Laura Linden is a top financial strategist and founder of Feisty FD
Christmas can quickly turn from fun to financial nightmare if you’re not careful, with overspending on gifts, food and nights out piling up faster than you expect. Laura Linden, a top financial strategist and founder of Feisty FD, knows exactly how to stop you blowing your budget over the festive season.
“Christmas should be about fun and connection with loved ones but it can be a time of stress and worry (and I don’t mean about dry turkey or soggy sprouts),” said Laura, the author of bestseller UnF*ck Your Business Finances: Unlearn the Shame, Reclaim the Power and Change the Game.
“We’ve all been there. You promise yourself you’ll keep it sensible this year and not break the bank. Then December appears, the invitations come in thick and fast, the kids hand you another letter about a Christmas fayre and suddenly all good intentions go out the window.
“January is a long month, especially if you get an early December salary payment, and maxed out credit cards is a horrible way to start the year.
“It doesn’t have to be this way. We don’t have to blow our budgets trying to ‘keep up with the Jones’s’. With some sensible choices and a bit of planning, you can still have an amazing Christmas without all the financial stress.”
Here, Laura shares her simple plan to help you stay in control and still enjoy the season.
Step 1: Face the numbers and set your Christmas “pot”
Taking action starts with knowing your starting point. It’s the scariest part but the first step always is. If you don’t look, you won’t know what you’re dealing with. So have a look at where you are right now and ask yourself three questions:
What’s in your bank account? What’s on your credit cards already? What bills are coming out between now and New Year? From there, decide how much you can actually afford to spend on Christmas without going further into debt.
This isn’t the number you think you need to spend or want to spend. It’s the real one that still lets you pay your rent or mortgage, heat your home and feed everyone in January. Once you’ve got that number, that’s your total Christmas pot. And that has to cover everything including presents, food and drink, travel, nights out, decorations, outfits, wrapping and stockings.
If you’ve still got some money to come in before the big day (salary/benefits/bonus), set up a weekly transfer into a Christmas savings pot. Even £20-£30 a week gives you a buffer. Future you will be very grateful.
Step 2: Tackle the gift list (and cut the obligation gifts)
Gifts are where we usually start to go off the rails. We find the perfect gift and ignore the price tag. Start by writing down everyone you usually buy for. Family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, kids’ teachers, your cousin’s new partner you’ve met once…
Now be ruthless. Can some people move to ‘card only’? Can your wider family agree ‘kids only’ this year? Can you suggest a family Secret Santa instead of buying for eight adults?
You’ll probably find that others are feeling the pinch and will be relieved you’ve suggested scaling back this year. Next set a realistic limit per person and check it against your total budget. If your list adds up to more than you’ve got, the list needs to change.
Ban ‘just in case’ presents. Those filler gifts; bath sets, novelty mugs, bargain candles are money down the drain. They’re forgotten by Boxing Day and usually shoved in a cupboard or regifted. If someone surprises you with a gift, a warm thank you is enough. You are not a bad person if you don’t have a spare gin set wrapped under the tree. Cutting obligation gifts isn’t mean, it’s sensible and most people will be relieved you’ve made the first move to stop it.
Step 3: Plan thoughtful presents within your budget
With your list sorted, decide what you’re giving before you hit the shops. For each person, choose one main idea that fits their budget. Planning now stops you wandering round a shopping centre in mid-December, buying random junk because you’re stressed and tired.
Here are some lower-cost, meaningful gift ideas:
- Framed photos with a handwritten note about why that memory matters to you.
- Mini hampers filled with their favourite snacks, hot chocolate, cosy socks, face masks.
- ‘Time’ vouchers like babysitting, a home-cooked meal, dog-sitting, DIY help. Anything you know they need.
- Secondhand treasures from charity shops or Vinted: books, games, quirky glassware, retro bits.
Most people can’t remember what they were given last year. They do remember how they felt. Thoughtful beats expensive every time so don’t feel like you have to spend a fortune to show someone you care.
If you’re doing handmade or DIY gifts, start them this week. Future you, on the 23rd of December, will not want to be baking 48 gingerbread men or making photo books at midnight.
Don’t let “40% off” trick you into blowing money on things that were never on your list.
Step 4: Remember you’re not feeding the entire neighbourhood
Now let’s talk food; another huge budget drain. Every year, we buy enough to cater for an army, even if there are only five of us at the table. Three meats, 12 side dishes and a cheese board big enough to knock out a small horse… it’s overkill.
This week, plan the food like a normal human being, not a hotel buffet. Figure out who’s eating where and when. Are you hosting? Going elsewhere? Doing a buffet on Boxing Day? Plan the menu first, then the shopping list.
One main meat or veggie centrepiece. A sensible number of sides (no one needs four types of potatoes). One or two puddings people actually like. Check your cupboards and freezer.
You probably already have spices, flour, sugar, tins and leftover snacks. Share the load. Ask guests to bring pudding, starters or drinks. Most are happy to chip in if you ask early.
Leftovers are great if you use them. Christmas sandwiches, bubble and squeak, soups and pies are amazing. Bin bags full of food are just depressing. If you’re throwing half a trolley away, you may as well have thrown the cash straight in the bin so stick to buying only what you’ll use.
Step 5: Decorations, outfits and nights out
This is when the social stuff ramps up, and so does the spending.
Decorations
Marketers love convincing us we need a brand-new theme every year. We don’t. Get out what you already own before you buy anything. Top up with small, cheap touches if you want a refresh; fairy lights, paper chains, a new candle.
Charity shops are brilliant for baubles, wreaths and table bits. Last year’s baubles are still fine. Nobody is judging your colour scheme except you.
Outfits
You do not need a brand-new outfit for every party and Christmas Day. Shop your own wardrobe first. Most of us have something we love and have forgotten.
Borrow or swap with friends for a new-to-you look. If you do buy something, set a strict limit and choose pieces you’ll wear again. Nobody is scrolling back through old Instagram posts to check what you wore last Christmas, I promise.
Nights out
Social life is lovely, until the bill hits. Choose the events you really want to go to instead of saying yes to everything. Suggest cheaper options: drinks at home, brunch instead of dinner, skipping rounds and just paying for your own. Decide your spend for each night before you leave the house and stick to it.
Remember: you’re allowed to say, “I’d love to, but money’s tight this year. Can we do something cheaper?”. There’s no shame in it.
Step 6: Last minute sanity check and a gift for 2026 you
You’re nearly there. This week is about protecting yourself from the last-minute wobble. Go back to your budget and add up what you’ve actually spent so far on:
Gifts; food and drink; nights out; travel and extras. If you’re at (or close to) your total, that’s it; you’re done. You do not need to keep buying “just in case”. Trust the plan.
Keep a small buffer aside for genuine emergencies. Not extra glittery napkins, but things like running out of petrol on a long trip or a last-minute taxi. And then, the most important step of all: stop stressing. Your kids, your partner, your friends; they want you present, calm and enjoying yourself. Not pacing the kitchen worrying about your credit card.
You are not a bad parent, partner or friend for choosing a smaller, more sensible Christmas. You’re a smart one. The people who love you the most don’t need a mountain of gifts or a perfectly themed tree. They need you, not burnt out, not silently panicking about money, but actually able to relax.
Follow this plan as best you can. You don’t have to do it perfectly. Even picking up a few of these steps will make a big difference.
Laura Linden’s book, UnF*ck Your Business Finances: Unlearn the Shame, Reclaim the Power and Change the Game is out in December. For more information, visit Feisty FD
