How to save money at Christmas

Yes, I mentioned the C-word already!

You might not want to think too much about Christmas just yet but it’s rapidly approaching, which means life is about to get a heck of a lot more expensive – than it already is.

However, post-pandemic, Christmas has become more about ordering presents from the comfort of your own home, which can also become quite costly.

Christmas can become so money-oriented for most and with just under two months to go, time is ticking to start your Christmas shopping too. This is normally the time when I think about gifts as well, but in reality I’ve always done Christmas shopping last minute. My son, brother, sister and dad’s birthdays are all in December, so I start to feel the pinch by the time my Christmas shop is over.

This year, I decided to be a little more organised with my Christmas plans and work out how to be more practical with my Christmas gifts this year, as well as offer cheap Christmas gifts which are still high quality and useful for each family member.

So, here are some quick tips on how to save money at Christmas, and still get awesome new gifts for the family even though it’ll mostly be a virtual event this year.

Make a list and check it twice

If Santa can make a list of who he will give Christmas presents to this year, then so can you. If I had a million pounds sitting in the bank account, I would buy every single person I know a Christmas present. However, I am not that flush and so this year, I sat down and made a list of close friends and family who absolutely should receive a gift, bearing in mind that I have four family member’s birthdays falling in the same month, so, that’s eight presents already.

Is it normal to buy non-family members gifts for Christmas just for the sake of it?

The question is are you able to trim your list down even further? Do you buy for second cousins whom you rarely see? Maybe a card for them would suffice this year, especially if you get them a personalised Christmas card. You can find some great Christmas cards from Card Factory, which are not overpriced. Perhaps speak to them about it; they might be glad of the reduced expense too! If you get this list done as soon as possible then you can get in some early xmas shopping before the mad rush.

Set yourself a spending limit

Once you’ve worked out exactly who you’re buying for, then you need to set yourself a spending limit to ensure you don’t end up seriously out of pocket. You can grade the limit depending on how well you know the person, but you need to make sure you stick to it or you can end up looking at a nasty surprise on your bank balance. Set yourself a limit on spending on the children and your partner too, no matter how tough it might be to enforce when you get into the spending habit.

Spread the purchases

If you start now, you will still be able to benefit from one or two more paydays before the big day. Many people may have already started the buying process but if you haven’t, it’s not too late! One year, 13million people were expected to head for the high street for some last-minute buys; don’t be one of them if you don’t have to be, especially during the pandemic – ordering online is safe!

Transferring some money into a separate account, or your various savings accounts would mean that you know exactly what you have to spend without breaking into money that you need on a day-to-day basis, which means you’re saving money in the process.

Look out for the supermarket savings schemes too – while you may have to spend the money in-store, you’d be surprised at what they stock nowadays. When you spread money across your bank accounts, you can also use one particular account for Christmas shopping and ask family members to chip in some money to buy each member one decent present rather than lots of little cheap gifts.

Consider using your credit card

A survey from My Voucher Codes found that 56% are still using paychecks to pay for all their Christmas expenses, while 30% are using their credit cards. It may be worth considering using a credit card if you are sure you can keep your monthly repayments, as some cards offer a 0% interest rate. Make sure you check how long the 0% interest rate lasts for because these credit card companies can raise the APR up to as high as 18.9%.

So, make sure you pay them off before they bite.

Avoid debt at all costs

Debt, when it’s not invested into something that will achieve a higher return (so you can pay it back quickly), is bad news, especially when it’s to purchase frivolous buys that you don’t need. Christmas on a budget means sticking to the simple rule of thumb – if you can’t afford it, don’t spend it. Try to avoid resorting to store cards and credit cards unless you absolutely have to.

Start the Christmas shopping early

The earlier you start your Christmas shopping, the easier it is to spread the cost out, reducing the chances of having to pay for everything all at once. Some people like to pick up presents throughout the year and even start as early as January sales! If that seems a bit early then you should really get a move on once November rolls around as Christmas really is only around the corner.

