The Jolly Fat Man has visited, you’ve indulged in some sumptuous treats and you are in the weird twilight zone between Christmas and New Year. However, your tastebuds are not the only thing that have been indulged – so has your wallet. If you are like millions of Aussies waking up to check their bank account and get a grip on post-Christmas reality only to find a little less than you were hoping to be left in your holiday funds, then you are certainly not alone! In fact, according to Comparison site Finder , Aussie families were estimated to spend a whopping 18.8 Billion dollars over the holiday period with the average household spend being $969 and with over 1 in 4 people relying on credit to get them through – ouch! Unfortunately we can’t change what has happened or been spent, but we can control what we do moving forward to help you bounce back asap!

Coinciding with this is our largest shopping period of the entire year – the Boxing Day sales that often continue from Christmas right until the end of January , making this time of year probably the biggest strain on your wallet. So let’s see how you can get through and make your dollar work harder for you during this time so you can spend (or save it) for the things you really want. The quicker you implement these steps, the quicker you’ll be on your way to taking back control!

10 Post-Christmas Money Survival Tips

1. Ground Zero – Before you do anything else, its important to know exactly how much you currently have in your account, what you are expecting to earn for the next month and what bills you have coming in . In other words, you need to do a budget! Before you start snoozing on me, know that this really is key so you don’t wonder where your money all went and you have the funds to spend it on the things you *really* want to do over the holidays – maybe that’s splurging on a bottle of bubbles for New Year, maybe its taking advantage of a travel deal. So instead of thinking of the B word as a dirty one, change your thinking and realise that by having a Budget in place you actually have the freedom to spend how you want and on what is important to you personally.

Personally, I love trusty pen and paper or more accurately my daily planner to write out my budget (I’m a bit of a stationary geek!) Need an App to help you create one instead? Try logging on to your bank’s app or website first and see what tools they can offer you. Just type in ‘Budget’ into the search bar. Not only does it cost nothing, but is both Android and IOS compatible. TrackMySpend is a great app created by ASIC, and also try Pocketbook. If you are reading this from the USA, I hear rave reviews about Dave Ramseys ‘Every Dollar‘ .

When you do work out your budget, make sure you factor in 10% of your income for your ‘fun’ money – this will help keep you motivated while you get your spending under control. We have found this to be probably the Number 1 tip to help keep us on track while we paid off all of our debt as we didn’t feel at all deprived, and knew we were at the same time also conquering our bigger family goals.

2. Refunds and Returns – how to add more back into the family kitty! There is a very good reason why the service desk at your local department store is usually hectic during this time of year. Sometimes there have been occasions where we have overspent, purchased an incorrect item, or even received two of something! Gather these items pronto and check the stores return and exchange policy. If you purchased online, also do the same here. It’s important to know your consumer rights when asking for a refund or exchange. This step could return money back to the kitty, or help you exchange for the right item and add value to your life.

3. Use Gift Cards Wisely – In Australia, the increasing trend to give and receive gift cards during the silly season has meant that we are often able to take advantage of the additional savings on items we need when the Boxing Day Sales roll around. Just yesterday we had an example. Prior to Christmas we had been given a gift card for Super Cheap Auto which was handy as we need to service our car before going on our holiday to Queensland. However, instead of purchasing the items we needed just before Christmas we waited until the Boxing Day sales started and we were very pleased to see that we actually could take advantage of an additional 30% off the price we would have paid, which meant after using our Gift Card we only had to spend $30 to buy what we needed to service the car! The average person has two gift cards in their possession so check out what you got given this year or even ones you are sitting on from last year. Take a look at what you need to purchase in the short term. Could you be using your Gift Vouchers to take advantage of the sales for this? Have someone’s birthday coming up soon or need to buy Back to School items? If you are really strapped for cash, this could be a good use of the cards.

4. Compare and Save – make sure you are a savvy shopper and do your research. Whether this is for comparing groceries online, or looking for a bigger ticket item it really does pay to shop around! Check out our link HERE for some handy comparison apps and sites!

5. Click to Subscribe – Once you’ve done your homework by researching what it is you want to purchase (as per above tip), make sure you join that retailers mailing list or loyalty program. A lot of places offer an additional discount for a first time shopper, or more commonly loyalty points each time you shop. This can quickly add up, especially with groceries which is something we purchase weekly.

6. Christmas Leftovers and how they save you cash. The simple answer to this is eat them, of course! Whether eating them as they were originally prepared, or using leftovers to make another dish (right now I am planning an Omelette using our leftover Christmas Ham and vegetables), by using up what you’ve got in the fridge and pantry it will help you curb spending at the grocery store and reduce costs so you can spend it elsewhere.

7. Use your Loyalty Points – This one is easy to forget! Do you have a stack of Frequent Flyer points, FlyBuys or others that you can be cashing in on? Recently I realised that I could cash in my Frequent Flyer points on a Cinema Voucher for the family which really helped ease costs for a birthday. Check out any loyalty program you may be a member of and see where you can squeeze more out of it for fun!!

8. Cashback on your purchases. It’s true! There is a way to earn Cashback on your online purchases! Check out our page HERE to see how to join these FREE sites and start earning money back on your spending. You’ll even get a bonus for joining and referring your friends! PRO TIP: Use these programs to purchase gift cards for your grocery store at a discount and therefore spend even less on your groceries each week!

9. Take advantage of free activities! Christmas and January in Australia is hot hot hot! Head down to the beach or your local river for a swim with the family. Bonus points for taking a picnic from home using all those left over goodies and snacks! Visit family members and friends and have a BBQ. Pack a picnic, head to a local park. Or check out the free NYE fireworks in your local area! Check out your community Facebook group , council website or the local paper for ideas on fun. Don’t forget to check out Australia Day festivities while you are at it.

10. Practice Mindfulness and be good to yourself! Being aware from this moment of how you are choosing to spend your hard earned money and even tracking this will help you prioritise what is important to you and your family. It will help you make smarter choices moving forward and give you confidence to deal with Christmas Debt. Know that you are making steps every day to ensure a better future and it’s important to celebrate the wins and enjoy more time appreciating what you do have with the people you love . This in turn will help ease those feelings of financial stress over this holiday season.

Let us know how you go with working through the 10 Survival tips! We’d love to hear how it’s impacted your family in a positive way this Summer. Melissa xx