How can you cut expenses to save for Christmas
It is the season to be jolly, and we all want to unwind and be merry. But that is near impossible if you don’ t have any money to spend this season. If like, many others, you suffered a series of financial hardships this year and could not afford to save anything towards your holiday budget. Don’t worry, you still have over a month to catch up. Afterall this is why phenomenon like the “No spend November” came about. Bringing us to the next point, one of the best ways to ensure you have enough to enjoy the holidays when you have not saved ahead you can catch up this month and save any amount you want towards your December spend.
Take it on a week-by-week basis
Monthly budgets and monthly savings plans can be very overwhelming and often hard to achieve. This is why breaking it down to weekly targets is that much easier to accomplish. That is of course after covering your major monthly expenses such as rent, transport, and groceries. Employ this tactic to limit your spending to save for Christmas by setting aside a small amount for miscellaneous spending during the week and spending only this amount for the week. If you happen to run out, wait until the next week where you repeat the same week. To make this strategy work better for you is to create and shopping list and sticking to it. Also, when you have an urge to buy something, sleep on it and see how you feel about it tomorrow.
Do it yourself
There are various things that we spend money on everyday when we could have just saved that money and done it ourselves. Whether it be washing your car, cleaning your house, making your own lunch and or dinners, you could save a lot of money by doing these chores yourself instead of outsourcing it at a fee. Look at it this way, anything that crave from your favorite food outlet, you can probably make it for way cheaper at home.
Relook some regular budget items
If you’re behind on your spending, you should be taking an aggressive as possible savings plan in order to have the exciting December that you need in order to properly reset and be ready to face new challenges in the year. For this you need to cut luxury expenses completely, including club memberships, entertainment subscriptions, and social outings. Also, relook your traveling arrangement, perhaps using public transport or joining a car-pool could be more feasible at this time.
Be a smart shopper
The great thing about this time of the year is that there are countless discounts and specials run at various retail outlets to encourage consumer spend. You could save a great deal by shopping for your holiday items on sale. Use your list and search various stores for the best prices, ensuring that you do not fall buying items you had not planned to simply because they’re on sale.