Seek out the sales and utilise deals on the internet

The beauty of our generation is that we no longer need to make that mad rush to the shops and resort to buying the last item on the shelf. There are so many options available to you online now and my go-to favourite, especially for last-minute Christmas gifts, is Amazon.

They can provide some amazing deals, and help you save for Christmas, by offering up to 80% off the original price. So you are bound to find a bargain for your cheap Christmas shopping if you look hard enough. Plus, if you have Prime then you can benefit from same/next-day delivery too! Check out how to join below if you haven’t done so yet:

Moneysavingexpert.com (an amazing resource website for money-saving tips all-round) have created ‘Amazon Discount Finder’ which “manipulates Amazon web links to create customised bargain-basement pages” and it is a great way to prepare for a great Christmas for less.

eBay is also a great site for grabbing some awesome gifts at a fraction of the cost. Don’t be discouraged by the fact that some items may be used, however. Some of the auction items are labelled as ‘used’, even if they have barely been used once.

If you look hard enough, you can also even find some summer sales around with great knock-off prices, meaning you can get a little more for your money.

Give to charity while you’re Christmas shopping

Use online stores who use a percentage of every purchase you make and donate it to charity – so your gift keeps on giving! Give as you Live, the shopping website with a big heart takes 2.5% of every purchase and donates it to your choice of charity. Or, if you don’t know which charity you’d like to donate to, then the money will go to the charity of the month.

There are over 4,000 retailers to choose from and there are exclusive deals for registered users too. Christmas is also a time to indulge a bit (within the budget of course!), and with Give as you Live you can let go of the rules slightly and just enjoy some good ol’ fashioned unremorseful fun while giving back to various charities as well, along with those organisations who plan to give away free Christmas stuff each year.

Do a secret santa

A great option on how to make Christmas cheaper is to do a Secret Santa. Secret Santa is normally reserved for those at work when everyone pulls a colleague’s name out of a hat and you buy a token present for them, rather than shelling out for several people at work. However, you can also do this amongst friends and family, and it works particularly well if you have a large family. You can use cool websites such as Elfster so that everyone can draw up wishlists of gifts, ensuring everyone gets something they want.

How do you save money on making gifts for Christmas?

What do you give someone who has everything? One great tip on how to have a cheap Christmas is to make a personalised one-of-a-kind gift that has been made by you or your children. Personalised gifts carry little to no price tag because they are created with love by you. Sometimes they can be the best gifts to receive because they are so personalised and all you need to fork out for are the supplies to make them. Save time wrapping presents too here.

Some great seasonal presents can include Christmas cookies in a personalised jar or a keepsake box full of little items that hold sentimental value to you and the recipient. And, if it all goes wrong, just blame it on the creativity of the kids (just kidding!)

Can you give gift cards or cash as presents?

If you’ve set aside a budget and you know how much Christmas money you’re planning to spend on each recipient, then think about sending out gift cards. That way, every person gets the same value gift and they can spend the gift card on something they truly want. Gift cards can be expensive though, and sometimes it doesn’t feel right to send a gift card of less than £20 as a Christmas present. So, if you can find cheap Christmas presents instead that cost less than £20, but are still quality enough to make a decent present, then go for those instead.

Is money the most useful Christmas gift?

It could be if you can afford to give cash.

Is money for a Christmas gift good enough, though? If so, why don’t you speak to family members and discuss Christmas money ideas for those saving for something in particular, so you can help contribute to their one special present by helping putting money towards it.

Is there such a thing as a free Christmas?

Even making presents for the family costs money, but you can make Christmas savings by becoming a financially educated student with where your money goes and work out how much you spend every year, so you can make savings where possible. It’s very difficult to work out how to do Christmas for free, so cut costs where possible.

How much money should I budget for kids Christmas presents?

The question is, how much money can you afford to budget for Christmas presents? Don’t go into the red and make sure you have all bills paid before you spend on extras. A good way to answer this question is to do a financial plan and work out how much you can afford every month to set aside for your kids’ Christmas presents.

