4 tips for enjoying the festive season on a budget

Whew, you made it! Celebrate the end of 2020 by being a bit smarter with how you spend your money over the festive season.

Do pot luck for meals and drinks

We all look forward to enjoying delicious meals with friends and family during the holiday season. A fun and festive way to organise a home party while keeping the costs low is doing a pot luck style meal where everyone brings a single dish. Not only is the cost of the food spread across the group, you also get to try and learn some new delicious recipes. You can do something similar for beverages where everyone brings their drink of choice to share with the group. It’s a more affordable way to enjoy some festive drinks than spending a fortune on drinks at pubs or restaurants.

Suggest a Secret Santa for presents 

The biggest expense we all probably feel during the festive season is buying all the people we love presents. To help curb this expense but still enjoy the fun of gift-giving, why not do a Secret Santa! 

A Secret Santa is great as you all agree on a certain budget and everyone only has to buy one gift, which massively saves time and money. There are some great sites that can help you organise, and participants can even build a wishlist to make sure the gift they’re receiving will be put into good use. To add some extra fun, try a twist of Bad Santa, where everyone still brings a single gift within the budget, but get assigned a number to pick a present in order. Participants who pick later can steal a present previously chosen by someone else, a cheeky way to make sure at least some of us end up with the gift we actually like. 

Don’t jump on every sale or deal thrown at you

The end of year sales tend to start with Black Friday and will last all the way through to new year,  with so many attractive deals flying around to get our attention and bucks. It’s smart to use the deals well to purchase things you have already planned for at a cheaper price, but you don’t have to jump on every sale that gets thrown at you, especially for things you don’t really need. Next time when you see something is 50% off, remember it’s 100% if you don’t buy it!  

Make lists and stick to them

One way to not blow up your holiday budget is to make lists for everything you want to buy, stick to them and think twice before adding additional stuff on. Spend a little time to shop around and find the best deal possible for each category, including your decorations, presents and other household items. 

Beyond all these tips, the most important thing is to enjoy yourself. A little planning ahead can go a long way to balance your expenses and still end the year with a whole bunch of fun.