Frugality Magazine - Frugal Living Tips for Financial Freedom

4 Actions You Should Take Today To Make Next Christmas A Breeze

Contents

For many people, January is a difficult month.

It’s the month when many of us are recovering from a “spending hangover”.

Save money at Christmas with these proven tips. You'll learn how I afford a fantastic Christmas each year - without relying on debt. Find out how to save money in advance, how to spend less and how to have a memorable Christmas on a budget.Your current account may be at an all-time annual low. Your credit card might be quite the opposite.

For many people, making it through January is a struggle.

And its all down to the incredible sums of money we spend each December on Christmas.

The thing is though, that if you get prepared in advance, Christmas becomes a breeze.

I, for one, am no worse off in January than I am in December because I plot and plan, months in advance.

Then, when December rolls around I’m fully prepared for the festive season and can enjoy everything it has to offer.

Right now, next Christmas might be the very last thing you want to think about.

But appreciate that the sooner you start planning for next Christmas, the more time you’ll have and so the better the end result will be.

Don’t worry – it won’t take too much effort – but if you want your best Christmas ever this year it pays to start today.

If you want next Christmas to be your best ever (from a budget standpoint at least) here some of things you can start doing now

Shop In The January Sales

After Christmas everyone has a sale. That includes all the stores that were selling Christmas supplies; from boxes of biscuits to decorations. Now these shops just want rid of that stock as soon as possible to make way for the Easter display (yeah, I know, right?). But that means bargains galore!

Now is the time of year to stock up on wrapping paper, Christmas food (check dates carefully) and decorations for this coming Christmas. Keeping all these supplies for the next 12 months is a royal pain for the stores, but it’s simple enough to store it at home.

My girlfriend and I maintain a big “Christmas box” into which we place all these items. We’ll normally have forgotten all about them by spring, but when the nights start drawing in and the leaves start dropping off the trees it can be tremendously satisfying to find all the Christmas supplies you’ve already gathered!

Start Earning Points

All sorts of companies will allow you to earn points as you go about your normal daily life. My local supermarket, for example, allows me to collect points every time I buy groceries or fuel from them. Then there are cash back sites like Top Cashback (my personal choice) who let you, surprise surprise, earn cash when you buy items through them.

If, for example, you were going to buy something from Amazon, you could purchase it via the Top Cashback site and earn a percentage of your purchase back.

Then there are the various survey sites like Cashcrate and Swagbucks of whom I’m such a fan. Register for an account and spend some time taking surveys each week. There’s no need to crazy; just half an hour on the weekend spent answering a few surveys while you watch TV will all add up.

Each of these sources of points is relatively small. But start early in the year and you’ll find that you start building up all manner of points. The goal is to keep on accruing these throughout the year, without touching them. Then, as Christmas gets close, cash in all your chips.

You’ll end up with money off your grocery shopping (or even getting it for free, like we did last year!) plus all sorts of points that you can turn into cash or (my preference) Amazon giftcards. Done right, and started early, these reward points can really add up and save you hundreds of dollars by Christmas. Click here to join Cashcrate and click here to join Swagbucks today.

Save Early

If you’re like me your savings account is sacred.

Money goes in, but it doesn’t come back out (except for a worthy and carefully planned investment). That means that attacking my savings at Christmas is a big no-no. Equally, its good to have some extra cash at Christmas so why not start deliberately saving especially for Christmas?

Whether you open up a new bank account or just withdraw a little cash each month and then pop it safely into an envelope stored at home, by Christmas you can have quite a healthy balance.

For example if you put just $30 a month aside, which isn’t going to ruin many people’s budget, that’ll be $360 by December, which will massively offset the cost of your Christmas – especially if you have plenty of points to cash in too.

Shop During The Year

You don’t have to do all your Christmas shopping at Christmas. Infact, some might argue that was the *worst* time to do it.

Another strategy I like to use is to buy things as I see them during the year. If I’m on vacation and find something nice, I may well buy it as a gift for someone. Into the “Christmas box” it goes when we get home.

Even our grocery shopping we sometimes start in September or October, just buying non-perishable items as we see them. An extra few dollars on each food shop is barely noticeable but over a few months this really adds up.

Starting your shopping early also makes it easier to spot the bargains. In short, when you’re in no hurry to buy a product you can take your time and wait until its on promotion. By starting early we manage to get some kind of discount or promotion on virtually every item we purchase for Christmas – and that’s a great feeling!

Lastly, shopping early helps you to take note of subtle hints that people drop. All throughout the year I maintain a secret Amazon wishlist of items that family members have in some way mentioned. Then, Christmas shopping becomes a breeze because I already have a big list of gift ideas when December rolls around.

These four steps really work like magic and have made Christmas so much more enjoyable. Not only do I not worry about money at Christmas but I don’t feel the same pressure that many people do when December rolls around.

What techniques do you use to save money (and effort!) at Christmas? Please leave your best ideas in the comments section below…

Want to save money on next Christmas? Here are some simple budgeting tips that will save you money on Christmas.

Richard

Sun-worshipper and obsessive frugality blogger. For loads more money-saving advice come and join us on Facebook.

5 comments

  • Great idea to start planning now Richard! This January was a novelty because I wasn’t struggling financially as opposed to many other previous Januaries! Planning ahead was part of that, not to mention not having debts to worry about. I’ve already bought a few bits in the January sales for next Christmas. The trick is not to get carried away and know who you’re buying for!

  • […] Christmas is a perfect example; many of us get into financial difficulties in late December as the festive bills start to pile up – but it’s not absolutely necessary. […]