Money saving Christmas gift ideas for kids that won’t break the bank

World Map Jigsaw Puzzle – 150 pieces

Suitable for ages five to ten years old, this fun yet educational world map puzzle is the perfect game to help kids learn about the countries of the world while enjoying the challenge of completing a 150-piece jigsaw puzzle. Kids can also discover local inhabitants and landmarks as well as continue their learning with a giant poster of the world map included in the box.

PROS:

Kids from 5 to 10 can enjoy this educational puzzle and pass it down to younger children when they are old enough to give it a try too.

CONS:

Some countries are not named on the puzzle

RATING: 

5/5 – Challenging, educational and fun. Get the whole family involved over Christmas too!

PRICE RATING:

£

DISCOVERY CHANNEL – BUG BARN

A great gift for bug enthusiasts who like to catch and observe bugs in detail. The Bug Barn pack offers a range of bug collection tools to observe the world of the insects up close. This educational gift is for ages eight and up, but my then five and six-year-old boys had just as much fun exploring in the garden with this Bug Barn.

PROS:

Great value for its contents and works well to catch bugs, examine them and then put back. Gets the kids outdoors and learning about nature.

CONS:

You can use the magnifying canister on its own, the rest of the kit are embellishments

RATING:

5/5 – Great for kids of any age and is well made to keep them amused for hours. Get the kids wrapped up and take them outside to learn about the winter bugs!

PRICE RATING:

£

Ravensburger Labyrinth Game

An a-mazeing game that has magical moving walls and tons of treasure to collect. Get the kids to move their way through the labyrinth, avoiding the traps and building up their wall-moving strategy to outmanoeuvre other players and collect all the treasures that are in their path. It’s a great two-four player strategy game for ages seven and up, that will get the kids thinking about their next moves strategically.

PROS:

The rules are easily adaptable for younger kids to understand and challenging enough for older kids to enjoy playing with adults. Easy to set up and lots of fun to play. Plus it’s cheap so you can work out how to save money for Christmas by getting Christmas gifts that still entertain the kids at the same time!

CONS:

It takes a while to get used to and the game has a lot of rules, which can get confusing.

RATING:

5/5 – The game is easily adaptable for all ages and fun to play with the whole family at Christmas. So, bring this board out when the eggnog has been passed around and the food has been scoffed.

PRICE RATING:

£

Hedbanz the game

 A fun game for two – six players aged seven and up (but five-year-olds can get involved too), Hedbanz develops deductive reasoning skills and strategy. The ‘What Am I?” game involves the children asking questions until they can figure out what the cartoon of either an animal, food or object is on their adjustable headband. The first person to guess who they are wins.

PROS:

A great game to encourage everyone to join in and develop their vocabulary in such a fun way.

CONS:

The game can get a little repetitive.

RATING:

 A great game to get all the adults and kids involved to play over Christmas dinner. Expect a lot of laughs.

PRICE RATING:

£

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Mega Gemstone Dig Kit

Suitable for ages six and up, the Mega Gemstone Mine Dig Kit allows children to become treasure hunters and start an incredible rock collection of 15 rocks and gemstones, which they unearth and discover. Kids get to learn the geology of each specimen using the full-colour learning guide included that contains lots of fascinating facts.

PROS:

You can take the Mine Dig Kit with you anywhere. The kids will concentrate on digging out the stones for hours and enjoy looking up what they’ve unearthed in the guide included.

CONS:

Some older children can find the rocks within minutes and may move on to other games.

RATING:

 5/5 – A great Christmas game to play on the main table. Discover the rocks and gems with the children and learn what they all mean together with the guide

PRICE RATING:

££

Articulate for kids

A fast-talking description game for four to 20 players and kids from six to 12 years, Articulate is fast, entertaining and fun all at the same time. The game helps kids to read, learn new words and describe them using their imagination, which is great for developing their understanding of the words.

PROS:

The ideal way to encourage kids to get descriptive, while concentrating on not saying the actual word. It’s a great way to broaden their vocabulary.

CONS:

The timer runs out very quickly, so you may need to adapt the rules accordingly for younger children.

