Credit free Christmas

anna_1977

Well, financially I'm up the creek and am currently making token payments via Stepchange... I'm dreading the review in August as i will no longer received tax credits so income will go down.

Anyway I've realised that although this Christmas was very tight, my kids and I had everything we NEEDED (not wanted) and we had a lovely time.

i think it was the first Christmas in about 8 years that no credit was used; no cards, catalogues or anything. Of course that's because I have no credit facility but I'm so pleased that I've not increased my debt

:j:j

andyfromotley

Fabulous, well done.

I too have had my first credit free christmas acheived by saving for it each month throughout the year!!

I have already put my january bit of money into the savings account for christmas 2016!! This is what financially savvy people have being doing for years and years - bit fed up thatr it took me 48 years to work it out but better late than never!!!

EssexHebridean

What a lovely thing to realise - congratulations!

As for worrying about August - no point in worrying about it - do a fresh SOA to reflect the changes so you know what you'll be dealing with, and start thinking about a plan to deal with it. Worrying isn't helpful, but action will help you feel SO much better, I promise!

lambda

Same for us - a totally credit free Christmas. Everything this year was bought with cash saved throughout the year for the purpose of buying christmas presents! We even made some substantial payments to the CCs while we were at it!

We did say to each other this year that we were not going to spend stupid amounts on each other, but just to buy a small token gift for each other to open. Made life much more stress free!

user1168934

well done OP, keep it up.

Rainy-Days

The oldest saying of it's easy to get into debt, but the hardest ever to get out of it rings true!

I got in the mire years back now, but the situation left me battered, but much wiser!

I buy all my Christmas cards and wrapping in the post Christmas sales, which I do every year, saves me quite a substanial sum! I also picked up some neutral pink wrap for birthdays as well for 75p! Where I can I pick up bits and bobs in the sales for birthdays and putting up for next Christmas as well - just takes a bit of planning ahead and a plastic box in the loft! That box has saved me on more than a few occaions as well!

I still go to the cash machine (inside the bank) and get the money out and pay for the main things that way. Anything over £30.00 I use the debit card. Credit cards are okay, but you need to be savvy with them and religously pay them off in full every single month!

You will get there, you just have a bit of a tough path to tread for a bit, but it will get better - give it time!

Ellieseleven

Brilliant! Well Done...it's a fantastic feeling isn't it?

Ellie x

northerner999

Well done Anna, and, as has been said, one of the best way to ensure Christmas 2016 is as cheap as possible is to mop up on required wrapping paper, cards etc now while they are cheap. Just not necessarily on a credit card!