Money saving tips for Christmas
Christmas is a time for celebration and merry making, but we often go over-board in our spending, only to end up with empty pockets at the end of the year. These tips will help you save money this festive season without depriving your family or yourself of having a good time.
Include your family
Including your family in making the Christmas budget will make them realise how much you can afford to spend and cost-cutting is less likely to cause resentment.
Send e-greeting cards
Quality Christmas cards are expensive and quite frankly, outdated. So do not spend a cent on these. Instead look up sites that offer free e-cards and send those. E-cards are a lot cheaper and a lot more fun. You can also send e-cards that have been sent to you, to others literally at the touch of a ‘button’.
Spend now to save later
Spend on an artificial Christmas tree and decorations this Christmas and store them safely away. These will serve you for many years and you will not have to incur expenses in this department for years to come.
Make your own decorations
Add to the decorations you already have, not by buying more, but by making your own. There are many great ideas on how to do this online.
Go smaller
Instead of buying a large, tall tree, opt for a smaller one. It will not only cost less, but will also be cheaper to decorate because of its size. Instead of buying expensive decorations for your small tree, buy two or three strings of cheap fairy light and use only those to decorate your tree. Your tree will look spectacular when you light it up at a fraction of the cost.
Do it yourself
Most families automatically buy crates of soda on Christmas without giving it a second thought. Others pat themselves on the back for ‘saving’ by having not spent on alcohol. Yet it is not only healthier, but a lot cheaper to buy fresh fruit and make your own varieties of fresh fruit juices.
Organise a pot luck
Christmas dinner
Instead of slaving away and spending loads of money on Christmas dinner, get together with family and friends and work out a Christmas menu. Assign each person with one or two different dishes which you will all put together and share. Those who cannot cook can bring the drinks. This way everybody can eat and make merry without burning holes in their pocket.
Stay in
Save money spent on family outings by buying family movies and staying indoors to enjoy them with your family. You can also have fun playing cards or board games such as Ludo, Snakes and Ladders and Monopoly, as a family.
If you do not have any board games, play games such as ‘I spy.’ In this game, you sit in a circle and one person says, “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with “L” (or any other letter of the alphabet). The rest try to guess the answer, and then it is time for the next person to ask.
Ditch the turkey
You do not have to eat turkey for Christmas dinner, especially if you cannot afford it. Chicken is just as good and absolutely delicious when cooked well. So ditch the turkey and save at least Shs100,000.
