People are traditionally generous during the festive season but Christmas shopping can be expensive, especially when your gift list grows in inverse proportion to your available spending money.
How do you survive the cost of Christmas? The first step is to take control and plan properly. Draw up a list of names and a budget: write down what you can afford and all the people you have to buy presents for. This will give you a good idea of how much you can spend on each person.
If there’s someone special you want to spoil you don’t necessarily have to do it by spending a fortune. People are far more inclined to appreciate a thoughtful present that fits in with their personality or pastimes than something expensive but basically useless.
Stick to your budget. When you’ve used up your money, stop buying. Don’t, whatever you do, be tempted to start using your credit cards.
Restrict festivities to your home if you can. It’s certainly a lot cheaper than everyone going out to eat at an expensive restaurant
It’s worth considering internet shopping. It saves a lot of driving around and you can see exactly which items, such as books, are in stock and how much they’ll cost including postage. But make sure you use a recognised website and that your personal details are secure. Tips for safe online shopping include:
- Use a computer with updated security software.
- Never react to e-mails asking you to confirm a transaction after you’ve made it. Websites with good security will never ask you by e-mail to confirm a transaction. If you get an e-mail asking you for something ignore it.
- Secure websites have thawte security and the logo is usually clearly visible.
- When you supply payment information make sure a little yellow lock appears at the bottom right of the page.
- Log off when you’ve finished shopping to prevent someone with access to your computer going onto the same website and using your buyer’s profile to shop on your account. Be especially careful at internet cafés and don’t leave your computer at work logged on.
