The song Feliz Navidad has continued to rocket up the UK’s music charts every year since it was claimed as a popular Christmas song by the British public in 2017.
And just like Jose Feliciano’s hit, the cost of festive celebrations continues to go up, putting a serious dent in the wallet of the savviest of spenders.
According to data from research firm Kantar, Christmas dinner will cost 6.5% more this year, with the average price rising to £32.57.
Frozen turkey is 8.5% more expensive than last year at an average of £14.09, while rising vegetable costs are also driving up the price of a festive meal. Potatoes are up by a whopping 16.2% and cauliflower is up by 14.6%, and that’s not to mention the additional costs households face buying gifts.
Many people put money aside throughout the year to absorb the additional costs of the Festive Season.
That can be either by putting your money away in a savings account on payday or physically stuffing notes and pennies away in an old jam jar.
Even if you haven’t been unable to do this and with just a couple of weeks to go before the Big Day, there are digital tools that could help you start to build up savings to either clear debt in the New Year or cushion the blow of eating too many spuds and pigs in blankets.
Harness your increased spending with ’roundup’ services
A number of banks, building societies, credit card firms and financial mobile apps now offer a service to help you round up your spending to the nearest pound, with the difference between the purchase price added to a connected savings account.
So if you pay £4.35 for your daily flat white using your bank contactless card, a total of £5 would be taken out of your account, with 65p added to the connected savings account.
How much you save will depend on your spending, but financial mobile app Moneybox, which provides a roundup service to its users, says that on average its customers save £12.37 per week from roundups alone.
Intelligent automatic savings and investing tools
If you have struggled to get into the habit of saving in the past or making a regular lump sum payment seems too much of a commitment, intelligent automatic savings and investing tools could be for you.
Savings app providers such as Chip and Plum securely connect to your bank or building society account and automatically transfer money across to a connected savings account also owned by you.
Using the apps you can set how much money you roughly want to save in total, and then the app’s technology will work out how much to take based on your spending habits and how much is left in your account.
For example, Chip automatically makes a save every four days. How much it takes to put into your savings will depend on the rules you set up – if you feel it is taking too much, you can reduce the amount.
New Year’s resolutions to spruce up your finances
If you are not able to build up a buffer in the run up to Christmas, but feel like your finances could do with a bit of TLC in the New Year, there are a number of apps to help get your finances in order.
Snoop and Emma can securely connect to your different bank or building society accounts to give you an overview of your overall financial health. They can also provide tips on budgeting and even analyse your existing contracts to see if there are better deals available on the market. Although both of these offer premium options for a monthly fee, basic oversight of your different accounts is free.
Many of these savings apps also connect up to cash savings, cash ISAs, and investment tools to help you get a return on your savings as well. Shopping around for the best deal can be a great way to make more of your hard-earned money.
