Next time you have a spare 10 minutes or so, go through your recent bank statements and credit card accounts, and add up everything you spent on Christmas; food, drinks, presents, travel, holidays the lot.
Scary isn't it?
A recent survey found that only 45 per cent of Australian households saved part of their income from October to December in preparation for the Christmas period, a drop of around seven per cent from last year.
That means that many Australians would have taken a hefty hit to the hip pocket thanks to the festive season, and probably wished they'd organised it a little better so the spending could be more manageable.
Well, while the pain's still fresh in your mind, why not start organising now?
If you're not sure about how to get started, or need some structure around your savings strategy, you might want to set up an online savings account.
It's been about seven years since they were introduced, and since then the number of products available has ballooned and the competition for your savings is fierce. To get the most out of an online savings account you need to pick the one that suits you best, not just the one with the highest interest rate.
Not that rates are anything to be sneezed at. With some accounts offering more than 5.5 per cent, you're looking at the kind of returns previously only available to fixed term deposits. What you should check for though is whether there's a minimum balance required to receive those rates, what the fees are for extras like cheque books, and whether there are restrictions on how often you can transfer out of your account.
Or, you might want to consider setting up a direct debit account. There are a stack of online savings accounts allowing you to set up a direct debit from your salary each week. That way the money's automatically taken from your bank account when you get paid, before you get your hands on it.
Or some places still offer the old-fashioned Christmas Club accounts. These let you save as much as you like throughout the year, and usually give you access to your funds in early November, so you can take advantage of the pre-Christmas sales. You've normally got until the end of January to access your funds, so you can choose to take all your savings out then, or leave the remainder in the account for the following Christmas.
And remember, it doesn't have to be a huge overhaul of your finances. Setting aside as little as $20 a week will net you more than $1,000 by the end of 2008, and that would surely make for a slightly merrier Christmas.