{"id":789,"date":"2022-11-21T11:02:57","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T11:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/?p=789"},"modified":"2022-11-21T11:02:57","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T11:02:57","slug":"keeping-down-costs-this-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Down Costs this Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the cost of pretty much everything rocketing at the moment, you might be starting to worry about the cost of Christmas too. So, let\u2019s have a look at ways of keeping the costs down this December.<\/p>\n

Say NO to the Christmas Party<\/h2>\n

If your work is having a Christmas party and money is tight at the moment, there is no obligation for you to attend. Don\u2019t feel guilty or ashamed for saying no.<\/p>\n

If you are an employer, you might want to consider not hosting a Christmas party at all, and instead offer a cash bonus for your employees. Even when it\u2019s \u2018all expenses paid\u2019, members of your team will still have to find ways to pay for things like taxis and childcare.<\/p>\n

Only Spend what you can Afford<\/h2>\n

Social media has only increased the pressure we feel to \u2018keep up\u2019 with other people\u2019s lifestyles. Try your best to ignore what you see online\u2026 you don\u2019t know the reality of people\u2019s finances, only what they project.<\/p>\n

Many people feel pressured to spend beyond their means at Christmas, but is one day a year worth getting into debt for? No!<\/p>\n

On that note, you should avoid buying things for Christmas on credit. You will end up stuck with repayments looming over you with interest increasing what you already owe.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t pay for presents using Buy Now Pay Later<\/a> financing, as this only encourages you to spend more than you can actually afford.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Stick to a Budget<\/h2>\n

Keep track of your spending and <\/span>stick to a budget<\/a>. It can be easy for your spending to get away from you, especially if you\u2019re someone who\u2019s easily tempted by the promise of a sale.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good idea to work out a budget<\/a> and stick to it. Your budget should include the cost of presents, food, decorations, etc. You can make a gift budget by creating a list of the people you want to buy presents for and then allocating a maximum amount to spend on each person.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, it\u2019s the thought that counts not the price tag.<\/p>\n

Secret Santa<\/h2>\n

You can also cut down on costs and also create some fun by turning to Secret Santa. This is where instead of buying gifts for each individual, you all draw a name at random and have to buy a gift for that person. This is a great idea for a group of family or friends and really helps keep down the cost, as you will only have to buy one gift rather than lots of them.<\/p>\n

Avoid Separate Orders<\/h2>\n

Plan your gifts so that you can try to pay for fewer delivery fees. There\u2019s no point having 3 separate deliveries from the same company and having to pay 3 different delivery fees when you could buy it all together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the cost of pretty much everything rocketing at the moment, you might be starting to worry about the cost of Christmas too. So, let\u2019s have a look at ways of keeping the costs down this December. Say NO to the Christmas Party If your work is having a Christmas party and money is tight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[66,71,20,67,202,203,56,57,44,205,70,204,72,91,18,98,100,206],"class_list":["post-789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bnpl","tag-budget","tag-budgeting","tag-buy-now-pay-later","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-party","tag-cost-of-living","tag-cost-of-living-crisis","tag-credit","tag-cutting-costs","tag-debt","tag-december","tag-financial-advice","tag-financial-adviser","tag-financial-education","tag-overspending","tag-saving","tag-secret-santa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKeeping Down Costs this Christmas - Red Star Education Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the cost of pretty much everything rocketing at the moment, you might be starting to worry about the cost of Christmas too...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keeping Down Costs this Christmas - Red Star Education Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the cost of pretty much everything rocketing at the moment, you might be starting to worry about the cost of Christmas too...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Red Star Education Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-11-21T11:02:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-george-dolgikh-1303094-scaled-e1668526472924.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1132\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lydia Beck\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lydia Beck\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Red Star Education Blog\",\"description\":\"Just another WordPress site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-george-dolgikh-1303094-scaled-e1668526472924.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-george-dolgikh-1303094-scaled-e1668526472924.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1132},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/\",\"name\":\"Keeping Down Costs this Christmas - Red Star Education Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-21T11:02:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-21T11:02:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9bd136025162710bfe4a1e08e244c9f3\"},\"description\":\"With the cost of pretty much everything rocketing at the moment, you might be starting to worry about the cost of Christmas too...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Keeping Down Costs this Christmas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9bd136025162710bfe4a1e08e244c9f3\",\"name\":\"Lydia Beck\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/836cd20e3d20a691113e600a67e8e33784c486a8af37ef1668d30a86e0fd661c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/836cd20e3d20a691113e600a67e8e33784c486a8af37ef1668d30a86e0fd661c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lydia Beck\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/author\/lydiaredstaredu\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Keeping Down Costs this Christmas - Red Star Education Blog","description":"With the cost of pretty much everything rocketing at the moment, you might be starting to worry about the cost of Christmas too...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Keeping Down Costs this Christmas - Red Star Education Blog","og_description":"With the cost of pretty much everything rocketing at the moment, you might be starting to worry about the cost of Christmas too...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/","og_site_name":"Red Star Education Blog","article_published_time":"2022-11-21T11:02:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1132,"url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-george-dolgikh-1303094-scaled-e1668526472924.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lydia Beck","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lydia Beck","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"Red Star Education Blog","description":"Just another WordPress site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-george-dolgikh-1303094-scaled-e1668526472924.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pexels-george-dolgikh-1303094-scaled-e1668526472924.jpg","width":2560,"height":1132},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/","name":"Keeping Down Costs this Christmas - Red Star Education Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2022-11-21T11:02:57+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-21T11:02:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9bd136025162710bfe4a1e08e244c9f3"},"description":"With the cost of pretty much everything rocketing at the moment, you might be starting to worry about the cost of Christmas too...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/keeping-down-costs-this-christmas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog Home","item":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Keeping Down Costs this Christmas"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9bd136025162710bfe4a1e08e244c9f3","name":"Lydia Beck","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/836cd20e3d20a691113e600a67e8e33784c486a8af37ef1668d30a86e0fd661c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/836cd20e3d20a691113e600a67e8e33784c486a8af37ef1668d30a86e0fd661c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lydia Beck"},"url":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/author\/lydiaredstaredu\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":796,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789\/revisions\/796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.redstareducation.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}