It would be so easy to just throw your hands in the air and reach for the credit card in order to fund Christmas. In fact statistics show that Christmas is usually the time of year that the credit card gets stressed to the max.

So how can we avoid relying on the plastic to fund those extra expenses that Christmas usually brings?

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Here’s 4 ideas to get you started...

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1. Go on a money hunt!! “What?” I hear you ask – “Is it hiding under the mattress?” “In an old sock?”
Well, No not exactly! Do you realise that there could be a lot of money hiding in the pantry and the freezer? Not literally of course but If you can make your meals leading up to Christmas from the items you find in your pantry or freezer you could save your usual food shopping budget and put that money towards Christmas spending.

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2. Redeem your “Flybuy” dollars – remember that question that you are often asked at certain checkouts? “Do you have fly buys?” Well now is the time to make a phone call and request that they be converted to dollars so that the next time you are at those checkouts – you can pay with Flybuy dollars. We regularly use ours to buy our Christmas groceries.

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3. Sell your unused items on Facebook Marketplace – you can also go Christmas shopping on marketplace!!– we managed to get our daughter a much wanted “Driza Bone” one year – almost brand new for $50 and saved ourselves a whopping $150

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4. Give Christmas food as a gift – this is a great idea because you can make a little go a long way. For example you can make one large square Christmas cake and then cut it into four and wrap a ribbon around and give to 4 of your neighbours, children’s school teachers etc. I also make little Christmas puds and package them up as gifts and they are very well received. As you can see from the recipe below – they are so easy and a little goes a long way…. my son in law loves them!

So that’s four ideas – Hopefully I have got your creative juices flowing – Now its your turn to get creative - make it a rule that you will not resort to credit and you will find the truth in the old saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention" 

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If you can get this right, you will not experience the stress of the Christmas credit card arriving late January/early February and when lots of other families are finding that time of year a heavy burden you will be thankful you never succumbed to the lure of the credit card. 

 

When the New Year rolls in make planning for Christmas one of your New Year Resolutions and put away savings every time you get paid. You will never have to stress about Christmas again - now that makes for a very happy Christmas!

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If you would like to learn about managing and planning your finances better then click the link below to book your free consultation.