With less than two months to go until December, we all feel the chilly vibes in the air and the beautiful call of one of the most quintessentially Western celebrations of all time. Yes, Christmas is rapidly approaching – and if you want to avoid the pre-winter holiday craze as gracefully as possible, you better watch out, you better not pout and you better…start planning it now.
How to save money leading up to Christmas? Here are some helpful tips to help you keep your sanity this winter season:
Stop buying stuff you don’t need
No, you really don’t need a new pair of shoes when 10 others are waiting for you at home. And you really don’t need to buy an ultra-wide, ultra-colorful, ultra-smart new TV either. Keep your money for the things that matter and can make an actual difference in your life. Think every purchase through – and if it’s a larger one, see if you can wait 30 days before purchasing it. Not only will this give you enough time to research the best product and price, but it may actually help you realize that you don’t need that product that much.
Start thinking gifts
Buying presents for a dozen people can be challenging – especially when you’re short on money, time, patience and the peace of mind needed to really pull it off. Start thinking about buying Christmas presents now, so that you can realistically plan your budget for the winter holidays. Also, the more time you have to plan the gifts, the more likely it is that you will save a lot of money on them. Why? Here are some of the reasons:
You can actually hunt down the best prices for the presents you want to buy;
You can take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals or use vouchers such as My Voucher Codes to save money on gifts.
You can plan DIY gifts that are genuinely well-thought of and meaningful
Start buying now
A lot of Christmas products can be bought well in advance – and this leaving aside the actual gifts. Aside from very fresh produce and the Christmas tree, there are a lot of items that are available all year round and which can be successfully stored for the next couple of months:
- Spices
- Potatoes
- All products that can be frozen (e.g. meats)
- Sauces
- Rice
- Many types of sweets
- Ingredients for homemade sweets
At the end of the day, there is one single most important thing to remember if you want to go joyfully through this Christmas and come sane and financially-whole on the other side: thorough planning. We all know Christmas is coming every year on the 25th of December – and yet, we all leave it to the last week and fight the busy supermarkets and the overpriced products.
Why not do it differently this year? Plan ahead. Do everything you can now. Be better at giving gifts and at being really happy on this beautiful celebration of the Western world. Once you get used to do things this way, you’ll be a lot more contempt every year!
