Spend wisely this festive season

To have a memorable holiday season, shouldn’t mean you need to go into debt, and by keeping your finances under control you can keep the other challenging aspects of the holiday in check as well. 

What’s been called a holiday spending hangover, can be avoided by using a little restraint right now and many Namibians are looking at smart ways to be money-wise this December. The best way to take control of festival spending and saving is to decide on a budget. Budgeting is listed as the number one tip to get through the festive season with minimal stress.

The first  step  in  becoming  financially  responsible  is  to  begin  with  a personal  financial  budget.  Without a personal  financial budget,  there  is  no  way  one  can  possibly  track  her/his  income. This also leads to spending properly. A budget helps you determine  whether  you  should  grab  that bite  to  eat  or  you  should  head  home  for  a  bowl  of  soup.  It  helps  you  identify  wasteful  expenditures,  adapt quickly  when  your  financial  situation  changes,  and  achieve  your  financial  goals.  Budgeting  decreases  your  stress  level  because  with a  budget  there  are  no  surprises.

If you haven’t done the planning in advance for the holidays, and all their related costs, don’t borrow money unnecessarily. You don’t need to spend money on gifts to make Christmas special.  Christmas is after all, a time to spend with the family, it’s not for spending more money than you have, and going into debt that you pay for all through the coming year.
Shops  do  not  only  have  discount  specials  during  the  festive  season. I am  not  spending  much money, I have already bought  my  gifts during  the  course  of  the  year. All I need to do is buy wrapping paper. Don’t buy expensive gifts and don’t buy too many gifts.

Remember November’s  salary  is  for  December  and  December’s  salary  is  for  January and try to avoid the Janu-Worry  syndrome because the mistakes you make in November and December are the prices you pay in February. Resist the temptation and stick to your budget, keeping in mind what expenses you will have in January. To get to January without the expected money stress is possible, it just requires a small payment of our attention to our budget.

Start  a  Christmas  savings plan  from  January  each  year  in  high  interest  savings  accounts  and  you  will  be  amazed  at  how  much  you can  earn  in  12  months.
Festus ‘Prince’ Hangula