8 Ways to have a broke-free Christmas!

Are you fond of exiting  the Christmas season broke? Well, most parents do, due to the pressure to give family and friends presents and host parties. For every parent, your pocket is one area you have to protect from holes – especially during Christmas. As a school that cares for you we believe this season should not be as pocket-draining as the past ones, right? With these few tips we believe you can have your ideal Christmas – without going broke!

Start with a budget and stick to it

Have a budget. Some people don’t have a budget to start with. So let’s say you decide to blow x amount this Christmas. More often than not, you end up spending more than what the budget’s limit. Plus, you find yourself always leaving a shop with more than you planned for. So… how then do you stick to the budget?

Rather, make a shopping list with a spending limit attached to it; avoid hanging out at the mall too often or around shops you feel are going to drain you dry; pay in cash; try to shop by yourself more since shopping with someone may tempt you to get more stuff (especially if they are spendthrifts); don’t go crazy on the kids – especially with toys (they don’t need new toys every year)!

Compare prices before you buy

Although you may think your favorite shop has the best discount rates and products, think again. It’s Christmas and many other stores are giving mind-blowing offers! While you may not feel too comfy buying from other shops, try scouting through others to review their prices. It may surprise you the amount of money you could save. Thanks to online shopping, you can do these comparisons from the comfort of your home with just a phone and even save some fuel (since you don’t have to drive from store to store).

Regifting presents

Is it okay to regift especially during Christmas? Though many of us may not feel too ‘okay’ with it, it actually is okay. Instead of those gifts sitting on the shelf from your last birthday or Christmas,  save money and pay down debt by giving it out. But before you do, there are a few rules you should not break when regifting:

-The gift should make sense – if you did not love the gift, it’s possible the new recipient may not like it either

-Take off the gift tag!

-Don’t regift gifts you received from meaningful people

-Don’t regift family gifts like generational jewelry

-Avoid regifting within the same circle of friends

-Watch expiry dates especially for consumables

-Rewrap the gift

Take advantage of sales

Sales! Don’t we all love them! In Ghana, one of the discounts offers associated with the festive season is the Black Friday Sales. How does 70% sound? Yes, you could even get a whopping 90% off! Try and use them – you may never know how much stress you could save off your pocket!

Buy gifts in bulk

If you are gift-giving type and can’t do without giving, reduce your stress by purchasing the items in bulk. Say, rather than buying towels or pajamas separately, you could get a set of them and redistribute, which is cheaper.

You don’t need new decorations every year 

Are you the family that buys Christmas trees and decorations every Christmas? Hmm… not too good an idea if you want to save. Why not put them away nicely so that they could be used the following year, instead of just dumping them into the closet?

Share the costs of holiday meals

No one ever said hosting a party was easy! That is why, this time, you should not cook all the food. Instead, politely ask each of the attendants to bring either meat, drinks, desserts or starters so that it eases the burden on you ( and your pocket of course)! After all, Christmas is a season of sharing, right?

Get rid of some family Christmas traditions 

Do you travel to the end of the earth every Christmas or set up super expensive decorations every year? See, not all traditions are worth keeping – especially the ones that strain you. Now this does not mean you should totally scrape them off but think carefully through and weigh options to see if they still need to be celebrated. If not, replace them with newer but cheaper ones.

We hope these helped. At this point, the whole Ecole Ronsard family wishes you a stress-free Christmas and a broke-free New year! HO! HO! HO! Do you know someone who is likely to get exhausted this Christmas? Why not share this article with them?