Do you have a budget for Christmas? You need it NOW to avoid Christmas on Credit
Did you know that there’s only 138 days until Santa arrives? It seems like a lot of days, we know. But Christmas really will be here before we know it!
Every year, the looming arrival of Christmas creeps up on us quickly and it seems to creep up even quicker each year. Many Australians try to plan a budget for Christmas, but in most cases, they simply leave it far too late. And come January, they have a severe hangover (and it’s not just from the alcohol). It’s a debt hangover, because they’ve ended up having ‘Christmas on Credit’, yet again.
So how can you avoid having ‘Christmas on Credit’ this year and a truckload of debt? Here we share some tips to help.
Avoid “Christmas on Credit”
Create a Budget
We know it’s early, but we recommend writing your Christmas shopping list now and checking it twice.
We love to spoil our loved ones, we can’t help it! But we also need to be realistic, and spoil our loved ones with what we can afford. When making your list, note down the allocated budget for each person and, as far as possible, try and ensure it’s within a range that you can afford.
The silly season is FULL of events too, but you don’t have to go to everything. Nor do you have to host a party that costs hundreds of dollars.
Christmas is about getting together with loved ones and showing appreciation after all!
Consider events and outings you know are likely during the ‘silly season’ and ask yourself:
“Can I afford this? What can I cut out? Where can I cut back? Do I really need to attend all of these events?”
The key to budgeting is knowing your day-to-day spend and income so you can work out how much you can actually afford and plan accordingly.
Need help working this out? We’ve created a resource to help you create your own Budget Planner here.
Stash some Christmas cash
Withdrawing a large chunk of cash all at once is a sure-fire way to induce stress and make you feel the pinch even harder come Christmas time.
This is why we recommend you simply avoid it altogether, by stashing some Christmas cash in a dedicated ‘Christmas Account’.
Start a direct debit that comes out of your account as soon as your pay goes in, with a promise to yourself that it will not to be touched until the beginning of December for Christmas spending.
Don’t go crazy and make sure the amount is realistic – It could be as little as $30 per week (that’s around $600 by the end of the year).
We hope this blog has got you feeling a little less stressed and a little more cheery. If it hasn’t? Don’t worry, because we’re here to help. Whilst we would love to buy all your Christmas presents for you, we can’t! What we can do though, is help you take control of your debt.
At Life After Debt® we have offices in Perth and Sydney and we help you reduce your debt and avoid bankruptcy by offering affordable, practical financial solutions, proven to relieve hardship. We provide honest and sympathetic, without judgement advice, proving there really is Life after Debt ®.
Contact us to see how we can help you today.
That debt relief feeling