I am in December but my pockets are in January! This is how a cheeky Kenyan responded when asked how this festive season was coming along the other day. His response is one that the majority of Kenyans can resonate with, especially coming out of a very financially challenging year.

Take Louise Adhiambo. Last year’s December Christmas holiday was not cheerful for her. On December 23, she got into an argument with her husband over where and how they would spend their Christmas.

Louise had proposed that they travel by air to her parent’s home in Kisumu on Christmas Eve. On the morning of December 26, they would then book another flight for Mombasa where they’d holiday until January 1.

“December 28 was my birthday. I was turning 30. I wanted to enter the third floor in style,” she says. Louise adds that her proposal was not so farfetched as her husband had received a heft bonus at work which they had set aside for Christmas spending.

But when she tabled her proposal, her husband Geoffrey went bonkers! “Two days to Christmas, he turned around and trashed the budget saying it was expensive,” she says.

Things got worse when he demanded that they spend Christmas at his uncle’s place in Matuu.

“It would have been better had he proposed that we spend at his parents’. Interestingly, this is an uncle that he wasn’t even too close to! His frugality was unjustified,” says Louise, adding that while her friends and colleagues enjoyed a merry Christmas, she had nothing to smile about the 2022 holiday. This year, she is not expecting things to get better.

Louise says that the year has been tough on them financially. “It has been a very stressful year, there’s no money. Budgeting for basic utilities has become a problem,” she says.

But like many other Kenyans struggling to get through the high cost of living this year, Louise would still want to have a beautiful Christmas. What many Kenyans may not know is that even with their finances on the edge, they can still have a memorable holiday season on a shoestring budget.

Your budget

You will spend more than you intended and jeopardize your January if you don’t plan a holiday budget and stick to it. This means that your holiday budget will determine the kind of January you’ll have.

“Know how much money you have to spend and compare it with how much money you have. Do not spend more than you earn,” says Okumu. Before you allocate your current salary to your budget, consider the other sources of money you can draw on.

Okumu says that these include dividends, annual bonus, annual chama savings that haven’t been earmarked for any expenditure, and work bonuses. Once you have all possible sources of funds on the table, list down your holiday expenses.

These include travel, gifts, clothes, stipends to family, decorations, food and drinks, and holiday parties and excursions. “Once you have the full list, create a column and list the must-have expenses and allocate funds, starting with your extra sources of funds,” says Okumu.

Gifting

As challenging as this year has been, there is so much you can be grateful for about the people you love and care for. Show your appreciation with a simple but thoughtful gift.

You don’t always have to over materialize. If you have kids, this will teach them that there is more to Christmas than big or many gifts. Be innovative in the way you express your gratitude.

“For example, you can craft or thrift a gift and tuck it nicely at their favourite spot in the house. Attach a passionate note saying, ‘I appreciate all the effort and sacrifices you have made to keep us going! Thank you!’” says psychologist Elizabeth Muigai.

At the same time, if you go for an actual gift, there are various ways you can get good discounts. One of these is by shopping on e-commerce platforms such as Jumia. A spot check by Bizna Kenya on Jumia shows that you can get a wide variety of items with discounts of more than 50 per cent.

The icing on the cake is that instead of shopping and paying for your items the usual way, you can get an additional 10 per cent discount if you pay using your Equity Bank Mastercard.

In the same vein, if you place your orders on the home delivery service Glovo, your Equity Mastercard will give you additional free deliveries every month. For instance, if you pay with your Equity Mastercard, you will get up to 2 complimentary deliveries per month when placing orders on Glovo.

Your expenses

In Kenya, most of the holiday spending is usually on food and beverage, followed by clothes, personal effects and electronics. If you have a large family, thrifting and preserving cereals, groceries and vegetables in bulk could save you extra coins.

Within Nairobi, the traditional places where you can get huge bargains on groceries, cereals, general household items, and vegetables are located around Nyamakima area, Marikiti Market, Wangige, and Korogocho Market.

