In just a few days, the Christmas festivities will begin, one of the most anticipated seasons by Mexican families thanks to the encouragement of family sharing and local traditions. Although it is a season loved by many, the truth is that it can also represent important expenses for the end of the year.

Today, after almost 2 years of a pandemic that has brought greater instability to our personal finances, more and more people are wondering how it is possible to save during the holidays. If you are also wondering, we offer you 5 strategies that can help you spend less:

The first thing you should do to save during the holidays is to create a budget that takes into account the additional expenses that may arise this season (food, gifts, clothing) and make sure you do not exceed it. It is not very different from the budget that you would have to manage each month, so it is a useful tool and easy to do.

A fixed budget can not only help you find the best options in products, ensuring that no expense is out of the estimate, but it will also allow you to maintain tight control over your finances, giving you the possibility of making additional expenses in case there are a surplus after buying.

Many leave Christmas shopping for the second half of the month, something that, although understandable, makes them prone to buying more or choosing more expensive alternatives if they can't find the product they are looking for.

A shopping list can mitigate the risk of this happening by letting you know exactly what you're looking for, how much it costs (on average), where to find it, and what time of the month it's best to buy it.

There are multiple discount seasons throughout the year, be it Black Friday, Cyber ​​Monday, Good End and even Mother's Day, so you can always take advantage of it to buy what you're looking for without spending more. It is important that you know in advance the price of the gift you want, making sure that it is really on sale during these consumption festivities.

For example, when visiting Walmart's offers on toys for this Christmas, we can find consumer benefits such as the possibility of saving products by paying only 5% of their value, as well as the possibility of buying in December and paying in February.

Similarly, when visiting stores such as Bodega Aurrerá, it is possible to find discounts of up to 10% on Smart TV, going from paying almost 13,000 pesos for a Philips brand equipment, to less than 11,500 pesos.

As with these two chains, discounts abound during the Christmas holidays.

We always want the gifts we give to bring a smile to our family and friends, however, this cannot be achieved by overspending alone. Many gifts can be "simple" but have a significant impact on the recipient, so you should never forget this: the best gifts are not the most expensive, but the ones that really bring joy to your loved ones.

Christmas shopping is done in December, but is there no exception to this rule? Although it is true that many chains launch special products for the holidays, the truth is that in most cases we will be able to make all our Christmas purchases in advance, either during the last weeks of November or even before.

Buying in advance will help you avoid the stress of looking for a last minute gift and will allow you to get all the gifts you want without the risk of running out of stock, however, its main benefit is that it will help you save money, since that most Christmas products become more expensive during the last weeks of the year.

It may interest you:

- 6 ideas to save as a family by teaching financial education

- Natalia de Santiago: "To make ends meet, the best ally is the budget"

- How to talk to your children about money

- 5 tips for children to learn to save and value money