“Keep it simple” with Christmas presents for loved ones, a money mindset coach has warned.

As we approach Christmas day, there is a pressure to make sure you have the perfect gifts for your nearest and dearest.

But these gifts don’t have to break the bank.

On Newstalk Breakfast, Money Mindset Coach Kel Galavan said it can be “so easy to go off the deep end” when it comes to buying presents.

“I'd say for anybody, if you don't have your shopping done yet, keep it simple for yourself,” she said.

“Set yourself a spending plan.

“We know generally who we're going to be buying for and we know approximately how much we kind of want to spend on them, be it a parent or a friend or a co-worker or whatever.

“Write that down and as you buy the gifts, you go, ‘okay, this amount of money allocated for this person’.”

Four gift rule

If you're struggling for gift ideas, the four gift rule works really well, Ms Galavan said.

“Basically, you keep your gift giving to one of four categories,” she said.

“One is buy something that they really want - they've told you this, so you have a good idea.

“Buy something you know that they need, and particularly if it's a close relative, if you know they need something but they may not buy it for themselves.

“The next one is buy something to wear [and then] something to read.”

"The simple things that mean something"

If you can give a gift that somebody’s actually going to use, “they’re going to enjoy it a lot more”, Ms Galavan said.

She said keeping your gifts low budget but sentimental works well.

“That's what Christmas is ultimately about - the simple things that mean something,” Ms Galavan said.

“If you remember some of the best gifts that you've ever gotten, they're going to be simple things, the more thoughtful things.

“Sometimes we can fall a bit foul of showing our love through being really generous.

“When you do that, it's a beautiful thing to do absolutely it is, but sometimes if we get over generous the person who's receiving the gift might feel a bit ‘Oh, well, my gift isn't as good anymore’ and in a way it's nearly putting pressure on them.”

Avoid

Ms Galavan said it is becoming “more and more common” to us the ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes for Christmas shopping.

“The idea of it might be brilliant but you get into two or three of those [purchases] and January can become very difficult all of a sudden,” she said.

“They might seem like a really good idea at the time, but I would say, if possible, avoid them.”

Nobody who loves you wants you getting into debt over Christmas presents for them, Ms Galavan said.

Listen back here:

Christmas budget. Image: Alamy Stock Photo