It seems reminiscent to recall a time when we all purchased our Christmas gifts full price and to manage the cost of Christmas we saved weekly in a Christmas club account.

Now with November becoming a festival of sales for savvy shoppers and the immediate convenience of credit cards, the discipline of spreading the payments or planning the Christmas budget is almost a forgotten art.

For those who have heard me discuss how to have a credit card free Christmas on Channel 9 Today show, I am usually discussing these strategies about 10 weeks away from Santa’s visit.

Some of the easy to implement steps include shopping the sales including supermarket half price sales, doing comparison shopping on sale items using eBay’s app and taking advantage of Black Friday Aussie Style sales.

With less than 5 weeks until our holiday celebrations kick off I have a new favourite strategy to kiss the post Christmas credit card shock goodbye.

The ability to pay for purchases in monthly instalments is a great way to shop and manage your a budget this Christmas by spreading payments particularly on bigger household items.

Now Australia’s major buy now, pay later company Zip Co has made it easier to spread your spend and cash in on November’s festival of sales with a new partnership with eBay, Australia’s most-visited shopping platform.

Rather than falling into the credit traps that can have a bite, or maxing out store cards with high interest, the ability to spread payments, even large ticket purchases, can now be done without the downside. 

Zip Pay is interest free unlike credit cards. Yes, interest free!

Cynthia Scott, the MD for ANZ of Zip, said: “Zip is passionate about helping Australians spend with confidence on the things that matter most to them, and this alliance gives eBay shoppers access to fairer and more flexible ways to pay at check out – whether it be for everyday items using Zip Pay or bigger ticket items with Zip Money.”

eBay Australia’s Managing Director David Ramadge said: “With the introduction of Zip Money, eBay customers can enjoy 6 months interest free for items like luxury handbags, high-value electronics like smartphones or even car parts. eBay is the home of great value for money – all in one, easy location.”

As a shameless advocate of eBay Australia, I think this is such great news for shoppers with tight budgets and perhaps who are not paid on a consistent basis.

Sounds good for online shoppers right?  Well, as we are all venturing into the stores post COVID, the good news is you can also tap to pay with Zip Pay in store. 

But wait, there is even cash rewards on your shopping (another one of my favourite Savvy Shopping Strategies).

All of the discipline of a Christmas Club, flexibility to work around your budget, Interest free and spreading the spend makes for a very happy credit card free holiday season and one less item to cross off your New Years resolution list – this year you wont have Pay off the Credit card debt.

So now, even this close to Santa’s visit it is possible to have a credit card free and very merry Christmas.

Happy Shopping!