With the run up to Christmas just around the corner, it is no secret that this really is the most expensive time of the year. With everything that you have to think about organising, it is so easy to become stressed, overwhelmed and most of all, poor! However, it doesn’t have to be this way. With some planning and organisation, you can eliminate all of the stress that comes with Christmas and make the most of the magic this year. You don’t have to spend a fortune this Christmas and get yourself into debt.
Keep reading to find out my tips on how to spend less and save money this holiday season.
1. Make A List Of Who You Plan To Buy Presents For
Some people only buy presents for their closest family and friends, although others buy for every Tom, Dick and Harry. Everyone from their co-workers to their hairdresser is on the list! Decide who you are comfortable with. You don’t need to buy for every member of your family and all your friends. Agree to buy your closest family presents and it will save you lots of time, money and stress.
Make a list of gift interests for each person on your list. You may have a rough idea of what each person would like or possibly they have mentioned something they have their eye on. Once you have a few ideas, you can narrow the list down or be on the look out while you’re shopping for gifts that fit this criteria.
2. Set Yourself A Budget
The cost of Christmas presents should be accounted for in your annual budget. This prevents you from the stress of trying to find the extra money to pay for them in November or December. This is what many people who land themselves in debt do not do, therefore they usually resort to turning to credit cards or bank overdrafts.
Keep a general idea of how much you would like to spend on each area of Christmas. This includes decorations, food and presents. Set a limit and stick to it. You could even challenge yourself and try to spend under the limit, although don’t make it easy for yourself because that’s cheating! Check out the Money Advice Service’s Christmas Money Planner tool here.
3. Plan Your Christmas Meal
By planning out your Christmas meal well in advance, it means you can save lots of time and money. Begin by writing out a list of ingredients that you will require for the big day. Then, highlight all of the foods that can be bought early. This includes items that are on sale and can be frozen or non-perishable items. Food that can be bought early includes canned foods, long life foods and dry foods. You can start buying these items in November. These include:
- Nuts and Nibbles
- Crisps, pretzels and crackers
- Frozen foods, including frozen desserts
- Sweets
- Ice cream
- Christmas cake, puddings and mince pies
You can also use price comparison websites to save money on your food. These tell you which supermarket you can buy the cheapest items from and you can also order your full food shop with them to avoid the huge Christmas queues!
Additionally, you can start making storage space for your Christmas goodies in the run up to the 25th. Make sure to clear out any unwanted or out of date items from your freezer and cupboards in order to make room for everything you are going to purchase. Remember not to buy food that won’t get eaten!
4. Search For The Cheapest Deals
Black Friday is on the 29th November this year, and it is one of the biggest shopping events in the UK calendar. It is regarded as the first day of the Christmas shopping season, and many stores offer lots of deals on their products. It’s also ideal if you’re looking for ‘functional gifts’ like glasses. If you are trying to find about about cheap pair of glasses, you should take Black Friday as the ideal chance to stock up on essentials too.
It is the perfect opportunity to get Christmas presents at a discounted price. However if the idea of Black Friday scares you, you can also consider Cyber Monday which is the following Monday after Black Friday.
5. Use Your Store Loyalty Points
Most of us already collect loyalty points, although have you ever thought of saving up these points throughout the year to spend at Christmas? This will save you a small fortune and have a significant impact on your budget. You can use these for anything from saving on your Christmas food to saving on your Christmas presents.
So there you have it, 5 simple ways to spend less this Christmas and avoid getting into debt. Tweet me your best tips @britonabudget1
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We like to plan Christmas in advance and every year because as you said, it saves us time and let help not to forget anything as well haha. Great tips!
And it makes it more exciting being able to plan Christmas!
These are great tips! It’s definitely important to plan, especially for something as expensive as Christmas.
Ashleigh | https://ashleighwrites.co.uk
It can help you to save money in the long run! Thank you for the comment
Spreading out the shopping helps too to avoid a big January bill! These are great ideas – planning is key, as you noted!
Yes definitely! Thank you for the comment!
Great tips. My biggest tip is buy early, prices get hiked up and you can get some great bargains much earlier.
Some years I buy in the Xmas sales! That only works if you have the storage space for it x
Yes that’s a great idea I also accumulate my boots points throughout the year and buy when the sales are on x
Great post. I recently managed to get £50 of free gifts from boots by using the 3 for 2 offer and paying with my points so I completely agree to saving loyalty points until Christmas. Although it’s a bit late for this christmas, I also have a separate savings account which I put £10 a week into and that is the money I use to buy christmas gifts. When that money runs out, I know I’m done
That’s a great idea it’s so important to have a spending limit and know when to stop buying x
These are great tips, Christmas can be so expensive, I dread the damage to my bank balance every year!
Haha me too there’s a period between Christmas and New year I just don’t want to check my bank balance!
Great article. I already do most of what you suggest but there is a few things I hadn’t thought of. Great post. Thank you x
Thank you for the comment! x
Great tips that act as a timely reminder to be careful and have the Christmas we want on a budget!
Thank you for the comment!
That’s a great idea and very organised!
Great tips! I’m hoping to have a total spend of £500 this year for Christmas including presents, decorations, food and everything else! Buying presents early in the sales has helped me out massively!
I’m glad you have a budget for Christmas and yes definitely it has helped me too! x
These are all really good ideas for saving and spending less money up to Christmas, especially pre buying food as it’ll last and then you don’t have to worry about buying it! X
Thank you for the comment! x
They’re all great tips! I specifically have savings dedicated towards Christmas and make sure to spend within that (which I suppose is the same as setting a budget)
Jas xx
I do that too it’s such a good idea! xx
Some great advice here! I always buy items at Boots when they have the points offers on and then when I have a decent amount in points I treat to something I wouldn’t normally!
These are great tips. I definitely have years where i feel the need to buy for everyone and the dog, but I’m going to make sure 2019 is not one of those years! X
Hahaha great comment thank you! x
Love these tips! I make a list every year of who I need to by for and from around September onwards if I see something I think would be a good gift for someone I make a note of it in my phone so I can keep an eye for deals on it. I also save up my loyalty points throughout the year and we end up getting a nice chunk off our Christmas shop! Xx
Some great tips thank you for the fab comment! xx