Hello Lovely People !
Christmas can be the most wonderful time of the year but it can also be the most expensive. and nobody wants to ruin the Christmas magic with money problem. It can be particularly tricky as a broke student so I've put together an easy five step guide on how to budget for Christmas !
Making A Realistic Budget
Work out exactly how much you've got to spend. Try to be realistic here, it's far better to underestimate than overestimate and end up without any money left to buy that nice scarf for your long forgotten second cousin twice removed hehe !
Ensuring You Don't Forget Anyone
Make a list of everyone that you've got to buy for and separate them into four categories. Family, Friends, Work and Relationships. This makes it easier to break everything down so you can clearly see who you've got to buy for. ( Double check the list before you move on, you don't want to forget anyone )
Creating Individual Budgets
Delegate a segment of your budget to each person, so that you know exactly how much you've got to spend on each person. Breaking the budget down into smaller, more manageable pieces makes it harder to over-spend. If you're on a really strict budget like me you can take the money and separate it into separate envelopes for every person on your list ( remember to label the envelopes ). This way you can clearly see exactly how much you have left ( Or don't have left ) to spend on each person.
Christmas With All The Trimmings
Whatever is left of your budget after buying presents can then be dedicated to all the trimmings eg. cards and gift wrap to add that extra bit of sparkle to your Christmas ! There will be a post with lots of pretty wrapping inspiration later this Blogmass so keep your eyes peeled .
Organisation Is Key
Make a clear table so that you can see clearly what your budget is, what you've already spent, who you've finished buying for and what to buy ! If you want to be super organized like yours truly you can buy a little notebook ( Mines from Wilkinson's and it cost just £2) and use it to write down all your Christmas budgeting and to jot down present ideas when you see them !
I really hope these tips help keep Christmas on a budget , for a whole bunch of tips to help you keep Christmas stress free, check back tomorrow ! In the meantime, let me know in the comments what you do to help keep your Christmas on a budget ! I can't wait to hear all of your fantastic tips.
Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)
lots of love, Marianne xxx
I agree, setting individual budgets is really helpful.
ReplyDeleteAleeha xXx
http://www.halesaaw.com/
It's the best way I've found to stay on track !
Deletelots of love, Marianne xxx
Setting budgets is definitely so helpful. Really needed this post, I'm definitely struggling with budgeting haha!
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It can be hard to find the time to sit down and budget but it's so important !
Deletelots of love, Marianne xxx
These are some really helpful tips, my darling! I agree with you, I think that organisation is key. It's so easy to get carried away with Christmas shopping... I usually just plan out what I want to get for each person in advance and stick to it. Luckily my family isn't very big so Christmas is usually quite easy on my wallet, actually. :) Still, these are very useful tips for budgeting in general! Thanks for sharing, lovely. I hope you're well! xoxo
ReplyDeleteKay
http://www.shoesandglitter.com/
Thank you sweetie ! That's a brilliant idea, my family isn't too big either luckily but my girlfriends family seems never ending hehe :)
Deletelots of love, Marianne xxx
Hi sweetie !
ReplyDeleteYour post is reaaaaally good. I've never really budget for Christmas because December is always a time when I am busy with so many things that I usually end up just buying whatever I see in shops that could please everyone and at the end I'm like "oh my how comes money go away so fast" ahah
I think the list-tip is super nice and I'm definitely gonna do that.
Thank you lots for this blog ☺
- Audrey M.
www.audreymarianne.com
Thank you darling ! Haha oh dear I think that's a nice way to do Christmas shopping until your money runs out :) I really hope it helps you !
Deletelots of love, Marianne xxx
I find it so easy to spend so much on people at Christmas time but I definitely need to stop doing that! I always find making a list of what to buy for people before I go shopping is so much easier instead of buying everything and anything xx
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It's easy to mess up on how much you have to spend when you're buying pressies for people you love :) Making a list is a great way to combat that :)
Deletelots of love, Marianne xxx