During this Christmas season, there is no doubt that expenses are bound to soar, but experts have warned that some measure of financial discipline at this moment will keep you afloat once the merriment is over.
try not to open the oven door too frequently, as heat lost when opening and closing the door can cause the oven to use more energy
Energy bills, for instance, are bound to shoot up with people spending more time at home, using electricity to power many heavy-duty home appliances.
Nigeria’s households are expected to spend an average of N10, 000 each on their energy bills and over N20, 000 on fuel for generating plants, during this Christmas Day.
Christmas day alone can also be expensive with the average family spending over three hours cooking their Christmas meal with the electric cooker; but there are many things you can do to keep costs down.
According to a survey, the average family spends between four hours and two hours cooking their Christmas meals.
Pay tv, cooking gas, electricity bills and lighting of the Christmas tree were also revealed as some of the biggest household energy costs during the festive period, with families spending five hours, 13 minutes each day, with their Christmas lights on.
Likewise, with new gadgets being gifted and the inevitable downtime that comes with Christmas day, the average person spends around two hours, 55 minutes on their mobile phone, leading to over N2, 000 being spent charging phones on Christmas Day.
SAVING COSTS ON ENERGY
When it comes to the cost of Christmas, cooking a turkey was found to be the biggest energy sucking activity. To save on costs when cooking, try not to open the oven door too frequently, as heat lost when opening and closing the door can cause the oven to use more energy.
But it’s not all bad news this Christmas – a fridge bursting with Christmas delicacies acts as insulation, meaning your fridge needs to run for less time to stay cool and therefore uses less energy. A good excuse to stock up on the Christmas pudding.
Also, having a tree lit up with lots of fairy lights is often a non-negotiable part of the festive season. But, this doesn’t mean you can’t give the other areas of your house some energy-saving bulb. Taking the time to replace just one old light-bulb with an energy saving alternative could help reduce your bill, with savings of up to N1, 000 to be made over the lifetime of the bulb.
DECIDE ON YOUR SPENDING
A financial coach, Mr. Ayodele Esho, thus gives some nuggets on how to keep upstream, as a deluge of financial demands assail this Yuletide season.
Esho, in his recipe, says it is always prudent to decide how much you can spend during the holiday. To him, looking at your bank account, you can make a firm holiday budget that you will be able to stick to, before embarking on any spending or purchases.
“Year in and out, Nigerians get it all wrong, by just spending money, hoping that after the holidays, they would manage the little leftover. In worst cases, some even forget to plan for children’s school fees, and before they realise it, they have run into debt and gone broke in the New Year, as children are sent home from school,” he said.
He urged people not to overlook the little ‘extras’, adding that they should ensure they include everything, from home decorations to the cost of an extra luggage when travelling, in their budgets for the year, or shortly before the long holiday, to avoid being cash-strapped in January, 2018.
“Individuals should try to make lists of what to do or buy with the tentative amount that may cater for those expenses in December. Go over the list and decide how much you can spend on each one. In case you do not have enough money to cover your holiday budget, you can go through it again and cut some things out,” he
added.
