{"id":132948,"date":"2025-11-13T12:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/132948\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T12:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:42:11","slug":"five-expert-tips-to-help-celebrate-christmas-on-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/132948\/","title":{"rendered":"Five expert tips to help celebrate Christmas on a\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

With December fast approaching, you may already feel like your Christmas<\/a> spending<\/a> is spiralling out of control.<\/p>\n

While overindulgence is practically synonymous with the holidays, it\u2019s difficult to let go and enjoy it if you\u2019ve been battling the rising cost of living all year long.<\/p>\n

So, if your budget<\/a>\u2019s a little tighter this year, we\u2019ve got five expert tips to help you make the most of the festive season. <\/p>\n

Create a detailed spending forecast<\/p>\n

Without a team of elves to take care of the preparation, it\u2019s down to you to put in the work. Grab a pen (or open a spreadsheet or budgeting app) and note down all your upcoming expenses. Put them into categories and set a spending cap for each.<\/p>\n

For example, you might have separate limits for: food and drink, gifts, decorations, cards and wrapping, festive socialising, and last-minute contingencies.<\/p>\n

You can create your forecast in one of two ways: <\/p>\n

List your categories and estimate how much you\u2019ll spend on each, then add up the categories and see what you might need to cut back on
\nSet your total available budget<\/a> based on what you have available, and divide it between the categories, in priority order<\/p>\n

If money<\/a>\u2019s quite tight, it\u2019s wiser to adopt the slightly stricter second approach – similar to a zero-based budgeting system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You might even decide to skip some categories completely; a few more radical ideas include a gift-free Christmas, a booze-free Christmas, or a zero-waste Christmas.<\/p>\n

If you can, hold back a small emergency amount.<\/p>\n

Scale back on gifts<\/p>\n

Think like Santa: make a list of everyone you\u2019re giving a gift to (and how much you\u2019ll spend), then check it twice to see who you can remove or what you can reduce.<\/p>\n

(Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There are many ways to scale back without causing offence or upset:<\/p>\n

Establish a \u2018no gifts\u2019 policy with friends or family
\nAgree to give only homemade or second-hand gifts this year
\nDraw names from a hat so everyone gets one gift
\nGive acts of service or quality time rather than physical items
\nSet clear parameters for children on what they can expect<\/p>\n

Be strict with your spending limits, as it\u2019s all too easy to overspend by a few pounds per person – ending up significantly over budget across the board.<\/p>\n

We all have overspending triggers: perhaps it\u2019s social pressure to not seem cheap, or guilt over not being able to spoil your loved ones.<\/p>\n

Try to remove a little emotion from your shopping process and stick to the list.<\/p>\n

Set yourself a shopping deadline<\/p>\n

We\u2019re often more prone to impulse spending as December progresses, and as the last-minute panic sets in, prices tend to climb – and so do delivery charges, along with the stress of whether it\u2019ll arrive on time.<\/p>\n

The best way to avoid this is to get your shopping done early and stop when everything\u2019s ticked off your list.<\/p>\n

Setting yourself a firm deadline around mid-month will force you to assess if any purchases after this date are truly necessary.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s bound to be an item or two you decide you do really need, so it also helps to hold back a little money specifically for post-deadline purchases.<\/p>\n

Get cashback where you can<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for an easy way to cut 5 per cent off your total spending, there\u2019s still time to apply for a cashback credit card.<\/p>\n

One example is the Amex Everyday Credit Card, which offers 5 per cent cashback for five months (up to \u00a3125) – though always check it\u2019s right for your circumstances and remember how credit card debt can build up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Or if you\u2019d prefer not to take out credit for Christmas, creating an account with a cashback site like Topcashback or Quidco can provide varying levels of cashback at different retailers.<\/p>\n

Some individual bank apps also do this automatically when you use their card, like Monzo, while apps like Airtime might also help you save along the way as you spend.<\/p>\n

It may only be a fraction of your total, but you\u2019ll be grateful when you get the money back next year.<\/p>\n

Focus on free experiences<\/p>\n

At this point, you may feel like Christmas is going to be nothing but cutbacks and sacrifices.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good to remember, therefore, that gifts and food are only a small part of the big day.<\/p>\n

Many of the best bits \u2013 particularly for children \u2013 involve little or no spending, like: <\/p>\n

Snuggling up under a blanket to watch a Christmas<\/a> movie
\nTaking a walk around a neighbourhood with beautiful lights and decorations
\nPreparing a few traditional treats, like mince pies or gingerbread men
\nGetting crafty with handmade decorations, like paper chains
\nGoing carolling, or putting on a playlist of your favourite Christmas tunes
\nVisiting a major shopping street to see the festive window displays<\/p>\n

Festive memories are far more likely to be experiences than material things, so try to keep your focus on the real magic of the season.<\/p>\n

When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance doesn\u2019t guarantee future results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With December fast approaching, you may already feel like your Christmas spending is spiralling out of control. While…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[251,138,784,246,788,782,111,43,785,783,786,139,69,244,245,787,255],"class_list":["post-132948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-breaking-news","tag-business","tag-daily-news","tag-finance","tag-global-news","tag-inkl","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-news-app","tag-news-headlines","tag-news-today","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-today-news","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}