Cooking The Books

Each week the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's how to get through the notoriously expensive Christmas season without blowing the budget. Hosted by Frances Cook.You don't need me to tell you it's an expensive time of year.I start to feel the dread of Christmas around October, reminding me I need to buy people presents, stock up on food, and prepare for the social calendar to be flooded.All of the Christmas festivities are fun, don't get me wrong, but they can definitely leave you with a fiscal hangover.So in the spirit of Christmas, I got the Cooking the Books community together to share their best tips with each other.I asked those who follow my pages on Facebook and Twitter how they got through Christmas without totally blowing the budget.We're a bunch of frugally minded people, and the last time we did a community episode I was impressed at the great advice people had to offer.Listen to the podcast for the full quotes of how people