Avoiding Debt During the Holidays

The following is a guest post from Natalie at One Advice.

As we plunge head-on into the festive season, everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit. But be warned, the spirit of goodwill can send you into overdrive as you are overcome with the urge to show your friends and family how much you love them by lavishing them with gifts, some of which will have a hefty price tag.

It is tempting to want to overspend at this time of year, no matter how frugal you live your pre-Christmas day to day life. We are bombarded with adverts and other temptations to spend, so it is more important than ever to stay debt savvy and keep control of your finances.

And these tips could help you avoid debt during the holidays:

Continue to budget. Don’t let your sleek budgeting of 2009 go out of the window at the first sight of tinsel.
Work out simple ways you can continue to budget. For example, do you really need to buy a present for your next door neighbour or the guy from accounts? Streamline your Christmas list and you can concentrate on buying them a present that they will treasure.

Get creative. Sometimes the gifts which are cherished the most are the ones which cost the least, so make this your niche and get creative. You may want to make your own Christmas cards or wrapping paper for your Christmas basics. You could give your close friends a handmade scrapbook and fill it with photos of happy times you have shared together.

Plan Ahead. Clichés aside, it is never too early to start planning for next Christmas. Even before New Year you see adverts on the TV telling you how simple it is to save and, although you may have overspent this year, next year you can have a control your debt management and experience it debt free. These adverts really do have a point although you may want to avoid Christmas clubs as you don’t get any interest on your savings and may lose your money if the company were to go bust. Instead you could shop around for a savings account which offers you a good rate of interest and commit to putting a little aside each month and look forward to what you’ll be buying come Christmas 2010…

One Advice is an ethical debt advice company based in the UK who offer a range of financial solutions for those struggling with debts.