December, year end, festive season, holiday time, silly season, Christmas celebrations. Call it what you will, but there is a definite change in energy and dynamics at this time of year. Of course, the added joy of a Christmas bonus also adds to the feeling of light-heartedness and celebratory vibes!
If you are fortunate enough to receive a year-end bonus, before splurging it, put a bit of breathing space between the receiving, and the spending! Think it through.
The biggest problem with the festive season and Christmas time, is the Janu-Worry that comes after the celebrations. We sometimes tend to spend our hard-earned cash in generous proportions, especially when stores and online marketing use all the persuasive tools at their disposal, to entice us and help us to spend. Will-power converts to nil-power in seconds!
On the other hand, you may have skimped and scraped through the year, in order to stick to your budget and cover your debts. You are due a reward and a few longed-for spoils and treats. Agreed, but be sensible and rational about it.
The advisable way of spending money, is to prioritise debts and bills. Pay high priority debts first, before going on a spending spree. Remember that your next salary will only be paid at the end of January, and if you have school-going children, school supplies such as uniforms, stationery, transport money, etc. should be considered first. It is a priority, really, even in December!
The other way of being money wise, is to carefully plan how you intend celebrating Christmas. It really is not necessary to overspend on food and drinks, gifts and entertainment.
Discuss gift-giving with whoever is spending Christmas with you. Decide on a maximum figure for each gift, and stick to it. Alternatively, a fun and affordable idea for giving each person a gift, is to place large, empty gift bags, labelled for each person, in a suitable area (under the tree, or a specially assigned corner), and when guests arrive, they contribute a small, unwrapped gift to each bag. The bag fills up surprisingly quickly and each person will then receive one LARGE anonymous gift bag, with lots of interesting and unexpected little presents in it! (Just remember to advise guests beforehand, so they know who will be attending and how many gifts they need to buy.)
Food and drinks…… Share! Gone are the days when the host/hostess provided everything, and more! If you aren’t already sharing the load, now is the time to start! It also provides the platform of making people feel part of the event. They contribute what they can afford, which makes them feel integral to the gathering and celebrations.
Finally, make your bonus YOUR reward. If you can manage to squirrel some away, and not be tempted to blow it all, you can spoil yourself with something really special, when the January sales are on. Decide beforehand what you would really like, and let this motivate you to hang onto a certain amount, and reward yourself after the festive madness! (You know you want to!)
Let this Christmas be the sharing, caring, but budgeting wisely, kind.
