Spend your holiday season wisely

Boost your festive finances by selling items you no longer want online, in a garage sale, or at a local buy-swap-sell. Cashing in on items like clothes, books, jewellery, furniture, or sporting equipment can make way for the new.

The items you no longer want could also be just the gift someone else is looking for this Christmas, so it’s a win-win.

Lists are great guard rails to help keep you on track.

Make a list for presents and how much you want to spend per person.

A list for entertainment, including food and drinks, may also be helpful to keep a check on spending.

Australians’ shopping habits are shifting, and the traditional peak Christmas shopping period is now happening in November. This is largely being driven by an increase in online shopping and online shopping sales events.

More than 8 million Australians said they were taking advantage of 2020 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.²

Black Friday is the Friday immediately after the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, while Cyber Monday is the Monday immediately after Black Friday, so it fell on the weekend of 27-30 November in 2020.

Australian shopping habits research shows the number of people taking advantage of online shopping sales in 2020 included an estimated 2.8 million people who had never shopped the sales before.

Making lists and budgets aren’t particularly effective if you don’t keep an eye on the money going out.

Keeping track of your festive spending is the best way to avoid going over your holiday season budget.

Use an app, write it down, or keep track through your online banking.

When the Christmas decorations have been packed away, festive season debt may linger long enough to impact you throughout 2020. So, be careful with your credit card at Christmas.

According to Reserve Bank of Australia statistics,³ there has been a fall in popularity of credit cards and a rise in Australians’ use of debit cards following the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.

Between March and August 2020, the figures showed the number of active credit card accounts in Australia had fallen by 3.6% to just under 14 million, and the number of cards on issue was down 3.5% to 18.7 million.

Buy Now Pay Later options, such as Afterpay, operate without a service fee for customers who pay on time.

Buy Now Pay Later may be a great way to spread big costs out over time, but you still need to ensure the cost is within your budget.

Other tips that may help you manage Buy Now Pay Later spending include:

• Keep a record of your purchases
• Set payment reminders
• Check the fine print for your obligations and rights.

When you have checked everything off your list, it is time to stop shopping.

Try to avoid stopping by the shopping centres for any last-minute pick-ups or just to see what the shops might have.

If you can’t resist being part of the hustle and bustle of last-minute, late-night shopping, plan and budget for stocking stuffer purchases for this time.

You will get your shopping fix, buy something you need, and not blow the budget.

The period immediately after the holidays may be the perfect time to check over your budget and make plans for the new year. How did you do? Did you stay within budget? Were there places you could have cut back?

The days following Christmas are also synonymous with sales. This might be a chance for you to get a jump start on your next Christmas. This may be so much easier if you’ve budgeted accordingly.