Are you also looking forward to your salary next week? That is not surprising: we have had an expensive December. And there is a good chance that you will have to wait a little longer with your salary this month than you are used to.
Most companies deposit the salary around the 25th of the month. But in the month of December they bring that forward a few days. That way you will have your money in your account before Christmas.
That’s great fun in December, but it’s bothering us in January. We are now a month further after our last salary and we are eagerly awaiting the first salary of the new year. Especially if you add some (expensive) December expenses, contributions and price increases.
“People perceive it as a long month,” says budget coach Rita Celestine. “The salary comes earlier and you do more with that salary than you normally do. At the end of December you incur extra expenses. And after that you still have about five weeks until the new salary round comes.”
I’m already looking for gifts in September. Then I won’t be stressed about it in December and it won’t be deducted from my December budget.
But not only the actual duration of the month plays a role, it also feels longer. “Everything is fun in December. There are lights everywhere, you look forward to the holidays. Many people spend money without really thinking about it,” explains financial psychologist Anne Abbenes. “We only realize afterwards that it was too much.”
“And when the holidays are over, people fall into a hole. There are no more festive shop windows and dancing Santa Clauses. Moreover, there is a lot of attention to budgeting in January and that is precisely why you also long for your salary. It’s like you are on a diet, then you see cakes everywhere.”
The need for the salary is extra strong this year, Abbenes suspects. “There is a lot of uncertainty about our finances. About the energy bill, the increased prices. Our brain likes certainty. And not scarcity. That is very deep within us. And now we are constantly being confronted with the facts.”
The sooner you look ahead, the better
We can, of course, complain about this month and the fact that it is taking so long. But we can also simply ensure that we prepare better. “We also already know that the holidays are coming again at the end of the year. Yet everyone does last-minute shopping every year. I always tell my customers: make an annual plan at the beginning of the year and put money aside “, tips budget coach Celestine.
With Sinterklaas, Christmas and a birthday boy in December, Celestine has been doing that herself for years And she makes purchases earlier as far as possible. “I’m already looking for gifts in September. Then I don’t have any stress about it in December and it doesn’t deduct from my December budget. Then January is already a little less long.”
And if you have to go through these last days of January without money in your account? “Then you have to see what food and drink you have left at home. Or eat with family and friends. Try to bridge the time. And avoid ending up in the same boat next year,” says Celestine.
“We live in the now. That also applies to our finances. But the sooner you look ahead, the better. Your fixed costs are largely the same at the end of the year: you already know what you have lost. set aside for the holidays or birthdays. You can build in reservations for all the things you know in advance.”
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