Spent too much on Christmas? Here’s what you can do now to avoid being strapped for cash in January

Christmas shopping caught you out again? We all know that the festive period can be expensive, and yet every year, quite how expensive it is seems to catch us out. As inflation reaches a ten-year high and our bank accounts take a battering from every angle, it’s nothing to be ashamed of if your Christmas-related bills are making you feel a bit hot under the collar. 

One of the worst things you can do is panic and bury your head in the sand, especially if your ostrich impression lasts too long after the holidays are over. I’ve felt this same fear many times over the years, and here are a few of the best ways I’ve found for overcoming it:

Don’t succumb to financial FOFO (Fear of Finding Out)

The situation is what it is, whether you arm yourself with the information or not. It can be tough to face up to a bout of overspending, but it’s much better to do so while you can still rein it in, rather than waiting for things to feel completely out of control. 

With money, the shame can set in after only a couple of poor decisions, and it’s easy to become locked in negative cycles of spending from there – trust someone who knows. So, the best thing to do is to find out the lay of the land asap, and treat any overspending as a problem to be solved rather than a damning indictment on your character or morality. 

Work out how much you’ve overspent by, and write that number somewhere you won’t forget about it – like in your diary or a note on your phone.

Take stock of any debt you’ve racked up

It’s easy to rely on credit to make the festive season fun and buy all the gifts on your list, but remember that the money will need to be paid back at some point. Make sure that you have a plan to pay off your credit card before you start incurring too much interest or, if using buy now, pay later, that you can cover the payments on the dates when they’re scheduled. Write the amount due dates in your diary because missed payments can cause real trouble further down the line.

Adding any debt repayments to your budget as soon as possible helps you to plan your finances for 2022, meaning no nasty surprises.

Earn extra cash to compensate for any shortfall

If you’re worried that your Christmas extravagances are going to make January’s budget impossible, there are some wheels that you can put in motion now to lighten the load later on. 

Work out how much extra cash you need, and then explore ways that you might be able to earn it back. You could list unwanted gifts or other surplus items on eBay or Depop, take on some freelance work or sign up to a survey site like Curious Cat to bring in a bit of extra cash and relieve some of that worry.

Replenish savings throughout the rest of the year

If you’re still able to get by but raided your savings in a fit of Christmas spirit, now’s a good time to take a look at how you can get back on track towards your saving goals. Use an app like Chip, Plum or Moneybox to syphon off extra money into your savings account, or look at subscriptions and luxuries that you could cut out or reduce to bump your stash back up. Don’t let a short period of spending derail your saving efforts if you can help it.

Start planning for next year

While things are fresh in your mind, really look at why you’ve been spending the way that you have, and be honest with yourself – are things going to be different next year, or do you just like to spend money at Christmas? If the former, try to put strategies into place now to ensure that you can budget better next year, but if the latter, that’s fine! 

Work out how much you’ll want to spend next year and start a saving pot entitled ‘Christmas 2022’ right now to build a pot of guilt-free spending money for your favourite time of year.

Don’t beat yourself up

I’m not trying to be glib when I say that it’s been a tough couple of years – it really has. It’s OK if you wanted to make things memorable or if you spent a little bit more than you were anticipating. No matter how much extra you shelled out, it will be fixable, and there’s usually something to be learned from periods of overspending. The sooner you forgive yourself and move on to more positive financial goals, the better.

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