After Christmas, this is an experience a lot of us in Spain and elsewhere go through.
The January slope translates as ‘the January hill’.
There isn’t really an official English equivalent, but examples found in the media include ‘January money worries’, ‘January slump’, ‘January belt-tightening’ and ‘post-Christmas crunch’.
In Spain however, January slope is a recognised and well-known expression.
The official Dictionary of the Spanish Language defines january cost as the “period of economic hardship that coincides with this month as a result of the extraordinary expenses incurred during the Christmas holidays”.
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As you may have guessed, this situation is not unique to people in Spain.
Unfortunately, January slope also coincides with an overall increase in prices and utility bills, as well as winter salesthe winter sales.
This means that many Spaniards are even more stretched financially over the course of the first month of the year, but it still doesn’t stop them from spending around €200 on average on the sales.
The January slope officially starts on January 7th, the day after Three Kings Day, which also marks the end of Christmas and the return to work and reality, making that January uphill that bit more challenging.
TV programmes and news sites will run articles advising on how to overcome the January slope (‘how to overcome the January slump’).
Interestingly, Spaniards also say that you have to ‘tighten your belt’ as a way of explaining that you have to cut costs: tighten your belt.
If you want to say that you have to ‘dig deep into your pocket’ to allude to spending more money than usual unwillingly, Spaniards say scratch your pocket (scratch your pocket).
So the next time money is tight during the first month of the year, remember that this is so common in Spain that they even have an official expression for it.
Examples:
If I want to overcome the January slope, I have to spend less these next few weeks.
If I want to overcome the January uphill, I have to spend less in the upcoming weeks.
You have to tighten your belt during the January slope.
You have to tighten your belt to overcome the January slump.