How I am Budgeting for Christmas

In this post, I will be breaking down my Christmas budget for 2021 and sharing all the details! At the start of every year, I start a christmas sinking fund – where I consistently add money into it so when christmas comes around I’m not scrambling to find the money to cover all christmas related expenses. This also ensures that I won’t start the new year owing myself money – I can start January fresh and ready to take on 2022 headfirst!

This year, I am giving myself a £450 budget for all things christmas. We’re talking gifts, transportation home, christmas market trips, housemas (mini christmas with my uni family), decorations and work christmas parties. Now, this might seem tight to some or too much to others but this should be more than enough for my personal situation.

READ MORE: How to Save Money and Still Have Fun

I have even gone as far as to break the £450 christmas budget down to individual category budgets…

#1 Gifts ~ £285

To reach this number, I wrote down a list of every one that I am buying for and set individual budgets. All added up this came to £285. This is including wrapping supplies and cards.

#2 Transportation ~ £40

I will be getting the train home for the key Christmas days so need to factor in this cost. Currently, the past few times I have made the trip home it has cost between £30-£35 so I’m thinking £35 will be more than enough to cover this expense.

#3 Market trip ~ £50

Last year, I didn’t get the chance to go to a Christmas market so I will be jumping at the chance to go to one this year – hence this is a necessary category in this years Christmas budget.

#4 Housemas ~ £20

Every year we throw a mini Christmas at uni – complete with presents, all the food, lots of booze and games! Some of my favourite university memories are from our Christmas’s! So this category had to feature in my Christmas 2021 budget 🙂

#5 Decorations ~ £25

It seems that every year I find some decorations to add to my ever growing collection, so now I make sure to account for these little impulse purchases!

#6 Misc. ~ £30

There will always be those unexpected expenses that crop up or that you forgot to account for – that where this category comes in! A little buffer to make sure I am covered.

Having these individual budgets reassures me that I have enough saved to cover all christmas related expenses.

You might be wondering how I got to this number, did I just pull it out of fresh air? No, I used my spending data from last christmas to make an educated guess on how much I’ll need to cover all expenses. I have also included a ‘misc.’ category, a little buffer for those unexpected expenses that always seem to crop up.

I have used a similar budgeting method for the past few christmas’ and it has always seemed to work effectively, so I have confidence in my plan for Christmas 2021 🎄

Do you budget for christmas? I’d love to know what method you use down below!

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