Guide To Christmas Spending
Posted December 28th, 2009
It is getting harder every year to stay on budget with Christmas spending during the Christmas season, and many people take a dreadful hit in January when they receive their credit card statement in the mail.
It can take several months to get caught up in this debt only to do it again the following Christmas. Christmas spending has gotten out of control, and we need to to get that control back.
Christmas spending for savvy shoppers:
It seems that every year Christmas spending is at an all-time high. Just when you thought the numbers couldn’t go any higher they do. Australian’s spent about 18 billion dollars at retail stores with 10 million dollars spent on Christmas tree lights, 659 million dollars on various video games, 54 million dollars on dolls, 70 million dollars on stuffed animals and 63 million dollars on other assorted Christmas items. These statistics are available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Children usually request expensive items like an Xbox 360 or Wii, while parents would prefer to do their Christmas spending on clothes or books for their children. A compromise can be met by choosing video games, DVDs and board games that are educational. Electronic items are being pushed through advertising and are getting noisier and flashier every year. If you look at the entertainment value of toys, it would be best to select games that can be played for hours and last for years, and wooden toys that never break. These expensive gadgets usually don’t last too long.
One thing you can do to help the family budget is to do your Christmas spending in a store that offers free gift wrapping. You can also shop on the Internet. More and more people are doing their Christmas spending online because the trust factor has been established, and there are various recourses if anything goes wrong with a purchase.
How to save money
It is very simple to set up a budget for Christmas. Basically don’t overspend and leave yourself short of cash. You may also have friends or relatives that are having a problem with finances and it can be quite embarrassing to give expensive presents to them when they can’t afford to do the same for you. Here are some tips you can use to curb your Christmas spending.
- If you have any loyalty credit cards you shouldn’t forget to use those because they can help lower the price of the items you’re purchasing.
- Remember, it is better to spend cash than a credit card because you will be able to keep track of how much money you are spending much easier.
- One thing that will help you save money is to buy one nice quality item for every person on your list instead of a lot of lower quality items. It will probably be cheaper doing it that way.
- You can stagger out your Christmas spending and buy a little each week. This will cut down on one big bill and will stop you from getting caught up in last-minute buying.
- If you have built up any credit card rewards, now is a good time to cash them in to buy somebody a present.
- Approximately 2/3 of the shoppers in Australia use the Internet to find out what kind of deals are available in retail stores. This can give you an idea of how much things are going to cost so you can make your decisions at home, make a list and head out shopping armed and ready to stay on budget.
- You may want to consider lowering the limit on your credit card so you cannot do any spontaneous shopping and have to stick to your list.
Researchers from eBay Australia have found that approximately 35% of consumers do last minute Christmas spending. Most of them are men that leave it until the last few days. About one quarter of shoppers do their shopping early, with 15% having finished by the middle of December. They also found that about 5% of shoppers like doing their Christmas shopping , while 7% of Australians did not buy any presents at all.
How to lower your Christmas spending on your children:
Children don’t always need expensive toys to make them happy and some of the best presents are the ones that show a little thought. Here are a few simple ideas to get you started.
- Make some homemade goodies and wrap them in cellophane.
- Promise them an extra special outing.
- Give them some colouring books, sticker books and coloured markers and crayons.
- Buy some old bead necklaces from second hand stores and put the the beads in fancy containers with a lid and some nylon.
- Make a gift hamper with inexpensive items you know they like.
- Buy a wooden trolley and some wooden blocks
- Make a homemade dvd with a collection of your favorite family pictures
- Give a grandparent a homemade piece of artwork made by one of your children, and have it signed by the artist.
- Give a photo album with a collection of family members to a young child to help him learn their names and faces.
There are a lot of ways to save money when you do your Christmas spending, and if you think up an original idea and bring it to life you may have created a special present that will be treasured forever.
Related posts:
- We Are On The Countdown So Plan Your Christmas Spending
- 24 Tips On How To Manage Your Christmas Credit Card Debt
- Keeping control of your Christmas credit card spending
- Avoid Christmas Debt By Planning In Advance
- Review Your Spending To See If You Need To Get A Christmas Credit Card
- Managing the Christmas Credit Card Overspend
- 5 Tips To Kill Impulse Spending Which Runs Up Credit Card Over-spending
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