Today I am sharing with you some of my favourite tips for saving money at Christmas. Christmas can be a very expensive time of year regardless of how many gifts you have to buy. I also feel that there is also that added pressure to keep up with what you see online. You only have to log into instagram to see all the influencers showing off the latest Christmas trends, fashion, beauty products, the list goes on. In reality those influencers have probably been gifted the items they are promoting and also being paid. What i’m trying to say is, you can have a really great Christmas without the pressure of having to keep up. In this blog i am sharing my Easy ways to save money at Christmas.
Set a budget
Before you even start to think about what you are going to buy, you need to set a realistic budget. Work out how much you’ve got to spend and who you want to buy presents for. If you are hosting Christmas you also need to include how much food and drink you anticipate you are going to buy and set a budget for that too. The best way I find to do this is to make a list or use a budgeting spreadsheet. I absolutely love a list and I will have a list for absolutely everything. Start by making a list of who you are going to buy for and a budget per person.
The other lesson i have learnt over the years is that you don’t have to buy for everyone! This includes work colleagues, the postman, the woman in the corner shop, you get the idea. While it is nice to buy presents you have to set a limit. People will not think any less of you just because you haven’t bought them a present. Make sure the people you are buying presents for are really important people in your life.
Once you have set the budget you have to be really strict with yourself not to deviate from it. Do not be tempted by any clever marketing to get you to spend more than you have. Being organised and buying in plenty of time will avoid you missing out on the presents you want to buy. This can affect your budget by you having to buy something different that could cost you more.
You will also need a separate budget for food if you are hosting. Once you have established the budget per person at that point you can plan what you are going to buy. Keeping the cost within the budget. If you have lots of guests attending and you have a tight budget, ask them to bring some food or drink with them. Items like sandwiches, puddings, nibbles are easy for people to bring to share and will help you spread the cost.
Have a clear out
Have a really good clear out of anything you don’t want before Christmas and get it sold. There is no point in having toys from last year that children no longer play with or they no longer want. If you know you have items lying around the house that you no longer want, why not get them up for sale? This could bring you some extra money in whilst also clearing space for all the new presents. I love a good clear out at any time of the year, it is quite refreshing to clear out items that are no longer used or needed. It also clears clutter from your house and free’s clutter from your mind too.
Also, if you have been gifted any items throughout the year, have a sort out of those too. We all receive presents that we will not use, have a think if these could be regifted or donated.
Turkey
Let’s talk about turkey you don’t have to have turkey on Christmas day! You can buy a small turkey if you want one but you can also buy an alternative to turkey. This could be chicken, pork or a vegetarian option such as a nut roast. Or be like us, throw tradition out the window and have pizza for Christmas dinner. If buying a turkey is going to affect your budget there are plenty other alternatives. You can have and still have a fantastic Christmas Day even if you dont buy a turkey.
No spend rule
You do not need to buy new festive clothes every year, you don’t need those new festive pyjamas or festive party wear either. Raid your wardrobe and find the Christmas clothes you had last year. Chances are if you only wear the clothes around Christmas they will have only been worn a couple of times. It might be slightly harder to do the same with children’s clothes as they might not fit.
New Christmas Decorations
Same with decorations, you do not need need to buy new decorations every year. Retailers are absolutely fantastic and so is social media for showing you all the latest crazes and new colour schemes. I get it, even i go into the shops and think I really like them. But i stop and think but what’s wrong with the decorations that i had last year. Then when I get out my Christmas tree and the decorations that we’ve had for the last four or five years I remember that i actually like those equally as much. So the reality is you don’t need to buy new decorations every year and by not doing so that will save you quite a bit of money, as Christmas decorations are not cheap.
Christmas Jumper Day
Christmas jumper day, this is a massive bug bear of mine when schools do Christmas jumper day. The main reason being that it might not be in your budget to buy a Christmas jumper just for your child to wear on Christmas jumper day. Maybe your child doesn’t want to wear one. I know my children would opt to not wear a Christmas jumper on Christmas jumper day. I’m thankful now that when schools do Christmas jumper day it is optional. I feel its an unnecessary burden to be expected to buy a Christmas jumper just for your child to wear for one day. That is also presuming they keep it on all day, because chances are they walk through the school door and take it off.
If your children do like wearing Christmas jumpers then you don’t need to buy one at full price. There are plenty of places that you can buy them like vinted or Facebook Marketplace. Try other family members, if you’ve got family that have got children a similar age or older to yours then why not Swap and share Christmas jumpers. I know in the past I’ve handed Christmas jumpers to my sister for her son and then she’s handed them back to me. We’ve shared them so one purchase of a Christmas jumper has actually served multiple children.
The other way to get around Christmas jumper day is to make your own. If you have an old Jumper in the cupboard that you’re no longer bothered about then why not have a go at creating your own Christmas jumper. Put a design on the front by either using fabric paints or vinyl. If you’ve got some tinsel in your Christmas decorations then simply just glue some tinsel around the bottom of the jumper. You could even add some tinsel to the Cuffs. If you don’t want to glue anything to the jumper just use some pins to pin it in place.
Letter from Santa
Did you know that you can get a free letter from Santa from Royal Mail? All you need to do is get your little ones to write a letter to Santa and post it off to this address. They will then receive a special reply straight from Santa. I think this is a lovely way of keeping a Christmas tradition going. Make sure you get them written early as there is a cut off date for Santa to recieve them.
Free Christmas Activities
Christmas activities do not have to cost you a fortune, some of the best things for Christmas can be free. Have a look on your local Facebook groups to see what Christmas activities are taking place in the local area. Some you may have to pay for but some might be free. If you have young children then why not just stick your children in the car put on some Christmas tunes. Get everyone wrapped up take the kids for a drive around your local neighbourhood looking at Christmas decorations. Some houses have the most amazing Christmas decorations outside and kids will love seeing them. Garden centres and Christmas markets are also free to look around and have lovely decorations. You might even get to see reindeers at a garden Centre.
I hope some of my money saving tips have helped you. If you have any of your own money saving tips then please share them in the comments as I always love to hear how other people save money over the Christmas period and what you do to make your budget stretch even further.
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