Christmas Countdown
With less than 6 weeks to go, it is time to revisit the Christmas Countdown and see where you are up to, or what you need to do to catch up. 12 Weeks to Christmas – Make a Plan
Alternatives to help the Christmas Budget
If you have not started your Christmas shopping yet, don’t despair. The elves at Wall Business Services have put together some ideas to avoid late night shopping on Christmas Eve.
- Make a list!!! – This is essential, but does not need to be in detail.
- Write down who you have to buy for
- Write down food items that you need e.g. are you doing a full lunch, or you just need to bring dessert
- Note amounts next to each item, this helps to get an idea of cost, and have something to measure ‘good deals’ against
- Read your junk mail, or cruise online for specials
- Shopping for kids? Hand them their own coloured pen and let them ‘shop’ for what they want
- Gift Cards, many come on special at this time with discounts or special offers
- Buy a little each week
- When grocery shopping, add a little Christmas theme to each shop and start building your Christmas stash
- One week, buy all the tableware e.g. plastic plates, bowls, cutlery, napkins
- Another week, buy all the dessert needs
- Take note of use by dates!
- Would rather get all your shopping done in one hit?
- Buy a gift card each week, with intention to use these at one big shop the week before Christmas
- If entertaining friends or family, don’t be scared to ask them to do their part.
- Each guest brings a dish. This helps promote new things for the kids to try, different cultures and food diversity but most of all it saves you money.
- Allocate a role for each quest, one is on dessert, one is on appetizers.
In a nutshell…
Christmas can be filled with a lot of pressure, particularly for the hip pocket. Make a list and plan ahead to minimise the expense.
You can plan a fantastic season, without costing you a fortune. The main point is to write down what you ‘need’ to do, and knock a little off the list each week.
