It's Christmas... But are you spending too much?

The average spend on Christmas presents among Money Dashboard users this year, since the start of November, is £194.51. How much did you spend on Christmas presents? If you're not really sure, Money Dashboard can help you figure it out.

1. Log in to your Money Dashboard financial management software account (New users should Sign up and add their accounts)
2. On the top left of your Dashboard, find the section of the doughnut chart marked ‘Gifts, Charity & Religion' and click it
3. The doughnut now shows you how much you've spent on Christmas presents in the last 30 days and everything else in the ‘Gifts, Charity & Religion' Group
4. Click on the ‘Christmas present' section (it might be the whole doughnut) to see a list of the individual transactions that make up your Christmas present spend

If you haven't bought all your presents in the last 30 days, or if you don't think all of your Christmas presents have been tagged, there's another way to view this information.

1. Click the Past Activity tab at the top of the page
2. If any transactions are not tagged as Christmas presents but should be, tag them
3. On the right-hand side, set the date to run from start of November (or whenever you started Christmas shopping) to the current date
4. Click on the ‘Out' radio button, then click on the ‘Tag' field below. Start typing ”Christmas”
5. Select the ‘Gifts, Charity and Religion:Christmas Present' option. Click on the ‘Search' button
6. You should now see a list of all the Transactions tagged as ‘Christmas present' for that period, and a total appears at the bottom of the right-hand side; your total Christmas Present Spend

Is that more than you were expecting? You might need to start the year off by finding ways to save money. If it's less than you were expecting, then you'll know to spend a little more next year... it is Christmas after all!