How To Manage Your Holiday Finances

Holiday finances

With Christmas, holidays and back to school expenses this can be a really tough time of year for families, and of course we are here to help if you need us.

In the mean-time here are some budgeting tips to help make ends meet.

• Shop specials (you can save a lot of money by not being loyal to just one brand)
• Make a shopping list and concentrate on the things you really need
• Cut out luxuries
• Negotiate school donations with your school and remember they are not compulsory
• If you are behind in your bills talk to those companies and arrange a payment plan
• Find things you have around the house that you don’t need and list them on-line
• Think about cutting out vices like smoking or alcohol
• Think about taking the bus or walking or cycling rather than driving short distances
• If you have young children use a toy library, or set one up among your friends
• Put together a budget and fine tune it to what you really need, this can seem daunting but with some imagination you might be able to make some real savings

Budget (make sure you include these things)

Rent or mortgage

Power/ gas

Phones

Internet

Petrol

Groceries

Insurance

Loans

Hire purchase

Savings

Clothes (include uniforms)

Haircuts

Health (doctors’ visits/dentists)

Car expenses

Birthdays

Social events

School supplies