Okay so we are currently more interested in picking where to go for the family summer holiday, but as the person who holds the purse strings, I’m still worried about paying off Christmas. January and February are tight months financially, no matter how prepared you think you are for Christmas you never are. We start normally in October or November, but I reality we have probably left it too late starting then. Especially when it comes to paying for it all.

It seems we are not alone either, news states that 47% of people regret spending so much at Christmas, it’s easy to regret what you spend when January rolls round. When your bank accounts looking empty because you’re paying off the credit cards, however it doesn’t have to be like that, or does it. The study conducted by online voucher code and money saving website My Voucher Codes  found that although many people regret their actions in January, 57% said they would do it again next year to keep their families happy.

It seems we are glutens for punishment, in 2016, the research showed that they had no intention of changing their spending habits for Christmas:

How has your Christmas spending changed this year?

  • It hasn’t – 55%
  • I’m trying to save money wherever I can – 28%
  • I’m waiting for the sales – 8%
  • I’m buying less to offset price increases – 6%
  • I haven’t thought about Christmas shopping – 2%
  • I’m increasing my spending – 1%

It is sometimes hard to say no to your children, even though you should as some parents explain:

“I like spending money on my family at Christmas, I love to see the smiles on their faces when they open their gifts and enjoy the celebrations. Our whole family gets together to celebrate, something we don’t do that often so we want it to be special.”

“I work hard and save for Christmas so I can provide them with what I missed out on when I was a child.”

“I do regret overspending at Christmas when January comes around and I have no money, but that is a distant memory come next Christmas and I spend, spend, spend again, but it is what it is.”

This year I have decided to be more organised and start my gift buying earlier and put money in a savings account specifically for Christmas and remind the children if they want to go to Disney World for their summer holiday then they may have to be less demanding for Christmas…

Most importantly, I’m going to be very careful not to overspend when it isn’t necessary by checking Only Reviews before I fork out too much money on products with cheaper alternatives!