How to budget for Christmas
The silly season is right around the corner and thanks to the dumpster fire that has been 2020, many of us will be tightening our purse strings a little more this year.
If you’re on a tight budget, here are our top tips to rein in your seasonal spend so you can sleigh this Christmas.
Be a savvy shopper
There’s a reason Santa makes a list and checks it twice, and no it’s not just because he’s old and forgetful. Making a list of what you need to buy and sticking to it before you hit the shops ensures you stay on track and don’t buy a bunch of junk you don’t need - like yet another Kmart candle.
It’s never too early to start looking for gifts. Rather than leave all your Christmas shopping up until the very last minute like most people, buy gifts during the year when sales, like Black Friday, are on.
If you’re shopping online, there are plenty of websites and browser extensions that can help you save money, like the Honey extension for Chrome, which trawls the web for discount codes and automatically applies them to your cart at checkout.
Use your offset sub-account to save your Christmas spending money
Rather than putting your Christmas spending money into a regular savings account, save it up in your home loan's offset sub-account to take advantage of lower interest payments and pay off your home loan faster.
If your home loan doesn’t come with an offset account, consider switching to one that does. We offer the feature of an offset sub-account with our home loans. With an offset linked to your home loan, every dollar you put in is “offset” against your home loan balance and you only pay interest on the difference.
Consider Secret Santa
What better way to save money on Christmas presents than to only buy one? If money is really tight it’s hard to go wrong with the Secret Santa approach, whether it’s among your family, friends, or colleagues at work.
Have a pre-Christmas cleanup
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so why not generate a bit of extra cash to go towards your Christmas shopping by selling your unwanted items? A recent report by Gumtree found that the average Aussie is sitting on $5,800 worth of unwanted items.
Sacrifice one regular expense
Most of us have that one thing we regularly spend money on that, if we’re being really honest with ourselves about, we could probably go without. Whether it’s your Friday night Uber Eats delivery, $400 biannual keratin treatment, or Sunday morning brunches, you can save a lot of money by cutting out at least one of these regular expenses.
Then, pop the money you’ve saved by sacrificing this regular expense into your savings instead and start the New Year with a bit of extra cash, and maybe a new savings habit!
Find out how much you can save using an offset sub-account
Find out in under 2 minutes if you qualify for one of our low rate home loans.
About the article
As Australia's leading online lender, loans.com.au has been helping people into their dream homes and cars for more than 10 years. Our content is written and reviewed by experienced financial experts. The information we provide is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives or needs. If you'd like to chat to one of our lending specialists about a home or car loan, contact us on Live Chat or by calling 13 10 90.
