“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, but if the white runs out, I’ll drink the red”
A friend of mine was telling me a funny story about his 8 year old son, who didn’t get a wink of sleep last Monday night. You see, he had to put his Santa list together and deciding what was on the list and what was off, came between him and his nights’ sleep.
He finally settled on what he wanted and presented his wish list to his parents on the Tuesday morning. And he had no less than 15 items he wanted Santa to deliver – 15. And he didn’t present the list to them on hand written piece of paper, oh no, he had his list typed on an iPad no less. For a second, his father thought he was going to present his list by way of a power point presentation.
My friend said that when he got to item 11, he thought they were going to cost Santa about €600, and he said at that stage he just couldn’t swallow the slice of toast he had been chewing since he began reading the list, it refused to go down his throat. Maybe he knew that if he got to item 14, it would be coming back up again and fairly quickly at that.
And item 14 was something that if you gave him a hundred, no a thousand chances to guess what his son might look for, he would never have come up with it. And there it was, staring at him, on his iPad, bulleted at number 14, in century gothic font style:
- Swansea FC away jersey
What the fridge! The child supported Liverpool.
They were running late for school and work, so they all agreed to re-visit the list later that night.
Throughout the day, Mum and Dad were texting and calling each other, reviewing the list and agreeing what Santa would allow on the list and what he just couldn’t, so that when they had the conversation with their son, they were going to be on the same page.
To cut a long story short, the Swansea FC away jersey that was going to cost Santa €50 was off the list and it was narrowed down to 5 presents. And I must be really getting old because back when I was 8, Santa would bring you 2 presents and one of those was a selection box.
For most people, Christmas is their favourite time of the year, and I’m one of them. For me I get to spend more time with my family, more time watching TV, more time reading, more time in bed in the mornings, and time to re-charge my batteries after a long and busy year.
And of course for others, the reason they might like Christmas so much is because a son or daughter returns home from abroad for the Christmas period, and not even Santa himself could give a better gift than that.
But there are others who find Christmas one of the most stressful times of the year, and according to one psychological association, they claim as many as 69% of people become stressed at Christmas because of a lack of time, money and or pressure to give or get gifts.
And is it just a coincidence that January is the month when most divorce filings are made (In the UK they refer to January 3rd as Divorce Day because that is when legal firms get the most number of calls from couples who can’t bear to be with each other anymore – and I wonder was it Christmas that pushed them over the edge?)
And apparently you are also 5% more likely to suffer a heart attack during the Christmas period than at any other time of the year because of the stress that comes with it.
From a financial perspective it’s one of, if not, the most expensive time of year, and given that it is a little over three weeks to go, if you haven’t prepared by now or at least given some thought as to how much you will spend over Christmas, you could be looking for trouble.
For an awful lot of people, as much as they like Christmas, it can also be a time of dread financially for them. Because year after year, figures are released from organisations like the Irish League of Credit Unions, Retail Ireland, Price Water House Coopers, Aviva, Mabs etc. which reveal things like how we will spend at December (c. €4,000,000,000 – 4 billion), or how 80% of us will admit to spending too much at Christmas - Ireland by the way tops the list of European countries who spend the most at Christmas time (Holland are at the bottom of the table when it comes to Christmas spend per person) and how half the population will borrow this year to fund the cost of Christmas, and how 4 out of 10 people still owe money on things they purchased from last years’ Christmas.
Regardless of how good or bad your financial situation is, I’m not going to patronise you and list a whole lot of things you should be doing with Christmas just around the corner, because for many people it takes the fun out of Christmas for them, as it is their one time of the year to splurge a little bit and rightly so. They don’t want to be told they should be making their own Christmas presents, or suggesting secret Santa with other members of their family, or saving money by sending e-cards instead of an actual hand written card – I don’t know about you but I like to write and receive hand written cards.
But you just need to be careful as well, and don’t get into debt buying things you know you will find difficulty in repaying or will take you months to pay off, and you want to raid your savings account too much either.
It is the worst time of the year to scrimp and save but it really is important to be sensible and only spend what you can afford to, so absolutely have fun and spend money, but be prudent at the same time. So, here are some tips that I like that might help you with this year’s spend:
- If you find a present that’s a good deal, look at the cost of the item not the discount.
What I mean by this is if you set a budget of €20 to buy a present for a nephew of yours and you find something that cost €20 and is now reduced to €10, leave it at that, don’t go looking to spend another €10 to make up the difference.
- Make the most of discount websites like Groupon or Living Social.
It might be a good idea to sign up to a site like them before you make any purchase as you might find the item you were looking for at half the shop price or even better.
- Make a budget and see how much you can afford to spend this Christmas.
Write down on a page how much you will spend on presents, food, nights out etc. or input it on an excel spreadsheet, or use an on-line budgeting tool, whatever works for you but whatever you do, do something.
There is an app that I have been using called Santa’s Bag and it is excellent, and the best I have come across. It’s really easy to use and you can download it for free to your phone and it will track how much you are spending, who you have to buy for, whether you are over budget or not, where you bought the present and who for. Regardless of whether you use an app or write your budget on the back of an envelope, whatever works best for you is fine with me, but planning for presents and budgeting for them will help you buy what you really need rather than making last minute, expensive purchases.
- When you go shopping, leave two things at home, your credit card and your kids.
The credit card is just a needless temptation that you promise yourself you will use only once and will repay it in full in January and of course you won’t. If you use cash you will have to stay within budget, you will have no other choice because if the money isn’t there then you can’t spend what you don’t have. And it’s a proven fact that you are likely overspend if you shop with friends or family. You will save money if you shop alone so make a list and stay focused on what you need to buy staying under the budget you set yourself – get in and get out again, fast!