The holidays have been and gone and you might be one of the Kiwis that feel you ate a bit too much and spent way too much. The good thing is, for most people it’s easy to cure your holiday spending hangover - all that’s needed is a little discipline and planning in the near year.
To get you started, we’ve come up with a selection of tips that should help you get your finances back on track.
Set some goals
It can be hard to achieve anything at all without a goal to work towards. So in 2025, why not set a few goals to help direct your energy towards something positive?
For example, you could:
- Try not to use Buy Now, Pay Later services
- See whether you are in the right KiwiSaver fund, and whether your contribution levels will get you to your goals
- Review whether you could get better deals for your utilities and bills
- Protect what is important by making a will, looking to see if you an Enduring Power of Attorney is right for your situation, and seeing whether life and health insurance works for you
- Start an emergency fund
- Start putting away an amount each month to save for Christmas, or snap up deals for gifts when you come across a great sale throughout the year - having a rough idea in mind what each person likes helps immensely!
Whatever it is, make sure it’s specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Pay off high interest debt
Most of us are guilty of swiping the credit card and using AfterPay a bit too much during the holiday season. When things cost so much, who can blame us?
The problem is, nothing holds you back financially more than high interest debt and Buy Now, Pay Later services. They might be convenient at the time but they all take money away from your future self - money that could be used for savings or investments.
To get these paid off it’s a good idea to use a concept from the Barefoot Investor and ‘domino your debts’. You start with the highest interest debt and work your way back towards low interest stuff until you’re debt free (except for your home loan and/or student loan if you have one).
Try a no-spend challenge
There’s a bit of a financial trend of ‘no-spend’ challenges right now. The idea is that you try to spend nothing but the essentials like rent, food, heating and transport for a certain period of time - whether it’s a day or a week.
Doing this can help you realise it’s possible to live well without spending, and help you adjust your spending on the rest of your days. Even if that doesn’t work this could save you some money every week!
Think about how you can do it better next time
You overspent this Christmas - didn't we all? The good thing is, we can all do better next year by changing a few behaviours.
With that in mind, we wrote an article on how to spend less on Christmas (and still get merry) that we think might be helpful.
Get financial advice
You don't have to be alone when planning your finances, whether this is your first time trying to budget or you are stuck on what choices to make to ensure you achieve your goals. Just like a personal coach, you can get financially fitter with a financial adviser, no matter where you're starting from. Just remember that in New Zealand, they must be registered to be able to give financial advice.
We've written a guide on how to get and choose a professional financial adviser to help you sort out your budget, your debt and your investments. With a little help you might be surprised what you can achieve.
Disclaimer:
This ‘How to quickly recover from your holiday spending hangover’ blog is general information only. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the FSC. It is not intended to constitute legal or financial advice and does not take your individual circumstances and financial situation into account. We encourage you to seek assistance from a trusted financial adviser, legal or other professional advice.
The names of any third parties are additional resources that you access at your own risk and the FSC takes no responsibility for any third party content.
The FSC and its employees make no express or implied representations or give any warranties regarding this blog, and we accept no responsibility for any loss, damage, cost or expense (whether direct or indirect) incurred by you as a result of any error, omission or misrepresentation in this blog.
January 2025.
