Whether Christmas is only weeks away or it’s a distant mark on the calendar, it’s time to get serious about your Christmas budget. It’s all too easy during the holiday period to let your expenses blow out of control, and you could even find yourself out of money for essentials. If you start budgeting now, you could end up making the most of the festive period without money headaches.

Why you should start saving for Christmas now

Let’s face it, Christmas is an expensive time with expectations of gifts. Soon enough you’ll be exchanging gifts, attending parties, and expected to contribute food, drinks, and other items. Incremental saving ahead of time ensures your savings target is more manageable and achievable. If you start with just $50 a week, even if you start only eight weeks before Christmas, you’ll have saved up $400 by Christmas time, and the earlier you start, the less pressure you’ll feel on your normal expenses.

Start now and you can gift shop thoughtfully, avoiding last minute panic buys. In addition, if you stick to a fixed budget based on your savings, you’ll be less likely to spend impulsively and end up in the red by the New Year’s.

Saving now also helps take the stress out of the holiday period because you know you’ll have enough cash to cover your costs. This leaves you free to enjoy Christmas, which is after all a time for celebration and enjoyment.

Strategies to save more money for Christmas this year

Working to a budget and estimating how much you want to spend is key to saving more ahead of time.

• Budget – Draw up a budget in advance and keep to it. By following a realistic budget, you could avoid spending too much on gifts and unnecessary food. Work through realistic estimates for how much you’ll need. Then keep updating it to reflect how much you’ve already spent so you know how much you have left.
• Use budget categories – Organise your budget into categories like presents, food and drink, and miscellaneous, for miscellaneous costs like decorations and wrapping paper. You could also include categories like entertainment, reductions in income, and holidays.
• Budgeting planner – Use a budgeting planner, such as an app or template spreadsheet to track your expenses as you go. These typically offer useful features such as shopping lists and gift planning.

Avoiding common Christmas saving pitfalls

Hitting your savings target shouldn’t be too difficult if you stay focused. Avoid common pitfalls in the lead-up to Christmas, and look for ways to generate cash.

• Non-essential items – Cut down on non-essential items like take-away coffees, eating out, cafe lunches, and non-vital clothes shopping.
• Shopping list – Always do your grocery shopping with a list so you don’t blow your budget with impulse buys. Look out for specials, especially regular food items you can buy in bulk.
• Temptations – If you’re tempted by retail shopping and malls, stay away from these as you’re saving up in the weeks until Christmas. Know where you’re tempted to spend and avoid these scenarios so you don’t go off track.
• Specials – Don’t pay more than you have to for gifts. Start researching gifts early so you can compare prices and opt for the cheapest store, whether online or at a shopfront. Look for coupons and specials online, like free shipping, that could help you save more. Follow retailers on social media or sign up for newsletters to get notifications of special deals and discounts.
• Contribute – If you’re hosting parties and gatherings, keep costs down by asking every attendee to contribute something, like snacks, drinks, or salad.
• Decorations and other items – Buy decorations, wrapping paper, and Christmas-related items ahead of time, as prices for these could be raised as much as one month in advance.
• Sell old items – You could also free up some cash by going through old things of value and seeing if you could sell them online or at second-hand stores.

Buying gifts

Most of us have probably received a Christmas gift we’ve never used, so a good way to save on unnecessary gifts is to ask your loved ones to choose one item and organise for others to chip in for the gift. Alternatively, agree to a gift spending limit with everyone in your family, as this can help everyone, not only you, keep budgets under control.

As for other Christmas supplies, stagger these to keep them manageable. For example, with each weekly shop in the lead-up to Christmas, add drinks, snacks, and other non-perishable items to each trip so you’re stocked up and only have perishables to buy by Christmas time.

Christmas can be an expensive time for everyone, and getting started early and putting away some money every week makes it easier to hit your savings goal. Work to a budget and keep tracking your spending so you know how much you have left. Avoid common pitfalls like spending too much on non-essential items and being tempted with impulse buys. By following these tips, along with exploring ways to save on gifts, you could minimise money stress and ensure Christmas is the enjoyable, festive time it’s supposed to be.

If you still not sure about your Christmas budget this year, consider a loan. SRG Finance specialises in same-day cash loans and we can help you with a secured loan to help you cover budget shortfalls this Christmas.