How To Survive The Silly Season: Without A Christmas Budget Blow-Out (Part 1)

All the extra food at Christmas can be one of the biggest expenses.

So, we all like to go slightly overboard with the Christmas festivities and traditional foods – heck, it is only once a year.

The best way to deal with this is by incorporating a little extra into your shopping budget months ahead of December. If you can do this as early as July then even an extra $10 a week to be spent on foods just for Christmas can really make a huge difference. Clear a spot in a cupboard or sort out a large box that you can stash your Christmas supplies in and forget about them. Obviously, you will need to be careful what kinds of food you buy that many months in advance but there are a wide variety of non-perishables you will need for this special time of year.

As you get closer to the date you will also be able to pick up other Christmas necessities such as wrapping paper and cards or crackers, candles or decorations.

There are also many Christmas clubs available where you can put a little away each week towards this expensive time of year. Christmas hampers are a good idea too where you can choose a food hamper for next Christmas and pay so much off per week. Make it your New Year resolution to start one in January.

While we are on the subject of food – many of the stresses at Christmas are related to entertaining. Make plans a while in advance and decide amongst family and friends whose home will be putting on the main Christmas meals. Take turns to make this as fair as possible and if you are lucky to live in a climate that is warm at Christmas time perhaps picking a neutral place will be better for everyone (like a park or beach).

Make a list of all the foods you will need for the main meals and ask everyone coming to choose one thing off the list to provide for the day – this way you will share the load as well as the cost. This can also apply for drinks too; there is nothing wrong with making a special occasion BYO. That way everyone can bring what they choose to drink for the celebrations and if you are likely to overindulge with alcohol you might like to read this article on ‘the morning after the night before’ to get some tips on avoiding hangovers or how to deal with one when you couldn’t avoid it!

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And here to view part 3: