How to avoid getting into debt after Christmas
From regifting to secret santa, there are lots of ways to side-step...
Give a priceless promise this Christmas
Give the gift of a priceless promise by downloading and printing one here (PDF 1.1MB*). Alternatively, we can email a priceless promise to your friend at 9am on Christmas morning (check out the preview here). All you need to do is scroll to the bottom of this article and fill in the form. Easy!
Download your Christmas priceless promise
All too often we hear people moaning about how much Christmas costs. But what are we doing to stop it from spiralling out of control? This is our idea behind the Priceless Promise.
It’s very easy to get carried away with Christmas spending, and it definitely seems to come earlier and earlier each year.
At this time of year extra cash needs to be found for parties, outfits, food, decorations, before we even get to buying the presents. And a forum thread on MoneySavingExpert recently asked people to admit how much they spend on Christmas presents; for a bunch of what you would expect to be money-savvy people, some of the amounts were amazing!
It doesn’t need to be expensive
Now we’re not going all bah-humbug and recommending you cancel Christmas altogether. We’re not even saying you should ban all presents.
We’re just asking you to be sensible this year and spare a thought before you splash the cash. We’ve already given you some top tips for a frugal Christmas and a few of you have even added to the list.
We’re giving you no excuse to pound the credit cards this year and giving you an all-expenses-paid, ready-made gift idea for your nearest and dearest.
The Promise
We’re proud to present our Christmas Priceless Promise, a certificate you can print to pledge a service as a gift.
The idea is to offer your time or skills as your present, so hopefully the gift won’t cost you much if anything at all. Then fold it up neatly, pop in it in an envelope, or alongside a Christmas card, and give to the lucky recipient.
Here are 10 priceless ideas to get you started…
- Mow the lawn
- Do the washing up for a month
- Clear the drive from snow (when it arrives)
- Make the dinner once a week throughout next year (wouldn’t work if you’re usually the cook!)
- Provide a free nights babysitting
- Offer to decorate a room
- Do the shopping
- Do the school run for a week
- Wash the car(s)
- Make the bed every day
Perfect for friends or family alike, you can set the trend and we’re sure that you’ll get happy results year after year. Let us know what you’ll be pledging; we’d love to hear your ideas (and maybe even steal a few for ourselves!).
Email your Priceless Promise
Fill in the form below with the email of the person you wish to send your Priceless Promise to, along with your promise and your name. They’ll receive your promise at 9am on Christmas morning!
* Most computers should open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader. If you’d rather download the PDF, don’t ‘left click’ on the link, but right click and press “Save As”.
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