11 Ways to Save Money this Christmas

We’re edging ever closer to the festive season now that Halloween and Bonfire Night are out of the way, in fact some people are already putting their decorations up!

Regardless of whether or not Christmas is on your radar yet though, you’re probably going to want to think about it soon.

And if the thought fills you with dread and you’re panicking about how much it costs and how you’ll fund it – don’t.

There’s plenty of time to get organised and put to a plan together to save money this Christmas.

There’s also still time to make money towards Christmas – I wrote a post about ways you can make money in time for Christmas, which is worth a read if you’re in need of some ideas.

How Can I Save Money For Christmas?

I know Christmas time probably isn’t when you wanting to be thinking towards next Christmas, but it’s the best time to start!

Think about how much you spent this year, what you bought and all the little expenses you might forget about later.

Write everything down and total up the complete cost – christmas food, gifts, decorations, events and socialising – any costs associated with the festive period.

Divide this total by 12 and this gives you a monthly amount you need to put away starting in January, to have all your Christmas money saved up in time for next year’s spends.

How Much Money Should I Save For Christmas?

According to the Bank of England, the average Brit spends £,2500 a month, with this figure increasing by a staggering £800 in December!

Of course, you don’t need to spend this much.

And the amount you should save for Christmas will be entirely personal and down to your own buying habits and number of people you choose to buy for.

But you should save enough to ensure that you don’t rely on debt to pay for it.

A study conducted by StepChange (How Much Will You Be Relying on Debt This Christmas?) shows that on average, it takes 7.5 months to pay off Christmas Debt.

This number is astounding! If your Christmas is debt-funded, you’ll be paying it off into July next year!

How Can I Spend Less This Christmas?

Once you have a complete picture of the money you usually spend at Christmas time, you’ll be able to focus in on the most spend-heavy areas and have a think about how you can reduce the costs.

Here are some ideas to help you save money this Christmas.

Write a List

Who do you normally buy for? Family members, close friends? Write down everyone, including the neighbour you buy a box of biscuits and the school teacher you buy a bottle of wine.

We often forget to include these small token gestures in our Christmas budget but the costs can quickly add up.

Don’t forget to include greetings cards and wrapping paper too – but check what you have left over from previous years first.

Quite often you’ll find you have bottle bags from gifts you’ve received, cards left over from last Christmas – or maybe you kept cards you received previously – these can be cut and recycled into gift tags.

Budget

Once you have a complete list of those you need to buy for, jot down some ideas of what you might get and set a budget for each person.

When it comes to going shopping, a list of ideas and a budgeted spend will help you be more intentional when buying your gifts rather than just grabbing something which often results in over spending and a gift that someone probably won’t use.

If you have set a realistic budget – stick to it. I see so many people rushing to buy extra because once gifts are wrapped they don’t feel it ‘looks’ enough.

One thoughtful, carefully selected present is better than 10 carelessly chosen ones.

Stockpile

If you see an item that would make a good present during the year, at a heavily discounted price – consider buying it and creating a presents stash. Boots and Superdrug clearance section are particularly good for stocking fillers and you’ll often find stuff reduced to pennies.

Look out for food and drink freebies on the cashback apps such as Checkout Smart and Shopmium – you can use these to make a hamper for somebody at Christmas or save for your own household to use over the festive period.

You can quite often get good deals on alcohol on these apps. All you have to do is snap a picture of your receipt and they’ll pay you back the cashback amount.

Loyalty Points

Save up your loyalty points and use them towards the cost of Christmas.

Schemes such as Nectar and Clubcard are brilliant towards the Festive season as you can double and even triple your vouchers to maximise your rewards.

You can then use these towards the cost of your Christmas food shop or towards gifts.

Cashback

Any shopping you do online, make sure that you check if cashback is available first. Join a cashback website such as TopCashback* or Quidco*

This is essentially free money and you earn a percentage of your spend back. You may not necessarily see the cashback this side of Christmas (different retailers have different pay out time scales) but you’ll still be able to build up a pot which you can cash out later.

Secret Santa

If you have a large family or circle of friends that you buy for, how about suggesting Secret Santa?

If you’ve never heard of the concept before (though many workplaces do it so you’ve probably come across it) it’s basically putting everyone’s name into a hat.

You then each pick out a name and you buy a present for only that person, the idea being that the recipient won’t know who the giver is. You also agree the limit you can spend.

We are doing it between the family this year, so instead of buying for 5 people – I now only have to buy for 1 with a limit of £20, so this will help us to save money this Christmas.

You can make it a social event too – if you don’t see each other on Christmas day you can arrange to meet up before to exchange presents.

Compare Prices

If you have kids, chances are there are some very specific gadgets or toys on their list, which are probably quite expensive and form part of their ‘main’ present.

If you have a particular item on your ‘To Buy’ list, head to Google Shopping and search for your item. You can order your results from Price Low to High to find the best deal.

Google usually finds the cheapest deals, but it’s also worth checking Kelkoo and Price Runner just in case.

Groupon

Groupon is a great place to shop if you’re not sure what to get somebody.

I’ve bought lots of groupon vouchers as gifts – you can get afternoon teas, restaurants deals, spa breaks and other kinds of experiences at heavily discounted prices.

For our anniversary last month I booked this bargain getaway – saving over £150 off the price of booking directly.

I also got my window vac from there saving nearly £10 on the Amazon price – so it’s worth a look for goods too.

Shop Second Hand

Shopping second hand is a great way to save money on Christmas presents – if the idea of giving someone a preowned/pre-used item makes you squirm, don’t write it off!

Charity shops, car boot sales, Facebook marketplace and eBay are full of unused items still in original packaging and new with tags.

Shopping secondhand you can pick up huge bargains – particularly on toys, will your kids really notice if it’s not in the original box?

Of course anything you do buy, give it a good clean first.

But shopping secondhand not only saves you money but it cuts down on waste and gives preloved items a new lease of life.

Declutter

I go on and on about the benefits of decluttering? but this time of year really is the perfect time to do it.

Not only can you clear out some much needed space in anticipation of the influx of Christmas presents, you may be able to sell your old stuff and use the money towards the cost of this festive season.

Not sure where to start? Check out my decluttering posts.

Need help with eBay? I’ve got tonnes of useful articles here. (Need some help with packing? You’ll find all my packaging recommendations on my Selling Supplies page.)

Ditch the Decs

One of the wasteful trends I’ve noticed on Instagram, particularly in the home décor niche, is changing Christmas decoration colour schemes on an annual basis and buying all new.

If it’s not broke, don’t replace it! I’ve had my tree for 9 years now and it’s absolutely perfect. As are the majority of my decorations – I still even have the same lights I bought that first year!

If you buy a real tree, consider buying an artificial one to reduce the cost each year (not to mention the mess!). Have a search for second hand ones.

Instead of buying new baubles or decorations, make your own! This is a great family activity.

I have fond memories of collecting pine cones with my Dad when I was little, which he then spray painted silver and we hung them on the tree, made wreaths and garlands.

There’s so much natural foliage you can forage and repurpose into festive decorations.

Summary

Christmas is not worth going into debt over. Don’t start your new year paying off the prior year’s festivities just because you feel pressure to keep up with the Joneses. You can 100% have a wonderful, fun-filled time and still save money this Christmas.