The end of the year is fast approaching, and that means that a particularly exciting event is just around the corner…Christmas! We love EVERYTHING about it! The decorations, the presents, the tree, the food, the giving and the lights…. oh boy are we obsessed with Christmas lights!

“Worried about getting back on track with your finances following the Christmas splurge? Take control of what you can and lock in your current electricity and gas rates for the next two years with EnergyAustralia’s new Secure Saver plan.”

You see, there are different types of people when it comes to the festive season, and within the first week of December, it’s pretty obvious who fits into what category!

There are your “Martha Stewart Christmas” types who have the most amazing looking Christmas trees, perfectly symmetrical with colour coordinated baubles and fat plump tinsel to match the rest of their silver and electric blue decorations, which are strategically placed around the house. Underneath their perfectly decorated tree are mountains of perfectly wrapped presents, with perfectly tied fat bows, silver and electric blue ribbon which matches the baubles, everything just so lovely and perfect, their houses resembling a front cover of Home Beautiful Magazine.

Then there are your “Christmas Grinch” types, you know the ones, they mope around the minute they see Christmas displays and decorations being sold in the shops (what’s wrong with buying mince pies in October?!) They’re the ones who sneer at the reindeer ears on the side mirrors of cars and the ones who do not, under any circumstances, write or wish to receive Christmas cards.

Then of course there’s me, the “I LOVE Christmas” type! The type that grabs Christmas decorations from here there and everywhere, bits and pieces of everything. Nothing matches and nothing makes sense and nothing looks particularly amazing but I start and I just can’t stop! Ornaments are strewn about the house, the Santa I got from the op shop sits crookedly on the study window, the same bit of tinsel I’ve owned for over a decade drapes around our letter box and strings of foil stars are chucked about sporadically here there and everywhere to achieve maximum Christmas sparkle – even in the toilet…nowhere is safe!

“Staying on budget can be hard at Christmas but by locking in our electricity and gas prices with EnergyAustralia’s Secure Saver plan, it has given us peace of mind that even though gas and electricity rates are rising, ours will stay the same, which helps remove any uncertainty when it comes to post Christmas bill paying.”

But the lights, the Christmas lights is where our obsession really lays. It started around four years ago. It was Boxing Day and we noticed quite a few Christmas lights were on sale for a really, really good price. I’m talking like “Kmart cheap” prices with another 50% off! Knowing that it was too good to pass up, we grabbed a few boxes and put them away in the roof with the rest of the Christmas decorations.

Out they came the following year and they were… twinkling, mesmerising, MAGICAL! We needed more! More! More! Well, more we got, and now, not only has Christmas overtaken the inside of our house every December, it has positively spewed blown up reindeers, twinkling trees, flashing lights, neon signs and colour changing projections all over the outside of our house too! It’s a Christmas light bonanza!

So, being money conscious at this time of year, what’s our top tips for making your house look Kevin McAlister worthy on a Griswold budget? Well, the trick is to snag a bargain when you see one and that means keeping an eye out for sales and bargains all year round.

• Purchase your lights in the post Christmas sales, most stores will reduce them by at least 50% the week after Christmas.
• Buy lights midyear; don’t wait for November or December when stores are selling them at full price. Search sites such as Gumtree, eBay and Buy, Swap and Sell pages on Facebook.
• Rummage through op shops and garage sales. Some of our best Christmas finds have been second hand items.
• Fall in love with projectors. Having just one or two of these bad boys angled onto your house can give the effect of millions of lights for little outlay.
• Have a pre-Christmas clean up. You’ve probably got loads of items sitting around the house that you could sell, adding a little boost to your festive light purchase finances.

And if you’re worried about the post Christmas electricity bill (because let’s face it, every month utility bills seem to be getting more expensive and that’s not a good thing when NASA calls to say they can track your house from space it’s so bright!) do what we did and lock in your current electricity and gas rates for the next two years with EnergyAustalia’s new Secure Saver plan.

“It’s basically like hitting a pause button on the energy rates you pay now (discounts included if you pay your bill on time)”

Giving us peace of mind that even though the price of gas and electricity is rising,  our energy usage rates and daily supply charges won’t go up, which helps remove uncertainty when it comes to post Christmas budget planning and bill paying. For full details and T&Cs, head to the EnergyAustralia website by clicking here.

Now, where are my tinsel reindeer earrings?! Ok, ok, I know it’s only November but there’s nothing like getting in the Christmas spirit early and hey, the supermarkets are already selling mince pies and marshmallow chocolate Santa’s so it would be rude not to! Ho Ho Ho!

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