Saving for Christmas early is the only way some families get through December

Is it too early to be talking about the C word? Absolutely not! How to start saving for Christmas needs to be address before we get to December, so no it really isn’t too early. The longer than saving plan has been in place the better equipped you will be to cover the expense

The first half of the year has flown by for me, it always does. It feels like only yesterday I was making those New Years Resolutions, and also breaking them shortly after

To make sure we are prepared financially for Christmas, we need to start making budgets and plans NOW!

In an ideal world we would start making a savings plan in January. That would give you 12 months to plan how you are going to afford Christmas

Saving For Christmas

Set A Budget

Firstly, set your budget per person. This will help you stick to a present in the right price range

This will also help you work out how much per month you need to set aside throughout the year

Your budget should be set at the maximum you want to spend not the minimum. It is always better to be over prepared than under budgeted and leaving yourself short

Make Lists

When you have worked out how much you want to spend on each person, you then need to add it up. Divide the total amount by the amount of months or the amount of pay days left until Christmas. So if you are paid weekly or bi-weekly work it out on the number of pay packets you will receive until Christmas day

This is will give you the amount you need to save each month to make Christmas more affordable

Christmas Day

The cost of the actual day can mount up too especially if you are hosting the Christmas dinner

You need to factor these costs into your preparations. Once again work out how much you think the food and drinks will cost, and divide it by the number of months or weeks left til the big day

Start Saving

So all you have to do it just make sure you save that amount – that’s it

If you find your monthly payments too much, consider revising the amount you are planning to spend on each person. Maybe you are planning to be more generous than you can afford. If you can’t afford it don’t leave yourself in a situation where you end up needing credit to pay for things

You could also try doing some side hustles each month to cover the cost of Christmas.

Christmas isn’t Christmas without the naughty elf that shows up and causes havoc, make sure to check out these easy and quick elf on the shelf ideastoo.

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