| I cannot believe it is that time of year again... | | | | my kids last year and we all really enjoyed it. The |
| Christmas. This year more and more of us are | | | | house did not have the perfect ideal home look |
| looking to save money where ever we can and | | | | but it was full of Christmas spirit. |
| Christmas is no exception. During the distant | | | | Christmas cards, we all like to tell our friends and |
| times of economic boom our spend at Christmas | | | | family we are thinking of them during the festive |
| increased. Some people told me in the past they | | | | season. The number of cards I send each years |
| spent £1000 on each child, hundreds on | | | | seems to increase and the cost also. Again the |
| food and new! Our budgets have been cut, our | | | | obvious solution is to make your own you will find |
| consumer confidence is low, but our kids and | | | | a wealth of ideas at |
| personal expectation for Christmas remains high. | | | | Another idea is to recycle last years cards. Use |
| This is a time of year that we want to break the | | | | the front of the cards and send them as |
| budget and enjoy ourselves, make our home | | | | postcards. This does not help with the cost of |
| sparkly and smell spicy. I would like to show you | | | | postage and to cut this out I would suggest |
| how to create your perfect Christmas and with | | | | ecards. On some sites this is free, the selection |
| out breaking the budget. I have been using these | | | | can be quite limited. There are other site where |
| techniques, and saving money through out the | | | | you play a small fee and can choose from a far |
| year and not just at Christmas. I own an event | | | | larger selection. |
| planning company and over the years I have | | | | We all like to indulge in our favorite food and drink |
| developed many way to save money when | | | | at Christmas and the Christmas shop can be the |
| planning events and I want to show you how to | | | | most expensive shop you do in the whole year. I |
| adapt these for planning you great Christmas on | | | | hope I can show you how you are able to cut |
| a Budget. | | | | the cost without putting back your favourite |
| Your Christmas Budget, set your budget and | | | | chocolates! Plan your Christmas menu and all the |
| STICK TO IT. In the past I have gotten caught | | | | little treats you like at this time of year., Look at |
| up in the spirit of Christmas and ended up doing | | | | your menu and analyse it and see how much |
| my Christmas shopping twice!! Once in the shops | | | | value you put in each item. |
| and once on line. I now do everything on line so I | | | | This may seem like a strange statement to |
| am not tempted, this is my personal choice as it | | | | make, but many people are tempted to up grade |
| is easier and suits my life style. Many people like | | | | their brand. What I am suggesting is look at |
| the atmosphere of the stores at Christmas. | | | | where you feel your menu lacks value and down |
| We can't get away from it at Christmas we need | | | | grade your brand. For example rather than simply |
| decorations, at the very least a tree. You want | | | | buying nothing but tesco finest look where you |
| your house to look perfect, all those little finishing | | | | could buy tesco value without taking anything |
| touches cost money and before you know it you | | | | away from your Christmas experience. People |
| have spent £100s. The obvious answer to | | | | chuck out £100s of food each year, |
| to make your own decorations. This is a great | | | | especially at Christmas. |
| activity to carry out with your kids, I did this with | | | | |