Budgeting - Overindulged at Christmas

Christmas means overindulging in many things, food and drink, not to mention spending. If you overindulged at Christmas you may be looking at getting your budget back on track.

Over the holiday period there appears to be great competition for your hard-earned dollars. Gifts for the family, secret Santa and the Sallies singing carols all compete for your cash. Sticking to a budget seems impossible. So how can you recover from all of this overspend?

Here are some tips to get that budget working again:

• Start eating normally again. All those luxury, fattening foods that are so scrummy do have a tendency to cost a bit more. In fact prices tend to go up at this time of year as well, making it harder to keep on budget.
• Keep your receipts. You probably kept your receipt in case you needed to exchange something. Keeping receipts is a great habit to develop all year-round. It helps you to come up with realistic figures for your budget and helps to understand your spending habits. Next year those Christmas receipts will help you to gauge the dollars you will probably spend on each member of the family. You will know where you need to cut back when needed.
• Design some guidelines for spending in the year ahead. Make a list of the steps you will follow before making large purchases.These could be: compare other prices and products, look for recommendations, check with yourself if you need it or is it a want, see if you can get it through other sources such as hiring, borrowing or purchasing secondhand.
• Keep your credit card bill and a running total in easy view each day so that you never forget where it's at. If you have relied on the credit card during the Christmas period and overindulged you will want to get this paid off as quickly as possible. Credit cards tend to feel like you are spending your own money when in fact you have borrowed the funds. Have your Credit7 'in your face' every day to remind you not to spend on credit.
• Plan your spending budget for next Christmas and set money aside for the big day. It's no use paying off your credit card all year only to add to it again next Christmas. Get organised.

Avoid overindulging next year. Reclaim your budget and your spending dollar in the New Year and start before you find Christmas is here again. Yes, it does seem to come earlier each year -- or is that age do you think!

Christmas means overindulging in many things, food and drink, not to mention spending. If you overindulged at Christmas you may be looking at getting your budget back on track.

Over the holiday period there appears to be great competition for your hard-earned dollars. Gifts for the family, secret Santa and the Sallies singing carols all compete for your cash. Sticking to a budget seems impossible. So how can you recover from all of this overspend?

Here are some tips to get that budget working again:

• Start eating normally again. All those luxury, fattening foods that are so scrummy do have a tendency to cost a bit more. In fact prices tend to go up at this time of year as well, making it harder to keep on budget.
• Keep your receipts. You probably kept your receipt in case you needed to exchange something. Keeping receipts is a great habit to develop all year-round. It helps you to come up with realistic figures for your budget and helps to understand your spending habits. Next year those Christmas receipts will help you to gauge the dollars you will probably spend on each member of the family. You will know where you need to cut back when needed.
• Design some guidelines for spending in the year ahead. Make a list of the steps you will follow before making large purchases.These could be: compare other prices and products, look for recommendations, check with yourself if you need it or is it a want, see if you can get it through other sources such as hiring, borrowing or purchasing secondhand.
• Keep your credit card bill and a running total in easy view each day so that you never forget where it's at. If you have relied on the credit card during the Christmas period and overindulged you will want to get this paid off as quickly as possible. Credit cards tend to feel like you are spending your own money when in fact you have borrowed the funds. Have your Credit7 'in your face' every day to remind you not to spend on credit.
• Plan your spending budget for next Christmas and set money aside for the big day. It's no use paying off your credit card all year only to add to it again next Christmas. Get organised.

Avoid overindulging next year. Reclaim your budget and your spending dollar in the New Year and start before you find Christmas is here again. Yes, it does seem to come earlier each year -- or is that age do you think!