Christmas rolls around every year so, now is the time to think about how to avoid going into the debt that cripples many families at Christmas time.
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The hints that follow can apply to any gift giving. It is a matter of;
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► planning ahead of time,
► setting a budget,
► and NOT blowing it.
1] Decide ahead of time how much you have to spend on presents.
This is pretty obvious really, but many people wander from store to store with their eft-pos card in their hand only to finish the day amazed at how much they have spent.
2] Decide ahead of time who you will spend that money on.
Be honest, often we purchase Christmas gifts on the spur of the moment - we add someone to our list on impulse because we see something they might like.
This trick will help overcome that:
Sit down and make a list of everyone you can possibly think of that you would want to give gifts to. People you might consider are;
► Immediate and extended family
► In-laws
► Aunts, uncles and cousins
► Grandparents
► Friends and work colleagues
► Neighbours
► Any others
Keep adding people, even if you’re not sure that you’ll actually give them a gift. The idea is to build up a total list so that you don’t forget anyone and blow your spending later.
Once you’ve completed your list, go through and cross out the names of those who, on second thought, you decide not to give a gift to, or who you can’t afford to give a gift to.
Then, with the remaining list, record next to their name how much you think you’ll spend on each person. The total dollar figure must be less than the total amount that you have set aside for your gifts.
It’s not always easy to shop for gifts when you are on a set budget, but that is what you need to do if you are to avoid overspending and going into debt.
3] Give homemade gifts.
Some people think homemade gifts are cheap. Not so – people love to receive them. It can be something simple like homemade biscuits wrapped up in fancy cellophane. Alternatively, you can buy some item in bulk and repackage it to make smaller fancy presents.
4] Buy used when possible.
Some larger ticket items are fairly expensive; a bicycle for your children for instance. Check out TradeMe and the local newspapers, you’ll be surprised at how much you can save by buying second-hand. And children don’t notice, they are just happy to have a new toy.
5] Find great children’s gifts for under $5.
For the nieces and nephews etc. there are a lot of good things you can buy for under $5.
6] Tell your family you are trying to get out of debt.
If you are trying to get out of debt, tell your family the truth. Most people will respect you for that. And they will help support you.
Not only that but, in the current financial climate, more and more people are aware of the difficulties others are facing and so there is no shame in admitting that you are having to be careful with your personal finances.
7] Join a Christmas club.
BEWARE of some clubs. There are companies who promise hampers that are not worth what you pay for them. A good thing to do is this – some supermarkets offer Christmas club vouchers that can be spent in the time leading up to Christmas day. Each time you go to the supermarket during the year you buy a $5 voucher. These add up and give you money to spend on groceries come Christmas time.
Now, obviously it would make better financial sense to save that money in a bank account and earn interest on it, but most people would find it difficult to leave that money untouched for the year. So, the supermarket Christmas vouchers are a great way (and a safe way) to put aside money for Christmas purchases.
8] Make an agreement with others about gifts.
The truth is, everyone finds it hard at Christmas. It’s not just the money, it’s the stress of trying to work out what to buy each person and finding the time to get out and purchase those gifts.
You know what? Your family and friends are probably stressing as much as you are. I made a suggestion to my extended family this year – no presents! You could feel a collective sigh of relief as we decided instead to each put in a few dollars to go towards some really nice food for Christmas dinner.
9] Decide not to go into more debt this Christmas.
One of the most important things to do is to make the decision – THIS CHRISTMAS I WILL NOT GO INTO DEBT! Make the decision. Set a spending limit. Stick to it!
10] Be creative.
It can be fun to make a game out of family Christmas gift giving. Games can save money and relieve the stress of working out what to buy everyone.
Here’s three games you can play - they are all quite similar;
► Game One:
When your family comes together to celebrate Christmas everyone brings one present to a predetermined maximum value ($10 or $15).
They are all placed under the tree.
Everyone is given a random number up to the number of people who are present.
The person with number one gets to take any present they want and opens it.
The person with number two gets to either take a present or, if they like the present number one opened, they can take that one.
If they take number one’s present, number one must take a present from the gift pile.
And so on it goes. The fun comes as there are more presents opened and gifts are taken from others.
By the way, it works best if you make the rule that a gift can only change hands twice.
► Game Two:
If your family is small then Game One may not be viable.
A way to cut the Christmas stress for a smaller family is to make a draw early in the year where every family member draws one other family member’s name “out of the hat.”
They buy a gift for that person only up to a predetermined value.
So, on Christmas day, everyone gets one gift.
The gifts can be given anonymously.
► Game Three:
Another fun thing to do is for every person to come along to Christmas day with one present which they have purchased for themselves up to a predetermined value.
It can be a lot of fun to see what a person will buy for themselves.
► A couple of other ideas:
1. Other families relieve pre-Christmas stress and the potential of going into debt by buying gifts for younger children within the family only.
2. It can be fun to make the rule, Homemade gifts only!
3. I know a family that buy all their gifts on Boxing Day morning and meet for dinner that night. The Boxing Day sales mean big savings can be made.
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