{"id":135717,"date":"2025-11-15T03:38:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T03:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/135717\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T03:38:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T03:38:27","slug":"how-to-cut-financial-corners-this-christmas-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/135717\/","title":{"rendered":"How to cut financial corners this Christmas \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although we all love the joyous markets, parties and presents that come with the festive season, the mounting costs can be overwhelming.<\/p>\n

We got in touch with Zoe Brett, financial planner at EQ Investors<\/a>, who has shared her top tips on how to save some much-needed pennies this Christmas so you can enjoy all the festivities stress free\u2026<\/p>\n

Plan ahead<\/p>\n

\u201cPlanning out all of your Christmas spending \u2013 such as the travel, food, gifts, socialising etc \u2013 early will help you set yourself a realistic goal,\u201d says Brett. \u201cWhen you can look ahead, you\u2019ll be able to see if it\u2019s starting to look a bit too expensive and know if you need to cut back on a few things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Helen<\/a>\"Leukaemia<\/a><\/p>\n

However, if you plan and buy everything last minute, you\u2019ll have barely any control over the cost.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs it gets closer to Christmas, the prices tend to go up because everything becomes scarcer and scarcer, so people can charge more for them,\u201d notes Brett. <\/p>\n

Set a budget for presents<\/p>\n

\"WritingWriting up a shopping list (Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

\u201cMake a list of all the people you are planning to get presents for and set a budget for how much you want to spend per person,\u201d advises Brett. \u201cThere\u2019s a real temptation to buy extra gifts when you see something cute in a shop, but you\u2019ve got to be rigid with yourself and not fall into the one more gift territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

The financial planner also recommends being open and honest about your finances with your loved ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust be realistic with your friends and family about what you\u2019re going to be spending around Christmas,\u201d recommends Brett. \u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no shame in saying to someone, I want to spend X amount of money. They\u2019re not going to want you to feel stressed out for the sake of a gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

Take advantage of the sales<\/p>\n

\"\"(Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the run-up to Christmas, take advantage of all the Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales to help you keep the cost of presents down,\u201d advises Brett. \u201cRemember to still stick to your budget so you don\u2019t overspend during the sales.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buy an artificial tree and reuse decorations<\/p>\n

Resist the temptation to buy a new Christmas tree and decorations every year.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet an artificial Christmas tree that you can bring out every year, and don\u2019t feel like you have to renew your decorations every Christmas,\u201d says Brett. \u201cTry to only buy timeless and classic decorations that are good quality so they won\u2019t break within one use and can be reused every year.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep them locked away in storage, somewhere dry, so they stay in good condition and then they\u2019ll last you for years and years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ask visitors to bring something<\/p>\n

\"\"(Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re hosting and have other family members coming to you, why not ask if everyone can bring something,\u201d suggests Brett. \u201cMaybe you provide the main meal and then somebody else brings the dessert and somebody else brings the wine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Utilise the freezer<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you see something food related in the months leading up to Christmas that\u2019s on sale, and you know you\u2019ll want it for Christmas, just buy it and pop it in the freezer,\u201d recommends Brett.<\/p>\n

Spend less on non-luxury food items<\/p>\n

\u201cBuy your luxuries strategically,\u201d advises Brett. \u201cThere are some things that you\u2019ll want to spend a bit more money on, but then there are other things where the budget option is not that different from the luxury choice, like vegetables and sauces, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find cheap activities<\/p>\n

\"\"(Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

\u201cBe honest with your friends and your family about what you can afford to do and maybe suggest a few home events, rather than always having to go out,\u201d suggests Brett. \u201cIf you want to go out for food, look at the menus first and see if that place is something that\u2019s within your budget, or if there\u2019s a cheaper alternative that everyone would be just as happy with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Book train tickets in advance<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know that you\u2019re going to be travelling during the Christmas period, picking up train tickets early can help save you a bit of money,\u201d says Brett.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Look for presents in charity shops<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can get some really good-quality things in charity shops,\u201d says Brett. \u201cI\u2019m a big advocate for shopping in charity shops because it\u2019s better for the environment, the money goes towards a charitable cause, and you get to pick something cheap. It\u2019s the ultimate trifecta.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although we all love the joyous markets, parties and presents that come with the festive season, the mounting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[11232,138,18399,92832,246,92833,8970,111,139,69,244,245,4578,1613],"class_list":{"0":"post-135717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-budgeting","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-christmas","11":"tag-christmas-spending","12":"tag-finance","13":"tag-finance-lifestyle","14":"tag-money-saving-hacks","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-newzealand","17":"tag-nz","18":"tag-personal-finance","19":"tag-personalfinance","20":"tag-savings","21":"tag-uk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135717","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=135717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}