Want to enjoy the festive season without breaking the bank? We’ve put together this quick guide for you offering ways to save money on Christmas, from gifts and decorations to food and crackers!
Make a Spending Plan
The first thing you should do is make a spending plan/budget for yourself. The easiest way to do this is to work out what you can comfortably afford, making sure to consider your priority bills in this estimate, and make a list of all friends and family you’ll be buying gifts for. Then, you can allocate an amount to each person.
For more budgeting tips, please click here.
Do Some DIY Gifting
Another great way to save money on Christmas is to put some TLC into your presents this year and do some DIY gifting! There are plenty of items that can be cheap to make and don’t require a particular set of skills.
For example, a photo album or memory book, filled with photographs, souvenirs and items special to the recipient is a great present for a friend or family member. Other simple ideas include home-grown plants, homemade cakes or desserts, sweet hampers or framed photographs.
Make the Most of Christmas Sales
Christmas is the season for sales. Whether you need to pick up some crackers for the table, or decorations for the tree, Christmas sales can mean big savings – sometimes up to 50% off!
You could even sign up for newsletters to keep up-to-date with sales from your favourite shops and spread out your gift-buying by picking up an item a month in the run-up to Christmas. This way, you’ll spread the cost and save yourself the hassle of shopping when everyone else is.
To keep up to date with the latest high-street and online sales all year round, click here.
Try Own-Brand Food Alternatives & Coupons
To avoid overspending on the well-known and well-loved food brands this Christmas, why not try some own-brand alternatives? More often than not, the well-known brands simply have better packaging to make you think the product is better. But, if you look at the ingredients, they tend to be very similar, if not the same.
Another trick to look out for in supermarkets is the placement of products. A sales tactic used by a lot of different supermarkets is to put the more expensive products at eye-level and offer a better-value pack of the same product on the bottom shelf.
And of course, the main way to save money on Christmas food is coupons! For a regularly updated list of the top coupons and cashback available in supermarkets, click here.
Suggest Secret Santa Gift-Giving
If you have a big family or a large friend group, making sure you’ve bought everyone a gift can end up becoming very expensive. A great way to keep the costs down is by suggesting a Secret Santa.
This way, you’ll only have to buy one present for a member of your family or friend group, and it’s a good way to add another element of surprise to your gift-giving.
There are plenty of free Secret Santa generator websites you can use to randomly and secretly pick out names for your gift exchange, such as Elfster or Draw Names. The Draw Names website also lets you add your own wishlist, and anonymously request one from your giftee!
Speak to a Debt Adviser
If you’re finding yourself struggling with debt this Christmas, the best thing to do is speak to a debt adviser. With two-thirds of Brits planning to use credit cards for their Christmas spending this year, and 64% of those using credit for Christmas struggling to repay it, the festive period is proving to be a difficult time for everyone.
To avoid feeling the financial pinch in the new year, get free, confidential debt advice online through Angel Advance.
Get Free, Confidential Debt Advice Online
If you need help dealing with debt, free* confidential debt advice is always available at Angel Advance. Contact us to speak to one of our friendly and knowledgeable debt advisers, who can give you free advice on how to manage debt and help you decide on the best options for debt relief.
If all you need is some debt advice, this won’t affect your credit score. The free Angel Advance Online Debt Advice (ODA) tool is available to use at any time, day or night. Our easy-to-use tool will help you weigh up the debt solutions available to you and give you the best recommendations for your unique situation on-screen, instantly.
*Our advice is free, but if you sign up for a debt solution, a fee will apply for some solutions.
