Christmas is 8 weeks away. Let’s start planning now, to save time and money, so we don’t blow the budget come December 25th.
In this week’s video I some basic planning to keep your budget for Christmas 2018 on track.
Here is an overview of what’s in the video:
Start with a Theme
To keep within budget, you need a focus and I like to start with an overall theme as having a theme makes it easier to plan and budget for.
Think about a word that sums up what you want the holiday to accomplish. Don’t make it about being Instagram perfect. Make it about having a great day that you enjoy as well as everyone else you care about.
I find that coming up with a theme for the holidays, you narrow your focus and only tend to do things or buy things that fit that theme.
There are four major areas where you over-spend at Christmas that can be prevented with a good solid plan:
- Gifts
- Decorating
- Entertaining, and
- Travelling
Planning & Budgeting for Gifts
Write down everyone you’re buying for and a guideline of how much you want to spend.
If you have specific gifts you know you want to purchase, start researching which stores have deals now or upcoming. It’s worth keep an eye on some brands social media accounts for the next few weeks to see if they have any flash sales or discount codes.
If you add everything up and the budget is getting higher than you want to spend, think about who you are buying for. If it is, narrow to buying for only those in your immediate family and close friends.
The more you do right now, the less stress and money you’ll have come Christmas day.
Have a Decorating Plan
Start with a colour scheme.
Having a
Go through last years decorations and see if they can be re-used this year. You may only need to make a small update to last year’s theme.
Decide on your tree and ornaments. Real or fake? Real trees have nice ambiance but a fake tree can last you years.
See if you can use last year’s ornaments and just update a few new ones.
Try and keep indoor house decor to a minimum. Mostly because it can be expensive to decorate every corner of each room. Keep house decor to a specific area.
Decide if (and how much) outdoor decor you want to display. There is no rule that says you must decorate outside, and don’t get caught up with competing with other houses in your street.
Write down a plan of what you’re re-using and what you’ll need and stick to the list.
Christmas Entertaining
Start planning now any:
- Christmas parties you’re hosting or going to,
- Christmas dinner or lunch you’ll need to prepare food for,
- and any other family or friends holiday catch-ups.
Think about all the events, parties and family gatherings you’ll be going to over the next two months and what food and other things you’ll need. You may need to pre-order some meats.
Make sure you’ll have enough plates, glassware, and cutlery. Re-use what you have where you can.
Good planning will prevent that last-minute rush through the grocery store grabbing the last food that’s left.
Travelling over the Holidays
You also need to budget and plan for any travelling you do. Book flights, make accomodation arrangements.
And don’t forget to budget for what you’ll spend on food, transportation and entertainment when you’re there.
Cover Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash