Christmas is just around the corner and it is a time of year where it is very easy to overspend. You want to please everyone, eat great food, be everywhere, so here are a few tips to help keep your budget in check.
First, the more you plan ahead, the less likely you are to overspend at Christmas. Start by making your travel arrangements as early as possible. Can you get a family card and take the train? Is your car in good shape to drive around? The last thing you want is to be stranded by the side of the road and paying holiday premiums to get back driving.
Sometimes, renting a car is easier and cheaper than the wear and tear you would put on your vehicle.
From there, tackle your Christmas shopping. What do you need in terms of groceries, chocolates, alcohol, etc? Stock up on non perishables as soon as you see a good deal. If you are going to visit families after the 25th December, you can also do your shopping on Boxing Day and enjoy the sales.
Now in terms of gifts, what are you getting your loved ones? Is the whole family on board with the presents policy? Some families will decide to exchange gifts only for kids, or have a Secret Santa for adults and, when you start talking about it, people are generally relieved they don’t have to stress about getting so many presents and paying for them.
If your family is big on gifts, however, there are still ways to keep your budget in check. For example, you can do homemade gifts. A nice batch of cookies or jam in a beautiful jar where you could put a custom note for the recipient would surely be appreciated. It is the thought that counts, after all.
Another idea is a custom calendar that you can fill with family pictures, so your parents are reminded of you all year long. Small attentions go a long way and are generally the gifts you remember all those years later.
Win £250 with icount this Christmas!
To help ease up the financial weight of Christmas, icount has put together a competition and are giving away £250.
The Christmas competition is going to run from the 1st to the 31st December, and the winner will be announced on the 2nd January 2018. By entering, you’ll be in with the chance of winning an icount prepaid Mastercard with £250 loaded on it, to spend on whatever you please! This should help with January Blues and the overall cost of Christmas.
To be a part of the icount Christmas competition, all you have to do is guess the price of the items under the icount Christmas tree. Whoever guesses the exact cost or the closest price will be named the lucky winner.
How to enter the icount Christmas competition? Click on the link and head over to icount. Good luck!