With holidays fast approaching for most and Christmas on the horizon, have you stopped to think how you will fund your additional expenses during December and January?
While it is viewed as the most wonderful time of the year, it is (unfortunately) often the most expensive.
There are gifts to buy, travel to pay for, accommodation, food and lots of hidden extras. The average Australian spends $1,079 per person over the Christmas holidays. 57% of people have a Christmas budget but only four out of five Australians actually stick to it. And 40% of us use some form of credit or borrowing to fund Christmas gifts.
So why is planning your holiday or Christmas important?
Quite simply, if you rack up too much debt, you can be faced with paying if off for most of the coming year.
80% of people pay off their debt within three months, but up to 20% of people still have Christmas holiday debt six months later.
This can hold you back from savings and leave you 'caught short' in emergencies.
Funding your dream Christmas
Saving and putting some money away incrementally throughout the year is the key to funding your ideal Christmas and avoiding debt. Ideally, put the money into an online savings account that you can’t touch directly via an ATM.
Funding your dream holiday
If you are planning to go overseas or do something special, save as much as you can so that when you access credit it is not so expensive. Remember credit cards interest rates can be ~20% pa on the outstanding balance.
Once you have ascertained how much you can save and what your holiday expenses will be, you will have funded adequately without stretching yourself too far. The opportunity then is for you to take regular holidays knowing your level of affordability but without detriment to your financial position.
12 success tips for Christmas
- Learn from your past Christmas financial experiences
- Make a list and check it twice so you have a clear budget in mind
- Look for ways to economise for Christmas Gift – eg. secret santa gifts for the adults
- Plan your shopping to avoid over spending
- Lay-by larger gifts earlier in the year eg. kids toys specials are usually in July
- Monitor your credit card
- Track you spending on a budget tool
- Use gift cards
- Give kids cash to help them learn about saving some of it!
- Give meaningful gifts that are not necessarily expensive (avoid overspending)
- Cut the Christmas Day food costs – "bring a plate"
- Plan for next Christmas early, put money away when you can and look for ways to save money
[Statistics source: https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources]
More information?
For more information, please contact James Cavanough from Lantern Advisory on 3002 2699.
