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For all of the money stress you go through before Christmas day, you may think it’s worth it to see the look on your children’s faces but before the big day comes, are you doing enough to save money? It’s one of those things that can be quite a tribulation, perhaps you might feel that you’re going without essentials to ensure that your children get everything they want. But it’s about finding that right balance. In terms of saving money, or at the very least getting some semblance of cash together before Christmas, are there any good methods so that you don’t have to struggle?
Do you really have to save money?
Rather than borrowing money, it’s amazing to see how many sorts of competitions there are out there where you can get pretty much anything. Yes, you’re leaving it to chance, but for all of the free UK competitions at Latest Deals and other websites, you could enter into absolutely everything and find that at the very least you’ll have gifts that you can give your distant relatives. When it comes to entering competitions, you might not always get what you want, but when you’re trying to save money, it’s the perfect way to get small gifts for people that you wouldn’t necessarily buy things for.
Treat it like saving for a bill
A lot of people do everything last minute, so when they get their pay at the end of November, it all goes on Christmas, meaning they’ve got to use credit cards, and get into further debt. You’ve only got a couple of months, so you have to save a realistic amount. One of the great methods is to use the 50/30/20 method. In essence, it’s about using 20% of your paycheck on the things that you want, 30% on the things you need, and the 50% going on utilities. And while this means that you only have 20% of your earnings to go on Christmas, you can figure out ways to make that stretch. And at the same time, look at the things you really spend money on that are a waste of time. Do you buy too many upmarket brands for example? If so, for the next two months, you can make do with cheaper brands, and do things like bulk buying, and batch cooking meals so you can enjoy Christmas day.
Don’t feel like you need to buy for everyone
Because Christmas is, traditionally, that all-inclusive idea, if you are trying to find something for an auntie that you haven’t even seen this year, do you actually need to buy something for them? Because when you make a list of everybody that you think you need to buy gifts for, and you start to be ruthless, it may be boiled down to a handful of people and that’s it. That means you’ve got a way bigger budget than you originally thought!
As much of a headache as it is, saving for Christmas is about preparing, but also being ruthless in terms of the people that you buy gifts for.
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