RATING:

5/5 – The perfect family board game to play over Christmas when the adults are a little tipsy and the kids are getting full on sugar. A fun, yet educational way to encourage the kids to broaden their vocabularies and gently push them to use more descriptive words to help other players guess the word in under the time limit.

PRICE RATING:

£

VTech 193803 Kidizoom Smart Watch DX2 Toy, Blue

Kids from five to 12 years can take photos and videos wherever they are, with their new fancy portable camera watch that not only provides eight-plus games you can download but a built-in motion sensor and pedometer, as well as an intuitive colour touchscreen. The smartwatch comes in Blue and Pink.

PROS:

There are tons of features for the children to enjoy at such an affordable price. A calculator, calendar, alarm, stopwatch and voice recorder, plus much more is included!

CONS:

The smartwatch uses up the battery quite quickly and the screen is not crystal clear. No GPS tracking included.

RATING:

5/5 – A portable smartwatch that enables the children to document their fun Christmas by taking tons of pictures and videos of the family gathering and savouring them for years to come.

PRICE RATING: 

££

K’NEX Imagein Deluxe Building Set

This educational construction set contains 480 classic K’Nex pieces and 35 building ideas that will get the kids’ brain juices flowing and imaginations wild. Perfect for ages seven and up, but five-year-olds would still able to have a go, there are tons of open-ended building fun that the whole family can enjoy together.

PROS:

Great gift and affordable, the K’Nex building set encourages the children to interact with all age groups and work together as a team to get imaginative with their build. Comes with a large storage box to store other K’Nex pieces too.

CONS:

Quite a few small pieces included, so be careful with younger children around.

RATING:

 5/5 – The kids will have hours of fun using the small K’Nex pieces to build something imaginative and creative. Get the adults involved too to build something Christmassy that the whole family can be proud of.

PRICE RATING:

£

Chilli Pro Reaper Reloaded Stunt Scooter – Full Neochrome

Kids need to spend some time outdoors during the Christmas season and the best way to get the energy out and burn off the sugar from the Christmas feast is on a scooter! The Chilli Pro Reaper Reloaded Stunt Scooter is suitable for ages around eight and up, but you can find smaller scooters that are suitable for younger kids.

Scooters promote fun, balance, confidence and durability as well as develop gross and fine motor skills. Riding a scooter helps kids’ coordination skills and improves their overall strength and endurance, so it’s well worth buying them a scooter for Christmas and getting them out in the winter months to ward off the cold bug.

PROS:

Fun, durable and high quality. The integrated handlebars and headtube help kids to manoeuvre and glide through windy paths easily and with confidence.

CONS:

These scooters may be too intermediate for younger children, so it’s worth shopping around for more beginner style scooters.

RATING:

5/5 – Nothing gets a child’s heart pumping more than burning their energy in the great outdoors and scooters are the best way to improve their confidence, motor skills, strength and balance. Forget the cold, wrap up warm and take the whole family out for a scooter ride! You can find the full range of scooters over at Skatehut.

PRICE RATING:

£££

Melissa & Doug On the Go Secret Decoder Deluxe Activity Set and Super Sleuth Toy

Perhaps you’re making the Christmas dinner and you need the kids out of your hair for a while. The On the Go Secret Decoder Deluxe Activity Set and Super Sleuth Toy will keep the kids amused for hours, cracking and decoding puzzles to solve dozens of mini-mysteries with more than 50 unique activities included in the set. The set includes a Secret Decoder Game Book, Seek & Find Game Book, Secret Message Activity Pad and magic-reveal sticker sheets.

PROS:

Great kit for a budding spy, which will keep your child busy for hours on end. Kids can send coded messages to each other through their secret message activity pad and encourage the other family members to get involved cracking the codes.

CONS:

Once the games are completed there isn’t much else you can do with the set.

Rating: 

5/5 – This is a great family bonding game, where kids are encouraged to work together to crack codes and think outside of the box

PRICE RATING:

£

Some other great gifts for the family

For a new mum

BABYBJÖRN Baby Carrier One Air

I have very fond memories of using the Bjorn Miracle Baby Carrier. I spent almost the entire Christmas with my eldest and my youngest cuddled up to my chest (at different times) in the Bjorn Miracle Baby Carrier (my eldest was just five days old when I used the Bjorn carrier for the first time and my youngest was eight months old when I used the carrier again for a second Christmas).

