Getting financially prepared for Christmas

There’s less than eight weeks left until Christmas! Arguably the best time of year, but we can probably all agree it tends to be one of the most expensive times of year.

A few Christmases ago I got sick of trying to scrape money together to get through the Christmas period.

I have since found that a few things intentional actions have drastically helped my Christmas finances, so I hope some of these will be helpful to you too!

Monzo Christmas pot

This has by far been the biggest game changer for me. I have a dedicated Christmas pot within my Monzo account where I contribute between £30-£50 every month.

At first it felt strange putting away money in January for December, but now it’s just become a part of my budgeting strategy.

How much you contribute to the pot monthly will depend on how much you can afford to stash away each month, as well as how much you need for your Christmas spends.

If you find yourself not disciplined enough to not touch the money, there is even a handy lock feature which makes it a bit more difficult to access the funds until the appointed time. Starling Bank also offer this feature by the name of ‘Spaces’.

Cashback websites

If you are someone who does a lot of online shopping for Christmas, it will be in your best interest to check what cashback offers are available through websites such as TopCashback or Quidco.

To date, I have pocketed over £1,300 in Cashback since opening my account with TopCashback in 2019. This is one area where only a little effort is required, but the payback can be quite substantial. I have a YouTube video about TopCashback if you’re new to it linked here.

Black Friday deals

In recent years, Black Friday has hit the UK in which we now get to benefit from some great deals so close to Christmas.

I like to make a list of things I plan to buy for Christmas before Black Friday and have a look online to generally get a feel of the prices to make sure the deals are in fact deals.

Websites such as Pricerunner can help you see where products are being sold for the cheapest to make sure you’re getting the best deal possible.

Remember: Don’t get sucked into buying things you really don’t need or you didn’t have intention to buy in the first place.

Secret Santa

If you have quite a few family members and friends to buy for over Christmas, consider trying to set up a Secret Santa this year. Not only will be it kinder to your pockets, but also to your loved ones’ pockets.

Secret Santa is where each person is assigned one other person to buy before. You generally set a budget as a group, as big or as small as you want, so everyone has a budget to work within that fits everyone.

It means everyone gets a gift to open. In my family, we have used this for the last couple of years and it works very well and makes Christmas more affordable.

Note: We don’t include children in the Secret Santa as we buy gifts for them separately, out of personal preference.

Photo by Superkitina on Unsplash