It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...
20 / 11 - Category: Blog
I walked into the city a couple of weeks ago and to my surprise I was surrounded by Christmas! Trees, decorations, and “buy now for Christmas” signs. “That can’t be right can it? Christmas is ages away” I thought to myself.
Are you nodding?
Well guess what, there are only five weeks until the jolly man in the red suit comes ho ho ho ho-ing into our lives delivering super-sized serves of festive cheer. Yes it snuck up again!
Well never fear, ANZ MoneyManager is here to help you plan and stick to a budget. “It’s too late” I hear you say. It’s not I can assure you. Lots of pennies can be saved in five weeks and if you set your budget and stick to it you won’t wake up on January 1 with and spending hangover.
Have a quick read of the features section to help you get a clear picture of the state of your financial health. Once you start you will see where you are placed (eg, spending too much here, not saving enough there) you can adjust your budget for the holiday period. Determine what you can realistically afford to spend – on gifts, entertainment, food and drink – and stick to it. No ifs. No buts. No maybes. Then, just like the Big Man in Red, make your Christmas list, check it twice and don’t budge from it, no matter how tempting the bargain.
To set your holiday budget goals:
- Go to the “Spending Reports” tab, then select “Set Budget Goals”. From this page you can set budget goals for each spending category, for example, gifts, entertainment and food.
- Set an amount you want to allocate to each category for each month (your current average spending for that category is displayed on this page so you can use it as a guide).
- Once you’ve set your spending amounts, select to be notified by email when your spending exceeds a certain amount of your budget (It is automatically set at 90%, but you can set it to an amount that suits you).
- Select if you’d like to receive reports weekly or monthly.
See, you really can budget your way to festive cheer (and a stress-free holiday season!), you just have to put a little bit of thought and planning into it first, plus if you put in some work this year it *might* put you in good stead for all the Christmases’ to come!
Sarah
ANZ MoneyManager team
