A financial hangover is a common post-Christmas dilemma when you spend far too much on the holiday season. After the year we’ve just had with an extensive lockdown period, naturally Christmas in 2021 may be a lot bigger with much more reason to celebrate with loved ones. Whether you go all out on the decorations, the gifts or the food and drinks, it’s very easy to tip over budget quite quickly, setting your financial goals a step back in the year ahead.
We give you 5 gift ideas that won’t break the bank or cause you to miss out on all the festive fun for the sake of saving money.
- Let your creative side out
Handmade gifts are a rarity considering it’s a lot more time efficient to head down to the store and purchase a list of items off the gift cart. However, making your own presents for others will not only save you a lot of your hard-earned funds, they will add an element of uniqueness and consideration. As your gift needs to be customised to the person it’s being gifted to it will be seen as more special and thought through. Think of things such as candles, soaps, DIY beauty and scrapbooks that you could create as a gift. Understandably it will take more time, so set aside a few days well ahead of the holiday break to engage in your creativity, but it will save you spending ridiculously high prices at the checkout.
- Gift an experience
You’ll find that many businesses are offering a discount on experiences to allow their business to grow after a long period of lockdown and shutdowns. In-person events and experiences were unable to run for months during the height of the COVID restrictions due to the delta strain, meaning cheaper prices will be up for grabs as an incentive to purchase. Businesses that offer experiences include the zoo, the aquarium, the movie theatre, a painting class, or hot air ballooning. Sites such as redballoon.com.au make the process seamless, as well as provide many ideas and options suited to your recipient.
- Provide a favour
Perhaps your sibling desperately needs a night out and can’t find anyone to look after their kids, offer your babysitting services for a set amount of weekends as your gift to them this year. It will be saving them a lot of money in babysitting fees, as well as allowing you to gift them something you know they both want and need. Depending on your skills you could offer helping someone to renovate their home, to help an elderly relative around the house, or even school pickups for a niece or nephew to skip the bus. It may feel a little like you’re being ‘cheap’ but in their eyes offering your time to help is going to be much more valuable than a fancy soap or a brand-new chess board. It’s also a heart-felt gift that both thought and consideration went into, benefitting both parties.
- Debate gifting this year
Perhaps the best approach to saving money on gifts for you is spending none at all, and that’s okay too. Have a discussion with your friends and family and communicate how you’re feeling about spending money for the holiday period that you may not have. Odds are they’d be happy to skip out on gifts this year to save themselves money also or lower the amount of presents they have to purchase. Make a deal to forgo buying material goods for one another for a year, because nothing is more awkward than showing up to the party where someone has a gift for you but you have nothing for them in return. As with most things, communication is key.
- Shop the sales
Thankfully there are many sales scheduled in for the lead up to Christmas Day including in the months of November and December. If you weren’t quick enough to catch Black Friday or Cyber Monday in November, there is still Green Monday on December 13th. Like a lot of other online sales, Green Monday is typically an online-only event so keep your eyes on your emails for marketing.
Arguably one of the most well-known sales events is Boxing Day, and although it occurs after Christmas many of us have belated family and social catch-ups for the holiday period due to work commitments or distance. If you have a list of people you need to buy for that you know you won’t see until after Christmas, consider buying for them after Christmas day and save yourself a lot of money in the process. Most retailers, both online and in-store, honour the 26th of December sales, but prepare yourself for a very crowded shopping centre.
