By: Natasha Archary
It’s quarter-to-festive season, and this means that most people have started their Christmas shopping and spending money entertaining family and friends at home.
Whether you’re hosting people for lunches or dinners, planning activities and outings with your kids, or going out, each swipe of your card adds up, and if you don’t track your festive spending, come January, you may find yourself stuck eating cabbage.
Let’s not forget that after the Christmas and New Year celebrations, those with children will have to shop for back-to-school necessities, and textbooks do not come cheap.
Having a budget is one way to help you spend money wisely.
Here are some tips to help you spend money wisely this December:
Do not buy to impress
One of the worst mistakes you can make is to buy things you do not need or can’t afford just to impress your family and friends.
Spending money wisely means prioritizing what is a need and a want.
Avoid last-minute shopping
Last-minute shopping comes with pressure. Many stores have sales leading up to Christmas, but you might find some of the items are not available if you wait until it’s too late.
This will mean you source the item at other stores and possibly pay more because the stock is so limited.
Save for January
Make sure that you don’t start the new year broke and without money for essentials and petrol to go to work.
If you need to buy school uniforms and stationery, do it in November or December to ensure that you don’t have to worry about that in January.
Also, remember to put aside money for school fees and other payments that may arise.
Don’t spend until your debit orders go off
A lot of people get paid earlier in December, and while it might be tempting to start spending as soon as the money enters your bank account, it’s irresponsible.
The wise thing to do is to calculate your debit orders and make sure you have money in your bank account so that you don’t find yourself defaulting on payments, or only start spending once your debit orders go off.
Have a set budget for entertainment and stick to it
Decide how much you want to spend on entertainment, food, and all festive activities, and stick to it.
If this means you have to decline certain invites because you don’t have enough money, so be it. This goes for purchasing gifts for your loved ones too.
Also read: Consumers are encouraged to check the expiry date of food products this Black Friday
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