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Oct 13, 2023

Tail end of the year budgeting

For many expats, the tail end of the year is one of the most expensive seasons. We've got birthdays, Christmas, and so on in our family, and costs add up! Not to mention as the weather starts cooling down, we end up running our heat sources more and those aren't cheap, either! If the winter months are also expensive for you, what are some ways you budget for it?

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genkidesu

genkidesu

Love to travel, interested in J-beauty products and consider myself a convenience store snack aficionado. Navigating the ever-present challenges of expat life, particularly about my TCK's (third culture kids).

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  • Lyssays

    Lyssays

    on Nov 3

    This is a really minor thing, but a good Hard-Off and/or Off-House can really help with gift purchases, particularly toys for the kids and accessories for grown-ups. My local ones even resell those elaborate towel/cloth gift sets cheaply. Other than that, I find myself always thinking I should cultivate some sort of side hustle more :/ It’s the busiest part of the year, so I don’t get far beyond the thinking stage, but it’s always there.

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  • TonetoEdo

    TonetoEdo

    on Nov 4

    Baked into my monthly budget is a "mad money" category, somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 yen a month set aside for gifts and trips. Like @Lyssays, some of the gifts (especially towels and towel handkerchiefs) I get at recycle shops. These are unopened packages. Good quality second-hand kimono and yukata and accessories make great gifts for visitors from abroad, too.

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  • BigfamJapan

    BigfamJapan

    on Nov 5

    For better or worse, I don't really budget, BUT this year I am making a conscious effort to stock up on my Amazon points this month for Christmas shopping in December. I haven't been posting reviews here regularly for the last three years, so I am lucky that I have a big backlog of reviews I can share to rack up some cash! But obviously, there's a limit on that - even though I'm out and about all the time (with the exception of this past week), I don't really eat out that much. But again, I'm lucky that Kawagoe has so much street food and I do try something / where new every couple of weeks without breaking the bank. Then there's finding the time to add the reviews; I was home more than normal this past week so I got quite a few up, but I will struggle hereafter. I don't know how you do it, more power to you!

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  • genkidesu

    genkidesu

    on Nov 5

    @BigfamJapan I've been going through my phone/hard drive too and collecting all the places that I haven't reviewed yet. I think we all probably have the same idea at this time of year, and any extra cash definitely helps! Thankfully my husband is very hands-on with parenting and I treat blogging here almost as a part-time gig so it's not too difficult...and I can type quickly!

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  • BigfamJapan

    BigfamJapan

    on Nov 5

    @genkidesu I'm the same with my website :-) Trying to give some of the time I give to that to City-cost instead!!

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  • Eli

    Eli

    on Nov 7

    I try to buy things when there is a sale. In November a lot of places do a Black Friday sale and Amazon has a sale once a month. I also try to use coupons when I can. For example Line Pay has coupons for several online shops that you can use once a month.

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  • JapanRamen

    JapanRamen

    on Jan 15

    I save money on elec bills during the winter mostly by keeping all the doors closed and using heat-conserving curtains. Also, jackets and yuutanpos are just as efficient as heaters but much cheaper!

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