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Christmas is that season we all look forward to because of the warmth, togetherness and sharing it brings. It comes at the end of the year, just the perfect timing to move into the next year having spent time with family. As jolly as the season might be having a good time isn’t cheap. All the decorations, parties, dinners and the best part of it which is giving gifts come with a price tag. But you don’t have to break your bank to make that happen. Having Christmas on a budget is possible and you will be getting some budgeting tips for Christmas right here, right now.
How do you do Christmas on a budget?
It is simple, just like how you have a party on a budget, buy a car on a budget, shop on a budget, live on a budget so can you have Christmas on a budget. You simply plan to do a Christmas you can afford in the best way possible. By the way, doing Christmas on Budget doesn’t mean less fun as long as you go about it the right way with the budgeting tips you will be seeing shortly. Christmas will still be fun or even better than the previous because you won’t have to walk into January worried that you spent too much.
What is your average Christmas Budget?
There is no direct answer to this question as what might be average for me might not be average for you. The simple reason has been that we earn different incomes.
However, an average budget should be what you can comfortably spend without going overboard and having room for what could be forfeited or included rather than just the monetary aspect. Your budget should be flexible.
So if spending a thousand dollars for Christmas won’t hurt January then $1000 is your average. It could be $500 or less or even more. Just do the maths for yourself.
5 Budgeting tips for Christmas
The budgeting tips for Christmas you are about to see are what you can start practising right away to get the best for the season fast approaching. Christmas is only 3 months and some weeks away from now. And a good party starts with proper planning.
1. Save for Christmas
Saving money for Christmas is a perfect way to have Christmas on a budget and it will still be amazing. Saving money allows you to do whatever you want without feeling financially overwhelmed.
To be able to save for Christmas you must make a budget before saving becomes effective. Let’s look at some Christmas money-saving tips.
Christmas money-saving tips
- Now that you already have a budget which means you know your expenditures it’s now time to save for the whole money needed or for half of it.
- Depending on what is your average budget for Christmas like we mentioned earlier you don’t have to save for a whole year. You can start saving now and still have a good amount of money kept aside for Christmas.
- You can use the piggy bank/ cookie jar saving method or automate some savings directly from your bank within a period of time.
2. Have a Christmas gift budget
Giving gifts is basically what Christmas is all about. Therefore you can take away gifts from Christmas. However, you can be frugal about it so you be able to stick to your budget.
One way to successfully have a Christmas gift budget is by making some of these gifts yourself or going for affordable gifts. In the end, it’s not about how big or expensive a gift is. It’s all about the message of love sharing gotten from that gift.
Recently I made a list of cheap thank you gift ideas and some of them are perfect Christmas gift ideas.
3. Plan every activity around your Christmas budget
Without the discipline to stick to a budget, budgeting becomes useless. Hence, to successfully have Christmas on a budget you must do everything around your budget.
Plan your parties around your budget, get gifts within that budget and every other thing that you will spend on should be within your budget. It is that simple.
4. Shop on time
Shopping for a winter coat during winter is more expensive than buying it during summer. It’s how the market works and I’m not here to explain the psychology behind it.
But what I’m here to explain to you is how waiting till it’s Christmas before you shop for Christmas related items such as costumes, decorations, gifts and other things is a bad idea when you plan on having Christmas on budget.
Christmas gifts or what you plan to give as a gift during Christmas can be anything. They are the things on sale now or will soon be on sale come black Friday. Having this in mind is necessary because you want to have Christmas on a budget. Hence, you have to do everything possible to not go over your budget.
5. No Credit Card Christmas
Budgeting tips without talking about credit cards is not a complete tip. The primary aim of budgeting is to help you live within or below your means. And using a credit card defeats that aim and gives you nothing more than debts.
As long as you save for Christmas, shop on time, and stick to your budget, you won’t be needing a credit card to have a fun Christmas. If you are disciplined enough about not using your credit card no circumstance will make you.
If you want to have a debt-free Christmas then kissing your credit card goodbye is the only way.
How to Budget for Christmas
Budgeting for Christmas is the same as budgeting for any other thing you plan on doing. You make a list of what you plan to spend, how each will cost and how much income you have. All estimated though.
But for budgeting for Christmas, your entire income doesn’t come in just how much you plan on spending. Like we talked about the average budget for Christmas. You might want to see some budgeting tips for beginners to help you get your budgeting right.
Hence, decide how much you plan on spending on Christmas, allocate a cost to every expected expenditure, she was to cut down then carry out your plan. Making a budget for Christmas will help you see how it is possible to have a no-spend Christmas.
Final thoughts on Budgeting tips for Christmas
Just like any other celebration you did it on a budget and had a great time. So can you have Christmas on a budget and still have a great time.
These budgeting tips for Christmas are simple and you can put them into practice right away. Budgeting for Christmas doesn’t mean being cheap it means you want to start the next year with no debt added to your debts. It also means you want to be in control of your finances even in seasons of merriment.
