Budget for Christmas

Dominated for a decade by rampant spending, the recession is forcing us to restore some balance to Christmas, writes CONOR POPE

HAS THE downturn forced us to see sense? During the boom years, when the country seemed to be awash with money, Christmas was a time of wanton excess, with mountains of food and mountains of presents pouring into houses bedecked with sufficient illumination to put a Las Vegas casino to shame.

To impress a generation of children brought up amid plenty, Santa Claus had to go that extra mile and load even more toys onto a sleigh already creaking under the strain of high-priced games consoles and real looking ponies and clothes carrying the must-have brand names.

Things have changed and, according to a survey on the cost of Christmas published last month, Ireland had surrendered its place at the top of Europe’s Christmas spending chart to Luxembourg. The annual report from Deloitte found that we will spend an average of 22 per cent less on Christmas compared with last year.

This tempering of our spending should be viewed in a positive light, says psychologist Dr Mark Harrold. The changed economic realities most people face will give them an opportunity to restore some balance to Christmas which has been dominated for a decade by rampant spending. “We were out of control and in danger of losing our national identity. Christmas was suddenly all about getting the most expensive, top-of-the-range stuff and there was no holds barred when it came to cost. Parents were spending thousands of euro on gifts for their children. It really was not healthy,” he says.

He points out that over the last decade, marketing aimed at young people grew increasingly sophisticated and inextricably linked their self-esteem to what they owned and didn’t own. Children who did not have the top-of-the-range games consoles and trendiest clothes were bullied and isolated. “What children who got everything they wanted on a plate during the boom years were being denied was an opportunity to overcome adversity and that is one of those things which forms personality.”

While we may be planning to spend less, that does not mean Christmas is going to be cheap. According to the Deloitte survey, each household will spend an average of around €1,110 over the festive season, down from over €1,300 in 2008.

Presents will take the biggest hit with households planning to spend an average of €660 on gifts this year, down 30 per cent on 2008. Food will set us back an average of €265, just 6 per cent less than last year while households will spend €185 on socialising – down nearly 22 per cent on last year.

“There can be little doubt that Christmas in Ireland has finally become a victim of the recession. It’s clear that a strong feeling of anxiety prevails, and is sharply constraining the propensity to consume,” Susan Birrell of Deloitte said when the survey was published. “Irish consumers are likely to be extremely prudent in their spending this year – which is not likely to be welcome news to Ireland’s retailers.”

One striking statistic which emerged from the survey suggested that 61 per cent of consumers will draw up a budget for their Christmas shopping this year, many of them for the very first time. It is a smart idea and by far the most important Christmas-connected money saving tip Price Watch can think off.

Before the splurge starts, anyone with their hands on the purse strings should work out how much they have to spend, then work out the total price of all the presents, all the partying and all the food that they are going to need. Incidentally, anyone drawing up a Christmas budget would be well advised to factor in all of January into the equation. It’s a month that’s frequently forgotten when the sums are being done.

When it comes to Christmas food, it is surprisingly easy to knock substantial amounts off the bill. It is a truth almost universally acknowledged that we eat way too much over Christmas. After the turkey, ham, biscuits, mince pies, rashers and sausages, melon, plum pudding, trifle, fancy cheeses and chocolates are polished off, the typical Irish adult will consume around 6,000 calories on Christmas Day alone – is it any wonder people put on an average of half a stone over the festive period.

The key to spending less is to buy less. Around 30 per cent of the food that comes in to Irish homes this Christmas will go out the same doors days later in rubbish bins – that’s around half a tonne of turkey, not to mention the discarded vegetables, dairy products and the rest.

The reason we throw out so much is because we buy too much. Even people who are careful food shoppers year round tend to lose the run of themselves in the run up to Christmas and shop as if, once Christmas Eve comes, the shops will close for ever. They won’t! That may have been the case a generation ago when shops closed but the reality now is that virtually all the smaller supermarkets have re-opened before Santa has got back to the North Pole while most of the bigger supermarkets are open for business again on December 27th.

So, when you walk up and down the frenzied aisles in the run-up to Christmas this year, just keep repeating the mantra “the shops will open again soon, the shops will open again soon” and resist the urge to overbuy.

When it comes to the food you do buy make sure you make the right choices. A 14lb turkey for a family of five is expensively ridiculous and will leave you eating the bird until it’s coming out your ears – 10lb may seem small but it is plenty.

Similarly, don’t buy a big ham – a 5lb ham’s all a family of five will need, particularly if the Christmas plate is bulked up with home-made stuffing – one of the easiest, cheapest and most filling elements of a Christmas dinner – and root vegetables, which are in season, filling and cheap.

When it comes to presents for kids – it may be time to stop expecting Santa to always bring the must-have toys and gadgets. Most of us lost the run of ourselves during past Christmases.

According to Dr Harrold, the fondest memories are not made from such things. “Parents need to be straight this year and tell their children that the money simply is not there,” he says.

“It is in everyone’s best interests to curtail the spending. Christmas memories are not made from getting the must-have present. That is not the memory children will bring forward into their adult years. The memories that stick are much more basic that the acquisition of things – dressing a Christmas tree, visiting relatives, making the Christmas pudding – I know that may sound twee but they really are the memories that kids will bring forward and it takes the focus off the material things.”