/ 6 December 2010

A festive-season survival plan

I came across these useful festive-season tips in a Liberty newsletter and thought they were worth sharing. Liberty has a festive-season survival plan for readers who are struggling with debt and need to keep their finances on track this month.

The festive-season survival plan

  • The long-term goal:Remind yourself of your longer-term financial plan: what do you need to save each month and what debt repayments you need to make to achieve your financial goals.
  • The daily budget:Now look at your budget — what additional funds are you prepared to set aside for the festive season? What percentage of your 13th cheque will go to debt repayment and how much to celebrating? Your longer-term plan will help you set those boundaries.
  • The family meeting:Sit down with your family and discuss your plans for December. Put a big white board in your kitchen and write the amount you have to spend. Discuss how the family wants to spend it — gifts, entertainment, holidays etc. This will make it real and help you to stick to your budget on a daily basis. Write down every day what you have spent and what you have left.
  • The social contract:Make a social contract with your extended family on gifts and entertainment. Everyone is in a similar situation, so be honest. Rather than buying gifts for everyone, pool your resources and buy one gift for each family member. Remember one small gift that has a special meaning is worth a lot more than how much you spent on it.
  • The shopping strategy:When you hit the shops, go with a list and just enough cash to buy what’s on the list. Lock the store cards away. Also, eat a good meal at home so you are not tempted to spend money on takeaways or extra food at the supermarket. Studies also show that we make better financial decisions when we are not hungry.

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