According to a recent study conducted by Fairfax media, many Australian credit card holders will be paying off their Christmas spending up to 3 months after the tree is packed up. Only 28% said that they would pay off their debt straight away and 1 in 4 said they will be still paying off debt 4 months later. These are alarming numbers and is the reason it is important to have a financial plan heading into Christmas as remember, nothing stops that holiday feeling quite like a debt you can’t repay!
Here are our 5 financial tips to ensure you come out of Christmas in the best possible shape.
- Avoid paying on credit – this is an obvious one but will see you come out of the Christmas period in a lot better financial shape. Try and use only your liquid cash, even it means buying slightly ‘cheaper’ presents. At the end of end of the day people won’t care anyway!
- Set a budget for Christmas. With Christmas a few weeks away still, it is not too late to sit down and write a clear budget. It is easy to get carried away and spend, spend, spend over Christmas but if you have sat down and made a clear budget, this is a sure way to avoid this.
- Pay your January bills in December. This will take the stress away when you come out of Christmas knowing that the next month’s expenses are taken care of.
- Track your spending. Download a spending app or use your online bank statement to track your spending throughout so there will be no surprises come the end of December.
- Plan for next Christmas now. The best way to get ahead at Christmas is to plan well in advance. Start by putting as little as $20 aside each week from now until next year and come next Christmas you’ll be set!
Remember Christmas is a fleeting time, but this doesn’t mean it has to be a fleecing one!
On behalf of everyone at MASU we wish you are a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!