You’re going to hate this! The shops are starting to fill their shelves with Christmas goodies. I agree with you, it’s far too early, but as most of us are paid monthly, we’ve only got three paydays until the big day.

Budgeting helps us to avoid using credit and not paying interest makes everything cheaper

Setting your Budget

Make a list: gifts, food, drink, clothes, transport, nights out etc. Make a note of what each will cost and total it up. Check your savings and any shortfall means that you need to find this amount between now and mid-December, that’s 16 weeks. Divide the shortfall by 16 and that’s how much you need to put away every week to cover your total Christmas bill without hitting your credit card.

Refresh

Seeing the figures on paper makes most people really think about what is actually needed. Go back to the list and delete as much as possible or find cheaper alternatives such as sale item gifts, cheaper nights out, a borrowed outfit or partying at home.

Revise

Now re-calculate the amount you need to save each week. If it’s still too high go back to the list and do a second refresh. There’s absolutely no point in anyone going into debt just to give somebody something that they may not even say thank you for.

Finally

Cold shoulder the advertising. The single aim of marketing gurus is to get you to part with your pay cheque. Just ignore them.

For anyone already facing debt problems the following may be helpful to you.

citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/ Citizens Advice Bureau

capuk.org/ Christians Against Poverty

nationaldebtline.org/ The National Debtline

gov.uk/options-for-paying-off-your-debts/overview