How To Financially Prepare For Christmas
I’m going to premise this post by saying sorry to those of you who don’t want to hear the C-word. But we’re now just over half way through the year. And we’re closer to Christmas 2020 than we are from last Christmas. So it’s time to think about how to financially prepare for Christmas. Are you someone who panics a little in December and swears to be more prepared next year. But then next year rolls around and it doesn’t happen? It happens to the best of us I promise.
Ever since I started earning my own money at the age of 16 I loved the idea of spoiling my family. But for me to financially prepare for Christmas is solely selfish. After a lot of years working in retail I don’t like shopping in December so would always try to be finished by the last day of November. Plus I never want to lack money because I only have one wage to buy all of my Christmas presents. That’s why it’s so important to financially prepare for Christmas. You can feel stressed and you won’t feel stretched financially.
How to financially prepare for Christmas
This is the first year where I’ve started putting aside money from the first week of January. Between me and Luke we put aside a little money each week. This means we have money aside for our families presents and money for decorations or food we want to get. I would highly suggest thinking ahead next year and doing something similar. To financially prepare for Christmas as far in advance as possible will mean you have to put aside less money each week/ month.
If you’ve not started thinking about it start now. Make a list of all the people you’d usually buy presents for and assign a value to how much you’d normally spend on them. Or how much you’d like to spend if you had the money. If you’re planning on buying decorations, or you’ll need to buy food for the festive period do the same for this expensive.
Now you know how much you’d like to save you can work out how much you need to put aside. Divide your cost by how many weeks there are before Christmas. I’d recommend going 1/2 weeks less as you’ll want to be sorted before the big day. Now you know how much you’re looking to save.
Start planning
While I’m not saying you need to start buying presents- although crack on if you want to- it’s always good to have a plan. If you think of a good idea for a present for someone note it down. Make a note of the price, or where you can pick it up.
You can financially prepare for Christmas by having some ideas and notes. Just think how much less stressed you’ll feel if come November/ December you have some ideas. This is especially good if it’s things the person may have mentioned. You can pick up some brownie points for remembering these things.
Financially prepare for Christmas by keeping an eye on sales
Summer sales are happening all over the place now and it’s a great time to source good deals. If you spot something you know would be good for someone in the sale and you have the money, pick it up. That’s one less thing you’ll need to buy at Christmas. And one less expense closer to the day.
Prime Day on Amazon is always a good time to keep an eye open. And Black Friday as well. Most stores will offer some form of discount around Black Friday. So save as much as you can and you may be able to do most of your shopping that weekend. Take a look online and see what offers that brand/ store offered last year. Chances are they’ll offer something similar in 2020 too.
Do you financially prepare for Christmas?
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21 responses to “How To Financially Prepare For Christmas”
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All About Me
Rhian Westbury
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Some really great tips! We are closer to Christmas than the start of the year now, preparing now really does make life easier! I’m forever stocking up on gifts I find throughout the year… and then forget about them by the time Christmas comes around! Sim
I do buy things throughout the year, but I have a document where I list them all so I never forget about them x
These are great tips! I love buying presents through the year in the sales – it saves time nearer Christmas and money too š
This is a great tip and one which I follow. Like you for my Christmas starts in July where I start looking out for sales and items which i can purchase for my family so that I don’t go over budget at the end of the year.
It’s always nice to be prepared, it makes the end of the year so much less stressful x
I started thinking about it weeks ago as I have to with Jack’s birthday three weeks before and Olivia’s two weeks after! Fingers crossed this year I will be properly prepared.
Wow so much going on near the same date, mine is mid-January so my parents have always had the same thing to think about x
Argh the C word! Honestly we don’t plan or overspend. We decided a long time ago to forgo gifts. Most the time you end up with trash you don’t want or need. Instead we choose an extra vacation. Bonus of having no kids!
That’s good if that works for you, saves on having to worry about it. For us Christmas has and will always be a big deal, although we don’t have kids either so it’s all adults presents. But it’s what you choose to spend your money on isn’t it x
We have a separate saving account for Xmas, this is because we have 3 kids but also all three birthdays are in November! so for us financially its a busy 6 weeks, when we get close we look for offers on what they want and start building in prep though with the one we save i always budget for Xmas food, Presents, decorations etc..
That must be a crazy time of the year for you, but it’s so good that you’re prepared x
We usually buy ahead and shop the sales but haven’t had the chance this year… so it’s going to be a mad scramble. We are saving though, so thats a good thing x
Some great ideas and tips . We have been buying little. Itās throughout the year as it can get so expensive with three kiddies
There are some fab tips and ideas here for sure. I need to write a plan and to be honest I had forgot about Christmas, but looking forward to getting prepped now x
It’s been a very strange year so I don’t think many people are thinking about Christmas yet x
I feel like I have to start thinking about Christmas in January as my daughter has a December birthday and I like to get planning and saving and making the most of the sales.
Christmas is going to be strange this year with so much uncertainty – good idea to start planning now.
Yeah it is going to be very strange but hopefully we’ll be in a position to be able to enjoy it x
I’m one of those freaks who started buying Christmas presents in January! Great blog post š
*hand up* I do the same!
We don’t tend to make a big deal out of Christmas as we have 6 kids and it would get way out of hand. We start planning after the last birthday in August