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Summary
- Christmas season could be a struggling period for most of the Kiwis in 2020 as coronavirus has posed considerable uncertainty and put severe financial stress on families.
- Few money-saving tips can help you in getting through Christmas without bearing any financial and social stress.
- Assigning a budget to every item bought, shopping online and early, stocking up in advance and giving homemade gifts to people can help you save significant amount of money.
2020 has been a challenging year so far, as coronavirus wreaked havoc all over the world pushing businesses to increase costs, slash hours and layoff workers. Also, Christmas is expected to be very different this year due to uncertainty surrounding the festive season amid COVID-19.
Kiwis would need some additional support to finance their expenses with Christmas just 5 weeks away.
With the prevalent financial and social stress, even the most devoted Christmas planner is likely to feel intimidated. Still, there are some precautions one should take to alleviate Christmas uncertainty and to hold the costs from increasing.
Let’s have a look at 5 money-saving tips that can help you in this festive season.
1. Make a list and budget
First decide on the exact amount that you can afford to spend during Christmas on gifts, food, and travel, respectively. There is a high probability of buying presents as you see them during the time, but then panicking last minute about purchasing more.
By budgeting on each item and sticking to that budget, you can save a lot on unnecessary spending and get away with all the financial stress that comes along the way during the festive season.
2. Plan Gifts only for important ones
Do not buy any gifts for relatives and friends that you barely meet, instead you can exchange cards with them or give each other homemade gifts like cookies, chocolates, pickles, etc. These alternative gift options are also an excellent idea for gifting neighbours, co-workers, and teachers as well.
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In case if you have a big family, you can discuss with your family about downsizing. For example, Secret Santa style presents can be exchanged where all names are put in one hat, and each person can draw one. So, instead of shopping for several gifts, you can buy one perfect gift for just one person.
3. Shop early and online with a strategy
You can start adding 1 or 2 things every week rather than being faced with the bill for a bumper shop closer to the time. You can shop early and strategically through buying items that are available on discount at other times of the year.
DO READ: Retail Stores staring down the barrel as Online Shopping surges
Further, you can shop online to compare prices and find out the seller who is offering the best price.
4. Use cash instead of credit cards
Credit cards propel you to spend unnecessarily on a lot of items like food, drinks, clothes, which makes the budget go out of hands. Shopping with cash or a pre-loaded credit card can help you in spending within your means.
5. Give away Homemade gifts
Homemade gifts can help you substantially while saving money. You can involve your family members and children in making gifts like homemade cards, wrapping paper, bath and beauty gifts and edible gifts.
You can also give the gift of your time for a person who does not need any gifts, like a fishing trip, museum visit, etc.
