Christmas Budgeting Tips

Christmas will be here real soon and the one thing that most parents worry about is money. Christmas really is one of the most expensive time of the year. It isn't just the children you have to buy for, there is the rest of the family too. But it doesn't have to be that expensive. You can budget if you plan it out and spread the costs.

Have a budget
Sit down and have a think how much you can afford. The last thing you want is to be in debt and no money during/after Christmas. You should be able to relax and just chill out with no worries during Christmas. If you set yourself a budget and make sure you do not spend over your budget and just spread the costs out.

Limit your Christmas list
You don't have to buy a gift for every single person in the family or every single friend. If any family members or friends have children themselves then they should understand. If you do have family and friends with children you both could come to an agreement that you only buy for the children and not the adults. You could also agree on a set max price for each gift.

Shop around
You see that perfect present in a shop but the price puts it down, why not just have a look around in other shops and online first before buying the first one you see. You shouldn't need or have to spend hundreds of pounds on things when it could be much cheaper somewhere else. Even if the item/toy isn't exactly the same, you could always buy one similar if it saves you that bit of extra cash.

Have Christmas dinner somewhere else
This could save you quite a bit of money. Go somewhere else for your Christmas dinner. You pop round to a family member or friends house if they invite you over for dinner. You could just bring a bottle of wine or some treats with you so you can help out. You will save money and you will also be a lot less stressed.

Only buy what you need
One thing I have learnt in the past is to stop buying cheap quality plastic toys. They will only be forgotten about. Many of times in the past I have bought cheap quality toys just to fill their stockings up but this year I will be doing different. I will only be buying things they need and of course a few extra toys that I think they will play with. But you could ask your children, friends and family members to write a list down of what they would like and then that will help you a lot when you go out Christmas shopping.

Do you have a budget for Christmas? Do you have anymore tips?