How to save on Christmas

How to save on Christmas

Planning Your Holiday Expenditures

– by Edmund Lao

Pasko na naman! The –ber months arrived and comes the season for celebration and giving. Majority are getting busy thinking about gifts and presents as well as food and parties for the coming holiday. Pinoy entrepreneurs will be busy in making money this season from consumers. In short, this is the season of spending for people from all walks of life.

Here lies a big problem that I hear every year. After the celebration is over, you will find that everyone was not able to save their bonuses and benefits received. Worse, almost everyone ended up in debt. If there was forward planning, I believe we can celebrate Christmas without having to splurge a large amount of money. Believe me, it can be done.

Following are my recommendations:

1. Plan ahead. Just like childbirth (which is certain to come, the parents should save for the moment pregnancy takes place). We all know that yearly, we celebrate Christmas. Treat Christmas as if it is a childbirth. As early as March, list down people you want to give gifts. Look out for mallwide sale, inventory sale, closing out sale, or even calamity sale. Definitely the price will be lower.

2. Go to Divisoria stalls. It is fun shopping there as you can haggle for discounts.

3. Look for UK goods (not the imported from London, but the ukay-ukay stalls).

4. Recycle the gifts received last season. That would be the best as you do not need to shell out money, time and effort. Just make sure not to accidentally gift it back to the source.

5. For foods intended as gifts, it is better to do it at home than to buy. Food need not be expensive. It is the thought that counts. Self-made delicacies will be appreciated more than those bought.

These are just some ideas to make Christmas worth celebrating without hurting our finances. Just keep it simple. Remember that during the first Christmas, there were no extravagant celebrations. The best way to celebrate is for every family to go to church for thanksgiving and have a simple dinner. Make it a practice and you will see how it can change your finance for the better.