I had two very fantastic Christmases with two very happy bunnies, who were able to watch the world go by as I was scurrying around helping with the Christmas cooking and socialising with friends and family.

I then used the Baby Carrier One with my baby girl in 2019 and it has been one of the most useful tools for busy mums to carry on with jobs while keeping baby close to your chest.

You can face your baby the other way too, which is what I did with my youngest, so they could see what I saw and get up close and personal with friends and family. A fantastic buy and one I’d use again if I ever had more babies!

You can buy the BABYBJÖRN Baby Carrier One Air here

“Our coolest baby carrier in soft and airy mesh. With three babywearing positions, it’s perfect from newborn and up to the age of three years.”

BABYBJÖRN

Features

Material                

3D mesh is made of 100% polyester

Max User Weight             

15kg / 33lbs

Minimum user weight

 3.5kg / 8lbs

Suitable for            

0 – 3 years

Washing Instructions

Machine washable at 40°C – 3D mesh dries super fast! Wash separately and do not tumble dry

Delivery options

Free shipping from £40.00

Delivery in 3-7 working days

For the rest of the family

Lego Duplo Green All-In-One Box of Fun – 10572

Now, if your children are a little older, say, between one and a half and five years old, then you’re probably going to want to get some time to breathe over Christmas. So, why not cast their attention to a HUGE box of Lego Duplo. It kept my kids amused for hours, so it should allow you to get on with the Christmas cooking/watching Christmas TV/lounging about in PJs etc, whatever you want to get up to over Christmas, but can’t because you have children hanging off your legs.

PLUS, they get one super awesome Christmas present too that will last way beyond, so it has staying power. Double PLUS – if you have Amazon Prime, you can opt for one-day delivery and, sometimes, evening delivery, depending on stock and availability.

Features

• Includes a boy LEGO DUPLO figure
• Features a wagon base, 2 window elements, a dog, numbered bricks and a wide selection of other DUPLO bricks
• Match the numbered bricks with the corresponding decorated bricks
• Store the bricks in the iconic LEGO brick-shaped storage box
• LEGO DUPLO products are fun and safe for younger hand

Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity Tracker and Sleep Wristband

So, if you’ve over-indulged a little bit and you want to get back on track fitness-wise before the new year approaches, then you might want to check out the very popular Fitbit wristband, which does a multitude of things that may help settle you back into normality after the Christmas haze has lifted.

Not just a tool for measuring your calories burned and distance/steps taken, but it also tracks your sleep, i.e. how many hours you’ve slept and your quality of sleep. It doesn’t impose on your lifestyle because you just strap it to your wrist and you leave it on, allowing the Fitbit to clock in all the important bits of information you want, day and night. You can also quite helpfully sync to your smartphone or computer if you wanted to. Sounds like a handy tool for maintaining that healthy New Year plan! I always break mine after the first week, so I might need some help from Fitbit this time…

“Fitbit Flex is the ideal way to track your activity without imposing on your lifestyle. Just strap it to your wrist and leave it there, through day and night and then sync it with your smartphone or computer to see how active you are.”

Flex tracks a number of activities to help you evaluate your lifestyle:

• Steps taken
• Distance travelled
• Calories burned
• Active minutes
• Hours slept
• Quality of sleep”

What’s included

• Tracker
• Small & Large Wristbands
• Charging Cable
• Wireless USB dongle
• Free Fitbit Account

Buy the Fitbit Flex Wristband here: Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity Tracker and Sleep Wristband

Christmas isn’t all about the giving of presents; it’s about quality time with the family. Your kid’s faces will be a picture regardless of what they have, so don’t panic. There are ways to save money at Christmas and there isn’t any need to go all out.

And, don’t forget, being prepared and planning everything is the best way to save money at Christmas.

So, follow the above tips on saving money at Christmas and January will be a lot kinder to you and your bank account.

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