Festive Fabulous
Christmas is always a scary time for purses and with predictions of a spending increase of nearly 4% on last year's £77 billion spree it looks like 2007's festive cheer could be expensive. Female First look at how to manage your finances and avoid seeing in the New Year with a mountain of debt.
Speaking as a certified shopaholic- I know it's all too tempting to go mad at Christmas. All that champagne and Bailey's can send your head a bit giddy and before you know it's a brand new year and you're skint. However you don't have to be a Scrooge to avoid overspending, it's easier than you think. If you want to avoid that January hangover check out our easy steps to financial peace of mind......
Bill Basics
Avoiding those monthly electric, rent and credit card bills is tempting enough for the other 11 months of the year and even more so at Christmas- but it really isn't a good idea.If you skip essential bills this month they will just pile up and give you a lovely New Year surprise in January. The best thing to do is set aside money to pay them all as soon as you get your November wage packet.....it's painful...but worth it.
Get Organised
Ok so now you've paid the essentials you should know how much cash you have left over for all those festive extras. Before you go rushing to the highstreet like a woman possessed, buying anything sparkly that crosses your path, take some time out, sit down and do some planning.
We don't like the word b*dg*t- it sounds so hard! So instead let's work out a 'spending plan'- sounds loads more fun!
Just make a cup of tea or pour a glass of your favourite wine and grab a piece of paper and a pen. Work out exactly how much you have available to spend, who you want to buy presents for and how many nights out you have coming up.
Give each present and night out a guess-timate value and then see if the figures add up. The chances are your first figures won't be quite right but after some fiddling around, a few more glasses of wine and a whole load of compromise you will have a foolproof plan of action.
Stay Focused
So you're armed with your plan and you head off to the shops pretty pleased with yourself....but this could still all fall apart at the sight of the first 'Special Christmas Offer' or 'Party Dress Sale' so you need to stay focused.Just remember your plan and keep reminding yourself how rubbish the January sales will be if you're totally broke.
Many people find shopping online a much safer way of avoiding the temptation to overspend- not to mention a lot warmer! Most highstreet stores have online shopping facilities these days so it can be just as good as the real thing.
Don't Be Tempted By Debt Devils
It is inevitable that most of us will have to use some method of credit over Christmas. That's ok as long as you know which ones to avoid.A credit card with a long 0% interest period on purchases is usually pretty safe as long as you have some level of self control about how much you're putting on it. As a general rule- if you can't afford to pay it off in total over 6 months, you can't afford to buy it.
Store cards are the big evil of the credit world. They are the most tempting- with offers of discount and free gifts when you open them- but they also have the biggest interest rates. It's all good if you want to claim that 20% discount on your party dress and you really think you have the will power to pay it off as soon as the first bill comes then destroy the card- but how many of us can be trusted to do that! The best thing to do is avoid the temptation altogether.
I you really don't think you have enough in the bank to cope with Christmas and you suspect you might go overdrawn then you better go and have a word with Mr Bank Manager. Slipping over your account balance by even a few pence will incur a hefty fine but you can pre-arrange an overdraft with your bank to avoid this. However, beware of a big increase in your overdraft. It seems like a tempting idea now but when half your next wage is eaten up repaying it you might not be so happy.
Get a Grip
The most important thing to remember over Christmas is to have some perspective. December 25th is just one day of the year so crippling yourself with debt and making the other 364 days an absolute nightmare really doesn't make sense.Everyone wants to let go and have fun at Christmas and you're obviously going to splash out a bit- but there's still room for a bit of common sense. Those mega expensive football boots you buy your boyfriend/son/nephew are going to look the same as the mid-range ones by the time they're covered in mud. And do you really think your 80 year old nan can appreciate the difference between a £100 designer wooly cardigan and one of Primark's finest?
Christmas is about having fun and spending time with those you love- and that doesn't cost you anything.
Caz Moss- Female First