The word ‘Christmas’ is already starting to pop up everywhere which means we’re now on that last stage of the financial rollercoaster ride toward the end of the year.
And for many of us, although Christmas brings with it the thought of a busier social calendar, it’s also traditionally the most expensive period of the year - which more than often results in a New Year hangover of the financial variety.
So if you’re really feeling the pinch this year and that scenario is all too familiar to you – it’s time to have a look at the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal culprits that are most likely to lead you into murky financial waters and arm yourself with a few strategies to deal with them to ensure there’s still coin left in your Christmas pudding!
Gold medal culprit:
Presents, presents and more presents
Let’s face it – buying presents for kids alone can add up all too quickly. But when you also add in gifts for your partner, your family, work colleagues and the just-in-case generic variety … the cumulative effect can be crippling. So to avoid this:
- Buy presents intermittently before December and absorb the cost into your regular weekly/monthly outgoings.
- Ditch any giving-for-the-sake-of-giving habits you may have with family, friends or work and tell them while you still love/appreciate them, it’s time you all moved on.
- Hunt around for the cheapest offer on the gift you were thinking about. Online auctions, online shops and retailers having genuine sales can routinely save you half the price on many items.
- Rethink your gift options. If you’re planning to buy something you know will only put more pressure on your finances, save it for another time when you know you can afford it and go for something less expensive - combined with a special gesture by you that they can’t put a price on.
Silver medal culprit:
The Christmas social whirl
It’s a common undoing for many at Christmas. The lure of all those social invitations as you hear that all too often catchcry of “We must catch up before Christmas”. And this is the point where you can instead say, “Why can’t we catch up after Christmas?”
It’s OK to occasionally say no to a social invite and it’s also OK to have a simple get together at home, rather than catching up over a few expensive rounds of drinks. Think about what it’s actually costing you in not only money terms but also your health - and downgrade your plans to preserve both your health and your hip pocket.
Bronze medal culprit
The Christmas holidays and the need to ‘get away from it all’
Too often at Christmas people talk about how tired they are and how it’s been a big/stressful/hectic year etc. etc. Then, even if they’re not financially prepared for it, they decide they simply must organise a trip away to get away from it all, and in doing so, put more financial strain on themselves – and so the cycle continues.
So the effect can be a double negative because not only will you usually pay peak season rates wherever you go, but the compounding effect of that, on top of pre-Christmas spending can take the rest of the year and beyond to recover from.
Instead, either stay at home and enjoy the simple things - or put off your break until another time in the year when you can pay off-peak rates.
And above all, remember to be clever about what you financially do in the year ahead so you don’t find yourself in the same situation, one year on.