Plan your Christmas and New Year well to avoid Financial hangover- Stephen Agbemasiku.

According to Kirk Jewell, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and founder of Global Financial Services, "a good rule of thumb is to spend no more than 1 percent of your overall income on the holidays." So, if your combined household earnings is $150,000, no more than $1,500 should be spent on your holiday budget.

As we approach the festive season, TV adverts and newspapers are encouraging us to embark on the normal Christmas practice of “shopping promotions” – or these days, shopping until our index fingers get tired of tapping in details online or we run out of credit cards .

But we also start to blame ourselves for the subsequent financial shock, when the bills land on our doormats and in our email inboxes in the New Year.

Here are my top 7 tips for a successful celebration this Christmas and New year to avoid financial hangover.


1. Set a budget for your Christmas spending
First, draw up a budget for your Christmas spending – additional spending on food, drink, donations and socializing. Don't allow yourself to be pressurized – even by your children, husband or customers to buy what you have not budgeted for.

2. Use savings wisely
Make sure you know how your extra spend is going to be financed. If withdrawing saving funds from a savings account, in this case make sure you access the money from the account paying the least interest in addition. But know that, it's not advisable to borrow enormous amount of money for celebrations.

3.Pay off all bills quickly.
Try to ensure that you pay off the balance in full so the you will not receive different bill will not arrive in the New Year.

4.Check your overdraft details
If you’re funding your spend via an overdraft, make sure it’s authorised and you know the interest rate and any other charges your bank applies to overdrafts because unauthorised overdraft is likely to attract high charges. If in doubt, check with your bank first.

5.Shop around and look for deals.
During Christmas, some shops gives out discount of sales whiles some increase their prices.

6.Hold on to your receipts
As ever, keep your receipts in case presents need to be exchanged or refunded – and for those items you bought.


7. Keep a running total
Keep a close check on your spending . This will help you to know how to slow down your expenditure.

Remember good financial planning will help you enjoy not only the festive season’s celebrations, but the New Year too.

Thanks for reading.
Merry Christmas and Happy New year.