The December You Actually Want: A Christmas Budget Beyond Gifts

A Christmas budget can include gifts, food, outings, travel and decorations, alongside any other celebrations falling in the same period. For each plan, record who is paying, what has already been spent, what remains to pay and when the payment is due. If you can afford it, leave some money unallocated for optional extras rather than committing every euro in advance.

That final bit matters to me. I love having room for an unexpected discovery when we are out together. Saving ahead helps make that possible.

Bas has his birthday at the beginning of December, which means my festive finances start before the Christmas presents.

These days, we often surprise each other with an overnight stay, somewhere in the Netherlands or elsewhere in Europe. For his birthday surprise, my limit is €500. That is my personal ceiling for the gift, paid from my own money — not our Christmas budget, and certainly not a suggested amount anyone else should spend.

Then there are the Christmas presents I buy for him. Those have their own pot, separate from his birthday. The presents we buy together, for my brother and his family for example, come from our joint account.

So even before I have bought a bauble, there are different decisions being made with different money.

Putting everything under one vague heading called “Christmas” would hide that distinction. December is one month on the calendar, but it does not all belong to the same account.

I tend to start setting money aside around September. I also often buy things earlier in the season rather than leaving everything to December.

Starting earlier gives me time to spread the decisions and spending. It does not guarantee the lowest price. If I want a particular item, I still need to check what it costs and whether it fits the money I have available.

We already have a lovely collection of Christmas decorations. Over time, I have invested in some bigger statement pieces, so a new season does not mean starting again.

I do still like adding to it. When we travel, I often pick up a Christmas ornament. That small reminder of a place becomes part of the next Christmas at home.

Last year was different. It was our first Christmas in this house, with much higher ceilings, and we bought a very large tree for the living room. An XXL tree, because apparently that was where this was going.

It was a significant purchase. It is also something I expect to use for years.

That distinction is useful when looking back at what Christmas cost. If you bought a tree last year, copying last year’s total without thinking may give you the wrong picture of this year. Equally, a large replacement should not disappear inside a category called “a few decorations”.

Look at what you already own before deciding what this season needs. Then separate the small additions from any substantial purchase you are actually planning.

We visit Christmas markets every year, preferably more than one. We often go with my brother and his family, and those days are among the things I am happiest to spend money on.

Bas usually works out an approximate budget for a day away. He leaves some room in it, so it does not feel as though every stop has already been assigned an exact allowance.

Perhaps we find a wonderful restaurant. Perhaps something catches my eye that I had no idea I was going to love. We like having the possibility of changing the plan a little.

That room has to be considered when we prepare the budget. It cannot depend on pretending that everything costs less than it does.

For your own plan, begin with the costs you already know: the journey, any accommodation or tickets, and a realistic allowance for food and drink. If money remains available after essentials and other commitments, you can choose to leave some of it unallocated for optional extras.

It may help to distinguish two things. Costs you still need to check — parking, booking fees or the price of the journey home — belong in the actual cost of the outing. Choices you might enjoy making — a different meal, an extra stop or something you discover along the way — are optional and can be declined.

There is no required amount for the second list. It can be zero. An outing can be lovely without additional spending, and leaving money unspent is a perfectly good outcome too.

For the detail of costing one particular day out, see The Full Cost of a Winter Plan.

I enjoy a beautiful restaurant. I also enjoy eating a currywurst at a Christmas market.

The difference in price is not what makes one afternoon more memorable than another. What matters to me is who we are with, how the day unfolds and the atmosphere around us.

If there are glitters involved, even better.

At home over Christmas, we choose the dishes we want to make and spend what we need on the ingredients. We have enough room in our finances to approach those meals that way, and I want to be honest about that. It is a description of our priorities and circumstances, not an instruction to ignore food costs.

When planning your own season, decide what you most want to protect. It might be one meal, a visit, a day out or time at home together. That gives you something specific to work around if the full list becomes too expensive.

I would love to say I maintain a flawless gift inventory.

I do not.

I start buying early, keep presents tucked away and often leave them in their delivery boxes so the surprise survives an accidental discovery. Occasionally, that approach works a little too well: I overlook a box and buy more than I had intended.

So I try to check what I already have before buying the next thing. What is there? Is anything actually missing? Would one more present add something, or have I already finished?

A small gift list would make that easier. This is a suggested tool for the reader, rather than a system I am claiming to use perfectly myself.

Keep the list somewhere private if it would reveal a surprise. Money spent in September is still part of the cost of the gift, even though it will not appear on December’s bank statement.

The last birthday stay I bought for Bas sounded promising: a weekend away at a whisky distillery in the Netherlands.

The reality was deeply uncomfortable. The bed was so small that Bas could not lie properly stretched out, and neither of us was happy staying there. At around two or half past two in the morning, we left and drove home.

The following day, we made ourselves comfortable under a blanket and watched lovely films. That part was good.

I would have preferred the stay to work out. Paying for an experience does not ensure that it will be a good one, and a charming idea on a booking page cannot compensate for being unable to sleep comfortably.

For a future overnight gift, the ordinary details deserve attention alongside the surprise: the bed, the room and whether the stay will actually suit the person receiving it.

The money had already been spent, but we could still decide how to spend the rest of our time. Going home gave us a much better next day.

The following is a practical way to bring the separate parts together. It is an editorial worksheet inspired by the choices above, not a copy of our private household spreadsheet.

Start with the amount genuinely available after ordinary bills, essentials and existing commitments. MoneyHelper’s budget planner uses income and outgoings to establish what remains, and recommends accurate figures and a consistent household scope. Its resource is UK-based; the basic overview here can use your own currency and circumstances.

List gifts, meals, market days, travel, decorations and birthdays that belong in your season. Keep personal and joint costs identifiable. You can see them together without assuming they all come from the same money.

For each plan, record payments already made and estimate the remaining cost. A deposit belongs in “paid”, with only the outstanding balance in “still to pay”. A fully purchased gift has nothing left to pay, but its cost stays visible in the season total.

A December stay may need to be paid for in October. Set the deadline by when money leaves your account, rather than by the date of the celebration.

Estimated whole-season cost = paid already + estimated still to pay.

Keep any optional unallocated money on a separate line. It is an allowance you may use, not a purchase you have already made.

Compare what is still to pay, plus any optional allowance, with the money reserved and still available for it. Add only future contributions you can realistically make before the relevant bills are due. Check personal and joint pots separately so the same money is not allocated twice.

If the remaining plan does not fit, change its size or timing. More detail in a worksheet will not create extra spending room.

These figures are invented to explain the method. They are not our spending or a recommended Christmas budget.

Suppose gifts have cost €80 so far and another €120 is planned. Food is estimated at €100 and a market outing at €90. The planned whole-season cost is €390: €80 paid and €310 still to pay.

There is €200 currently left in the relevant savings pot, after paying for the earlier gifts. If another €150 can realistically be added before the bills are due, €350 is available for the remaining €310. That leaves €40 unallocated. Keeping €30 of it as an optional allowance would leave €10 untouched.

The earlier €80 counts towards the whole-season cost. It is not money still available, and it does not need to be paid again. The optional €30 only becomes actual spending if it is used.

If one of those bills arrives before the extra €150, the timing needs adjusting too. A plan has to work on the payment dates as well as in the final total.

Look at what is already paid for, what you have already put away and what you most want from the season.

For me, it is the surprise for Bas, the Christmas markets with family, the food we choose to make and a home filled with decorations I enjoy bringing out again. Some of it costs money. Some of it is already in a box upstairs, waiting for its turn.

I like saving for the possibility of an adventure. I also like knowing that a currywurst with the right people can be exactly the plan I wanted.