In a few weeks time it will be Christmas – one of the most financially stressful times of the year. Here at Budget Bitch, we’re always talking about the need to have a basic financial plan (a budget) and how easy your life can become when you have your money under control.

We didn’t intend to get involved in the pre-Christmas hype before December but already we’ve had a few requests for some help with planning a stress-free Christmas. Obviously our message is getting through and people are taking budget planning a bit more seriously these days.

It’s important to not have a financial blow-out, yet every year we hear horror stories about families that suffer terribly as a result of over-spending. We also over-eat and we drink too much but it’s the money carnage that has the biggest impact. Christmas is just one day of the year!

If Christmas is a time for family traditions, then now is the time to talk about changing or adding some new ones that won’t break anybody’s budget. There are probably some other family members who are secretly longing for this to happen. Perhaps your family would benefit from a ‘pre-Christmas planning’ day which will give everybody a chance to plan for the event properly. (Why only get together once a year?)

If you plan to host the family Christmas party and will have a house full of guests, then I’m sure that they’d be happy to contribute or share in some way. Perhaps they could bring a ‘favourite dish’. Or maybe a ‘traditional dinner’ could be divided into parts that each guest could provide (eg: somebody brings the turkey / ham, somebody else provides the veggies. The pudding could be supplied by somebody else, and the custard could also be made by another guest. Are you getting the idea here?)

With the way the weeks just seem to fly by perhaps you could start your Christmas planning now – if you haven’t already. That way you won’t have a major ‘money melt-down’ due to lack of preparation.

Statistics show that people who leave everything to the last minute will spend more money because they’ve run out of time.

Please don’t be a statistic. If you need some help – call us!

©   Carmel McCartin – Budget Bitch

And don’t forget – (The views expressed in this blog are the personal opinions of the author. Don’t rely on them to make financial decisions; you have to make up your own mind. If you don’t like the content – then either stop reading or send me an email)