smart spending

Practice Smart Spending This Christmas

With Halloween and Bonfire night now behind us, the lead-up to Christmas has finally begun. If you haven’t noticed already, the festive period is slowly creeping upon us. Many shops and public spaces are now crowded with Christmas decorations to kick start the season. If you’re somebody who celebrates the occasion, you will understand that it’s definitely not the cheapest time of year. The costs soon add up after you have incorporated all of the festive aspects which make the occasion special. So, as the UK slowly transforms into a well-lit, festive nation you now have the perfect opportunity to begin practising smart spending habits to keep on top of your finances this winter.

How Much Do Brits Spend At Christmas?

Spending at Christmas is always high with a lot of Brits going way over budget. According to Statista, the UK as a whole spent roughly £83.1 billion in 2019. Fast forward to 2020, as a result of the pandemic the number of sales dropped equating to a total of only £79.7 billion. Despite the total amount still being high, many businesses struggled throughout the Christmas period due to a lack of purchases. However, luckily for businesses, this year the total sales are estimated to increase. Predictions expect the amount spent to be around £84.7 billion, which is even higher than before the pandemic hit.

Not Every Smart Spending Method Will Suit You

As you will already know, not every financial spending or budgeting method benefits every single person. Everyone has their own personal favourites which help them grow as an individual. Therefore, finding the best smart spending technique might take a little longer than you think. Despite Christmas being only a matter of weeks away, it’s definitely not too late to try and find the one which works for you. In fact, whether you discover a technique before or after Christmas, you could take the skills and turn the spending tricks into something which can be used all year round.

Overspending is an issue which millions of people struggle with, thankfully, there is help available to those searching for it. If you find yourself in a financial emergency, short term loans could be the solution you’re looking for. However, we do advise that you search elsewhere before opting for an answer that could possibly place you in more debt if used incorrectly.

Save Money This Christmas

Being tactical with your finances and locating a solution to your impulsive spending will help you save more than you probably imagine. With sales for presents, food and drinks being so high over the Christmas period, many of us could benefit from a few tips and tricks. So, what can you do to get a hold of your finances once and for all?

Track Your Finances

Tracking your finances will enable you to see how much you’ve spent and when you spent it. Despite this technique being quite a time-consuming activity, it allows you to gain a better understanding of your current financial habits (especially the bad ones). There are plenty of ways you can track your finances, whether you are somebody who prefers to do things digitally and automatically or somebody who favours more of a manual approach. If you’re planning on purchasing or sending gifts to multiple friends or family members this year it can be very easy to forget you’ve bought and the exact amount you’ve spent. Therefore, to enable you to spend as efficiently as possible, tracking your finances could be the perfect answer.

Say No When You Need Too

We understand letting somebody down and saying no is not always the easiest. We are all tempted by purchases we know we shouldn’t be making at certain times. However, that does not mean that we should risk falling into any kind of debt for something which isn’t essential. Before agreeing or disagreeing with anything which could financially impact you negatively, try weighing up the pros and the cons to find the answer you need.

Find The Deals

With Christmas approaching many shops will start interpreting deals and discounts into their marketing and sales plans. This way they hope to overtake their competitors and attract more conversions over the festive period. Therefore, if you see something you like, before completing the purchase we advise you to have a look online or shop around to see if you can find a better deal.