T-16 Weeks
Time to set your Christmas budget
Hello, and welcome to week one of the MFY Christmas Countdown! Some will say it’s too early, others will say it’s too late, but I say it’s just about the right time to start really thinking about Christmas.
There’s still time to save a little bit of money towards Christmas costs, with three or four paydays still to go. But most importantly, there’s time to set your agenda. To decide how you want to do things this year (and what you can afford).
Week by week, this countdown will prompt the actions you need to stay on track and protect your financial wellbeing despite all of those external pressures and temptations. Let’s go!
Time to decide what kind of Christmas you want
And, in doing so, what kind of 2024 you’re setting yourself up for. In a recent poll, 78% of those who responded said that they find it impossible to stick to their Christmas budget, and a YouGov survey from last year suggested that, by the beginning of December, almost 40% of people were expecting to have to borrow money to afford their plans.
Think deeply about which Christmas traditions mean something to you, and what you’d rather let go of. Before the deafening noise of festive marketing starts to ramp up, before you get bewildered and your priorities get skewed, make a list of the things that really matter to you, because these should form the core of your budget.
Assess the situation
Be honest with yourself about what you can afford. Don’t worry about everyone else’s expectations just yet - these can be dealt with separately.
For those on a monthly salary, there are three pay days between now and Christmas (possibly four, but that early December payment has to last until the end of January, so let’s be careful about relying too much on it). If you already have some Christmas savings, take these into account, and assess how much you can afford to spend this year in total.
Decide how you want to spend your money
No matter how large your Christmas fund, once you start to price things up and allocate money to different expenses, it’s amazing how quickly it disappears, especially with the more ‘hidden’ Christmas costs, like travelling, socialising etc.
Be specific about what you’re spending on the different elements, rather than relying on one big pot and dodgy mental maths. To help with this, you can download my Christmas budget planner to give you full visibility of all the costs.
To do:
Decide what your priorities are for Christmas spending
Calculate how much you can afford to spend overall
Download my budget planner and plan out your expenses
If you’ve already started shopping, don’t forget to use cashback! You can use TopCashback* or JamDoughnut (use referral code WW5D for a £2 bonus) to save as you spend - it’s free money on purchases you’d be making anyway. I’ve even included a cashback box in the budget planner to remind you.
Check which gives you the best rate of cashback, and ensure that you shop through them whenever possible - and don’t forget things like travel and accommodation!