But these are not the only places. Shopping for these items has also gone cheap at some of the large retail supermarkets. A spot check at Carrefour reveals that apart from the discounts on the items, you will also get as much as 20 per cent discount when you shop and pay with your Equity.

You will also get a 20 per cent discount when you shop online and a 10 per cent discount when you shop in-store. Add to this the free delivery by Glovo and you will have saved close to 30 per cent.

“When buying in bulk, have a plan to stretch your goods so that they don’t rot in the house and defeat the purpose,” says Maggie Akinyi who is a cereals and vegetables trader. She adds that to stretch your cereals for up to 12 months, store them in airtight containers away from light.

Carrots without tops or stems can last the whole of January when drained off moisture and refrigerated using plastic or ziplock bags. “Onions can last the whole of January without going bad, but preserved tomatoes and leafy vegetables will only last two weeks,” she says.

Your January bills

Unlike most months in the year, January is characterized by multiple bills. Rent and school fees top the list, followed by common expenses such as food and utility bills.

The first step to secure a financially stable January is to clear all the January bills you can in December. “If you have adequate cash, start by paying rent for January in December,” says Peter Mutua, a personal finance coach who doubles up as a business development consultant.

Digitization has transformed expenses such as the internet and pay television from wants to needs. There are multiple discounts for utilities such as Pay TV that you can take advantage of during the December bargain sales. Check out for any early bird discounts and top up your account balance.

Mutua suggests that if you expect to have difficulties paying school fees in January when schools reopen, you can break the fees in instalments and start paying off in December.

You don’t need to visit the bank to do this. It is now possible to pay via mobile phone or through a mobile app. “There are reliable apps such as Equity Mobile that you can use to pay your fees in instalments without having to go to the bank,” says Mutua.

Holiday getaway

If you set out for a holiday getaway, you can save money by targeting vacations that offer discounts and luxury at the same time.

This season, some of these include Villa Mandhari Diani, Pride Inn Diani, Pride Inn Plaza, Hotel and Convention Centre, Sun N Sand Beach Resort Residence, and Ciala Resort in Kisumu.

At Sun N Sand, you will get a discount of  10 per cent on accommodation when you book and pay with your Equity Visa Card.

At Ciala Resort in Kisumu, you will get a 15 per cent discount when you pay for your accommodation with your Equity card. At Villa Mandhari, you will get a 12.5 per cent when you book and pay for your accommodation with your Equity Visa Card.

At Pride Inn, you will get a five per cent discount on accommodations and an additional five per cent discount on food when you pay using your Equity Visa card.

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When travelling to and from work this season, you can save more by opting to use public transport instead of your car, especially at a time when fuel prices are through the roof.

For example, if your car consumes Sh. 900 per day from Nairobi CBD to Kikuyu Town, you will save at least Sh. 14,000 by using a matatu with fares of Sh. 200 daily. “Reschedule your day to adapt to public transport. Leave home early and leave work during off-peak hours,” says Mutua.

Your salary

The majority of employers pay their employees just before Christmas. If you get your pay next week, the temptation to spend will be high. Once your salary comes in, have a chunk proportionate to your January bills debited from your current account to your savings account.

If you don’t have a standing order, Mutua says that you can transfer the funds from your checking account to your savings account using

December side hustle opportunities

Various money-making opportunities pop up during holidays. If you have skills and talents in holiday-related activities such as events, disc jockeying, and driving, you could earn an extra income that will make your January easier to manage. In the days to Christmas, there is a hike in travel and car hire services. This is an area you can explore.

If you have DJ skills, you may opt to offer entertainment and sound services during this season. “You can use this extra income to fund your holiday budget instead of using your primary salary,” says personal finance consultant Edwin Okumu.

Other economic activities that Kenyans have taken up during work leave and over the weekends that you could explore include car boot sales.