7 Ways to Save Money Over the Holiday Season

This time of the year is full of chaos, especially at malls. Car parks at shopping centres are full, there are long lines at the check out counters, food courts are packed out, stock is depleted and wallets are being emptied. If you are a regular Christmas spender on yourself and regret it later, try and lighten the debt by using these 7 ways to save money over the holiday season. 

1. Do Not Impulse Shop – Wait for 24-48 hours

The easiest way we ever spend money is when we see something, our eyes light up and we buy it on impulse. Give it time. A better way to make sure you are buying an item that will bring you joy not only in that moment but in a weeks, months etc time – is to wait. Yes, I know that it could mean you miss out on the item altogether – but everything happens for a reason. If you didn’t need it before you saw it, did you ever really need it? Go home and sleep on it, haha. Then if the next day or a couple of days later you think ‘I need that‘ then head back to the shops and make your purchase.

2. Reverse psychology – replace something new with something old

If you are going to buy something new, don’t accumulate! We already have too many things and if you are gathering more items – clothes, linen, cookware, furniture, glasses and so on – get rid of the old. We can tend to not appreciate what we have, if we have a lot of the same things. If you find it is too hard to throw the old away, then do not buy the new!

3. Wait for a sale to come up

If you are thinking it is something that you really, really want, then have patience. Sales happen every day and most likely the item you can’t live without will have a sale and then you can save money for another purchase (or save the money you saved!).

4. If there wasn’t a sale, would you buy it at RRP?

Sometimes we end up buying something because we think ‘what a bargain!’, I know I am guilty of that. There would be a lot of things I wouldn’t have bought over the years if I always used this logic. Can you think of items you’ve bought and later down the track think ‘yeah, that was a waste’. I know this is in reverse of point number 3 (above), but you have to process your purchases. This will easily separate a want from a need.

5. Pay with cash and avoid putting it on the credit card/owing the debt

If you are someone who constantly throws a credit card down (or tapping away with pay-wave), perhaps it’s time to re-think. When we were younger, we had to wait for our paycheck to come through from our job and then use that cash to make our purchases. But now we go out and spend and deal with the bill at the end of the cycle. Try to pull out cash or use your debit card. You will then watch your bank account go down, rather than your credit card bill go up.

6. Have a budget? Make one

We have heard this term from a young age. This word is one that businesses are very familiar with and are almost mandatory to have. When it comes to individuals, how many friends, family members, work colleagues etc have a personal budget that you know of (and stick to it)? One of the reasons why people do not have personal budgets, is knowing that they are limited. They can’t dictate there spending as they see fit, but rather by what is reasonable (or by restriction). Over the holidays you should definitely work out how much money you will have, how much you can spend and much you should spend. Budget so that you don’t have to start 2018 thinking, ‘sh*t, I spent too much money‘.

7. Track your spending

With nearly everything being able to be done through technology, why not get another app for tracking your purchases. There are lots of apps out there. Read Forbes 12 Free To Track Your Spending for ideas. Monitor your purchases and check this at the end of the week or the Christmas break. This forces you to see how much you’ve spent over the course of time rather than paying the credit card bill or just seeing your bank account deplete before the next paycheck hits.

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Remember to spend wisely and only buy what you need. A treat here or there is always expected and you surely deserve it too. But there is a difference between a treat and being excessive or over-indulging. Don’t make others rich before making yourself rich.

Have a happy and safe festive holiday!

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