Be good at money this Christmas – starting now!

We’re rapidly approaching the holiday season: it’s time to start planning your shopping (grocery and otherwise) to avoid excesses in last minute spending.

As you know, the price of many products goes up as we gear up for “the most wonderful time of the year”, so get ahead of the curve and be good at money this Christmas. Here’s how:

1. Do your groceries out-of-season and take advantage of your freezer: the price of typical Christmas dinner fresh products spike after mid-December. Think of what you’re going to serve and decide what you can buy now and freeze. This is true for many meats and seafood
2. Plan an alternative menu. You can do two things: change the most expensive things in your dishes (for example, using beef instead of lamb) or change outright the dishes – who said you absolutely must have stuffed turkey? Here’s a list with a bunch of other ideas !
3. Take advantage of sales during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And they’re quickly approaching, so tell your loved ones to draw up their letter to Santa ASAP!
4. Watch out of pre-Christmas sales on toys: many dealers have special offers as from November, also online
5. Plan your holidays in advance, especially if you need to book transport and accommodation. This is a no-brainer, valid for Christmas as well as all other holidays: book in advance, and try to avoid travelling on peak days (regular Tuesdays and Wednesdays tend to be cheapest)

So you see, the key is to plan as much as possible. Establish a budget and make sure you stick to it – that’s the best way to stay merry all through Christmas!