Entries Tagged 'frugality' ↓

1. Reduce expectations of Presents

Always under promise presents. If you start promising a lot of gifts it becomes very pressured for you to spend money. Start working on this as soon as possible. If your children expect very little, they will be happy when they get a bit more than what you promised.

2. Eat In.

At Christmas time, restaurants often charge a premium. With drinks, eating out can become very expensive. Unless you really hate the idea of cooking and washing up, eat in. - It is easier to create an intimate atmosphere as well.

3. Look ahead.

Buy Christmas cards / decorations e.t.c in the new year sale. It may be too late for this year, but, buy the minimum and look out for bargains in the New Year.

4. Get a cheap flight and Leave

Sometimes to save money we need to spend it. Buy a cheap flight to somewhere warm and miss all the costs of Christmas (well most of them)

5. Get the Kids to Make the decorations.

If your children are really excited by Christmas and are driving you crazy with eagerness, keep them busy - ask them to make some home made crackers and decorations. Christmas Crackers are usually ridiculously overpriced for what you get. They can probably only get away with charging so much because it is a one off Christmas purchase.

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What is the secret of preventing overspending? One important factor is to have a good attitude to money, if we have the wrong perspective it will be easy to spend recklessly or on items we don’t need. These are some of the characteristics of a frugal spender.

Do I Need this?

This is the most important criteria for deciding whether to buy an item. If we really ascertain whether the item is necessary, many impulsive purchases will be avoided. Also, when we examine its importance we are not swayed by sales tactics or buy out of boredom

Patience

Sometimes we see a good we like, and can’t wait to buy it. Therefore, we buy it at the first available opportunity. However, the first place we see a good / service is not necessarily the cheapest place to buy a good. A frugal spender will wait and check out various different options before buying it. This may mean waiting 5 days to have it delivered. However, in the long term being patient can save hundreds of pounds.

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