Australians are going to be much more cautious before spending up this Christmas

Frugal Australians say they will be carefully watching their spending this year after a tough year financially. These are the ways to control your Christmas spending.

Many households will be cautious with their spending this Christmas and will be steering clear of racking up hefty debts, new research has found.

Reducing expenditure on gifts and having smaller festive gatherings will be among the ways Australians will be keeping a lid on how much they shell out in December.

In the latest St. George 2020 Christmas Spending Report, released on Monday, it quizzed more than 2000 Australians and found 52 per cent are more conscious about having a budget and 68 per cent will be spending less on gifts.

And despite the financial toll the pandemic took on many households in 2020, 45 per cent say they are in a better financial position this Christmas compared to last year.

Anita Goncalves, 35, husband Bruno, 38, and children Pia, 3, and Rafael, 1, from Haberfield in Sydney’s inner west, have started financially preparing for Christmas and Mrs Goncalves says she will be keeping a close eye on their spending.

Anita Goncalves with her two children Rafael, 1, and Pia, 3, from Haberfield, getting prepared for Christmas this year. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

“Rather than buying 1000 presents for our children we are looking at giving them one shared gift — a sandpit for the backyard,” she says. “My mother wants to host Christmas so we will be bringing a plate to take the burden off one family member catering for everyone and we will be doing Secret Santa.

“We are a big family and used to buy so many gifts for everyone. In the past we’ve got a bit carried away with the gifting.”

Goncalves says she’s trying to keep their overall Christmas budget at about $700 on food and gifts, plus they’ve prepaid a five-night holiday in NSW which cost about $2000.

St. George Bank’s general manager Ross Miller says the report shows, “Australians are planning a smaller, intimate Christmas”.

Despite this, the average Christmas spend is climbing, from about $500 last year to about $756 this festive period the report found.

“Normally this time of the year you have Christmas parties and hidden spending on Ubers, taxis and buying yourself a new outfit for Christmas drinks,” Miller says.

“That could be driving spending a little bit more at home.”

Miller also says writing down your Christmas costs will always help keep them under control.

Crown Money Management’s chief executive officer Scott Parry urges shoppers “not to put any Christmas presents on credit or Afterpay”. “If you don’t have the cash, you can’t afford it,” he says.

Parry also suggests people think back to last year’s presents.

“Many people can’t remember what they got last year, we are spending all this money and no one can remember what presents they got,” he says.

“Map out how many people you want to buy for, how much you want to spend per person, add that all up and, if it’s too much, you need to drop how much you are spending per person.”

Parry says breaking down costs “into bite-sized chunks” will help you keep your spending under control.

He also urges shoppers to maximise the existing sales to ensure you can buy goods at a discounted price.

@sophieelsworth

Originally published as Australians are going to be much more cautious before spending up this Christmas