Christmas Budgeting Tips

According to the statistics out there, every Canadian consumer spends, on average around $800 at Christmas time. There’s nothing wrong with spending the money, if you have it, but there’s also nothing wrong with having a plan for your Christmas spending.

Here are some tips from my house to yours this holiday season...

1. Decide on a budget for your Christmas gifts. Write down how much you are going to spend on each person on your list and stick to that amount.
I am always surprised when I write it out (including teachers, coaches, stocking gifts, etc) and find out how much I actually spend on Christmas.
According to a MasterCard survey of 1,501 adults, nearly 60 per cent of Canadians are hitting the malls with no budget in mind, while 13 per cent of those who set limits on their spending admit they don't stick to them.

2. When you have decided how much you are going to spend on everyone, take out the cash (put it in envelopes if you want) so you are not tempted to over-spend.

3. Buy gifts online to save time and money. If you are Canadian and you find a really good deal in the states, you can have your item shipped to a PO Box in the States for $6 a package. Go on the website www.cbiusa.com and find one close to the border near where you live.

4. If you are mailing a lot of packages, save on postage by mailing gift cards instead. You can even send e-gift cards from a lot of stores such as walmart and toys rus that will be sent directly to your recipients email accounts. These cards can then be used for online purchases. You can also order gift cards online that will be shipped right to the recipient’s door.

5. Make your own wrapping paper this year. Get a big roll of brown paper and have your kids decorate it with stickers and drawings.

6. Get creative with gifts. Most people would be happy if they were given a thoughtful gift, rather than an expensive one.

7. If you have a lot of friends or family, do a gift exchange instead of buying for everyone.

8. Set a fixed limit on gifts with friends and family so that the gift giving doesn’t get out of hand.

Holiday Entertaining Budgeting Tips

According to one website, the average person spends $325 on holiday entertaining.
Here are some great tips from ivillage.com to decrease the amount of money you spend on entertaining.

1. Downsize. Stop making so many appetizers and desserts. Serve one type of punch and just serve a few crowd-pleasing snacks and desserts.

2. Potluck. Have everyone pitch in and bring something to the party.

3. Let your decorations do double-duty. There’s no need to buy fancy decorations. Put lemons, limes or clementines in a glass bowl for a festive centerpiece. You can use these lemons/limes as needed for cocktails and guests can eat the clementines.
Use leftover branches from a trimmed Christmas tree as decoration around the house.

4. Leftovers. Use your leftovers from the party the day after. Use broken tortilla chip in soups and chili the next day or make a Mexican casserole.
If you have extra cheese, make grilled cheese the next day. You get the idea…

After using some of these tips, you’ve saved some money. Now what?
How about we give more this Christmas.
IMAGINE… that you took a portion of what you saved at Christmas and stood up to consumerism by giving life to others.

Did you know… Canadians spend 35 Billion dollars on Christmas, yet it would only cost 13 Billion to help provide clean water for most of the world?

This isn’t to make you feel guilty, just to make you think about what you’re spending.If you want some suggestions for giving to charity this Christmas season, here they are:

1. Give to the charity you choose in the name of a person that is on your Christmas list.

2. Shop through the World Vision catalogue and buy something that someone really needs! www.worldvision.ca/gifts

3. If you want to give of your time, instead of your money, how about volunteering to sort food at your local community care/food bank. Here is the St. Catharines website:
http://www.90for90.ca/page/home

4. Think about volunteering to cook or serve a meal at a Shelter. In St. Catharines, here is the information for the Southridge Shelter: http://www.southridgechurch.ca/help/C55/

I hope some of these ideas are useful to you this holiday season