This January Why Not …?

Buy Christmas cards and wrapping paper. I know that we’ve only just had Christmas, but now is a great time to buy for next year for less. It’ll really help next year’s Christmas budget – just don’t forget where you’ve put your purchases!

Get your finances in order. It amazes me when people say, “I’ll have to go to the cashpoint to see how much money I have.” Don’t they know? I recommend buying an exercise book and ruling it up with columns appropriate to you (better than a fiddly little cashbook) and recording transactions as they happen. On the front page list which direct debits are due and when, so that you remember to deduct these as they happen in addition to recording transactions in shops, at cashpoints etc. This way you not only know what money you have in your account, you can also check your record against your bank statement to ensure there are no errors. Mistakes do happen (so do fraudulent transactions unfortunately) so check for these regularly – the sooner they are found the sooner they can be rectified.

Have a winter outing. If you’ve been reading my ‘Winter Outings’ series you’ll know that plenty of attractions open their doors during the winter season, including museums, castles, many English Heritage properties and wildlife parks. Some even operate special winter pricing schemes, one of the best being Drusillas Zoo Park, East Sussex, a fun, smaller animal zoo with a wealth of play opportunities for the kids. Between 3^rd and 31^st January prices are: individual adults and children £10.00 each, family of 3 £27.00, family of 4 £36.00 and family of 5 £45.00!

Clear out the old. Make room for the new items you’ve received at Christmas, by clearing out some of your old things and donating them to a charity shop. Unwanted gifts? If you are able to exchange them, you local charity shop will be glad of these too.

Plan for the summer. You may be booking your summer holiday about now, or at least wondering whether the budget will stretch to one. But even if money is tight, there are ways to get a summer break, or at least some memorable family outings: be sure to collect and accumulate your Tesco Clubcard points to exchange them at four times their value for days out – making even normally expensive Theme Park trips a realistic option, points can also be exchanged towards booking holidays; start saving bags of 2p pieces for kids (of all ages and sizes) to spend in the arcades on seaside trips; save up all denominations of coins, then bank and save them towards a summer treat. I will be running lots of holidays tips on my blog throughout the year.

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