10 money-saving tips for the festive season from our experts

Uh oh.

It’s December.

And you know what that means?

Mariah Carey

She’s everywhere you go, every day of the week this month. She’ll be haunting the sound system in every shop and on every radio station, reminding each of us that the only thing she wants for Christmas is, apparently, us.

If only our families had similarly low expectations of their gifts, Christmas would be much more affordable, right?

Yoh, December is expensive!

We all look forward to a much-needed break over Christmas. Whether it’s catching up on your Netflix watching, spending some time at the beach, or travelling to be with loved ones, it’s a time to relax and enjoy ourselves.

But as we all know, December can be expensive, too!

If we’re not careful, we can find ourselves broke by mid-January and stressing about how to buy essentials to get to that precious January salary.

Let’s avoid that, shall we?

Bring in the experts

We gathered 3 of our best money educators and asked them for their top 3 pieces of advice on how to fund a fabulous festive season without the pain of the good old ‘3 months of January’ that we all know so well.

Here’s what they had to say. 

Expert 1: Mpoomy Ledwaba

Mpoomy is a successful entrepreneur and a Velocity Club contributor. We love her practical, realistic financial advice that anybody can follow. Mpoomy offered 3 great tips to help you make it through December without eating 2-minute noodles for most of January.

Pay yourself first

First up, Mpoomy stressed the need to do the responsible thing and pay for all of the necessities before you do anything else this December: “This holiday, make sure you have saved enough money for school fees, food, and all of the essentials before spending,” she said. “Remember, you have an entire January to get through!”

Saving is a powerful financial tool that involves putting aside some of our income to spend later for another planned purpose. Speaking of spending:

Use actual cash this Christmas

According to Mpoomy, paying for things using hard cash makes money more ‘real’ than when we’re just swiping a card. “Swiping is easy and needs very little thought,” she explained. “On the other hand, using cash will force you to think twice before spending on non-essential items. If you struggle with financial discipline, withdraw cash and use that instead.”

Joy to the world

The best way to get through December and January and finish strong is to plan your finances properly. “Discuss the budget for the festive season, and be sure to include in the budget any purchases as well as plans and any activities for the period,” she stressed. “Don’t try and pretend that you won’t spend a little more than usual, and don’t deprive yourself, but please make sure that you plan for all of it.”

Expert 2: Mapalo Makhu

We asked renowned author and award-winning personal finance coach Mapalo Makhu to offer us her best festive money tips. Mapalo is an expert at connecting South Africans and their money, with their dreams. Here’s what she suggested we do to make it through the holidays with our wallets intact:

3 months of Christmas

Mapalo’s first tip focused on the long period between our December salary (often paid in the middle of the month) and our January salary, paid at the end of January. “People often forget about that long stretch of time, so we need to make sure that we budget our salary wisely until the next paycheque at the end of January!”

Mapalo recommended some separation therapy to avoid nasty surprises: “A good method is to transfer your fixed expenses and January debit orders into a completely different account so that you can’t accidentally access those funds during December. It’ll keep them safe until the beginning of January.”

Talk it out

Next, Mapalo encouraged us to discuss our plans for the festive season and ensure that everything is properly budgeted. “Communicate with your family in advance what you will and won’t be able to do. Be comfortable with saying no to activities that aren’t in the budget, and make sure you don’t lean on your credit card to get through it all. This process will help avoid disappointment and ensure you have a relaxing holiday.”

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

If you’re going to be doing Christmas gift shopping this year, Mapalo suggested that getting started early may be a smart move. “If you have the money right now and already know what you plan to buy, it might be an idea to buy some of those gifts before the Christmas shopping frenzy hits. Shops often bump prices up around Christmas to capitalise on people who have left their shopping for the last minute!”

Expert 3: Nicolette Mashile 

The fabulous Nicolette Mashile is a well-known financial educator and regular contributor here at Velocity Club, so naturally, we asked her for her top tips. She gave us some powerful hacks:

O holy budget

“Writing and maintaining a budget is holy this festive season,” Nicolette emphasised. “A budget will detail how we’ll spend money over the festive season, but be aware of excessive shopping or unplanned day trips. It quickly adds up!”

Her advice for budgeting is similar to what our other educators suggested. Make time to crack out your spreadsheet/app/notebook and get your festive season finances planned out.

Gotta keep ‘em separated

Echoing Mapalo’s advice, Nicolette suggested that we need to make sure that we separate our November and December salary to make sure we don’t spend too much too soon. “Don’t mix funds,” she said. “Pay your fixed budget items immediately when your December salary comes in. There’s no need to wait for debit order dates if you can make arrangements with the bank. Just be sure not to confuse your November and December funds.” 

Conclusion

It’s known as the silly season, but thanks to the advice from our 3 amazing financial educators, this December doesn’t have to be one for you!

Get your budgets and planning carefully drawn up, separate your money, if need be, set everyone’s expectations and go out there and enjoy yourself. And if you’re going to be travelling, please be safe out there so we can hang out again in 2023!

Happy Holidays from all of us at Velocity Club!