year’s Day celebrations are probably the most obvious financial obligations at this time of year. If you can, look at your spending over the last 3-5 years and see what the total value of your Christmas holidays was. Adjust according to your current circumstances and the outstanding figure will give you your budget for 2022. 

Take Advantage of Christmas Specials 

Sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday offer spectacular opportunity to buy presents at a discounted rate just before the Christmas season begins properly. Similarly, Christmas sales can offer wild savings on consumer goods as well as groceries. Do your research by looking into online catalogues and planning your shopping according to what you see. Sales at this time of year may shave up to 10-20% off your total expenses if you plan ahead and hit shops at the perfect moment. 

Track Your Christmas Spending 

When you are in full swing; shopping in earnest, be sure to keep track of your expenditure via your online banking account. Regularly take note of your spending and ensure that it stays proportionate to your Christmas budget. It would help here if you have planned for big expenses ahead of their purchase. Essentially, if you know which days you will be spending the most, you will be aware of how compliant you are with your budget, and this can help you to curtail any impulsive expenses you would otherwise think you can afford. 

Move Money Around When Needed 

Let’s be honest, at this time of year, without food and presents, the world would be a miserable place. If you need to use credit or liquidate money from investment accounts to cover Christmas expenses needed by your family, it’s acceptable: presuming you are reasonable and rational with your spending.  

Contact Pillar Financial 

Call our friendly team on 1300 730 309 or reach out via our contact page to ask what we can do for you as you begin your journey towards saving for your next overseas holiday.