Top Tips On Saving Money For Christmas

With the minimal cash we have to spend on the boys, I’m starting to worry about buying their gifts for Christmas. I’ve seen so many updates on social media from people who have already finished their Christmas shopping. I have no idea how I’ll even begin.

We don’t have much disposable income, so I have to use clever ways to save money, or buy things cheaper. One thing I have done for a while is earn money through Topcashback.co.uk. In total I’ve earned over £450 (over a number of years) so it really is worth using and saving up your earnings.

I would never want my boys to go without at Christmas, so if we were every really stuck there are other ways to get some money, like credit cards or short term loans, but we’d much rather save up or find amazing deals on toys.

To not only help my lovely readers, but to also help me with saving money, I’ve asked a few other bloggers to share their money saving tips with me to help prepare us all for Christmas.

~ Agree a limit for presents amongst friends/family or agree to a secret santa – everyone saves then! https://www.scrapbookblog.co.uk

~ Start buying dry food like pickles , tins of biscuits , chocolates etc every week with your regular shop from around sept time and put away until Christmas www.anklebitersadventures.co.uk

~ Lots of supermarkets let you put money away for Christmas and top it up with extra themselves. Tesco and Iceland have schemes like this. If we underspend on our weekly shop we always save the difference. Http://hibabyblog.co.uk

~ Go away on holiday! Seriously I’m not even joking! Next year we are going to Sweden – taking one present for each of us going and not seeing anyone else over the Christmas period. Much easier and cheaper! www.bettertogetherhome.com

~ Buy a decent artificial tree. We bought a decent one and it has lasted over 10yrs so far. The cost per year is minimal compared to real trees www.allaboutamummy.co.uk

~ Use cashback sites and search for money off vouchers online. www.householdmoneysaving.com

~ Redeem all those reward points you’ve saved over the year for the big food shop/presents. Twinderelmo.co.uk

~ Make all gifts and cards. We’ve saved so much ferreting away things we’ve made and they don’t have to cost a lot at all. We’ve made bead coasters, tie dye teatowels and socks, ornaments for the tree, bead jewellery and so on. They’re thoughtful and inexpensive.  www.kellyallenwriter.com

~ Buy things like cards and wrapping paper in the January sales and put them away for the following year www.motherand3sons.com

~ If you’re hosting Christmas dinner do the shopping online. It will mean you only buy what you need and don’t get tempted by all those extra treats at the end of every aisle! tobygoesbananas.co.uk

~ Do an Aldi shop, you’ll be surprised how much cheaper expensive items like meat and alcohol are. But take a list, so you don’t get carried away. If you don’t mind unbranded alternatives, they often taste better. Http://www.mumworthy.com/

~ Think about when you are going to see the people you are buying for – I’ve bought gifts in the Christmas sales before because I knew I wasn’t going to see them until closer to New Year. http://www.craftsonsea.co.uk/

~ Christmas eve is a great time to pick up food bargains and even a cut price turkey if your brave!
Www.reducedgrub.com

~ We’re doing a family holiday to Disneyland instead of presents this year. It saves us money because it’s something we would have wanted to do anyway. And saves me from going overboard with presents and buying far more than I should!  www.SquishedBlueberries.com

~ Save up your nectar points throughout the year then use them in the October toy sale where toys are half price. We do this every year and end up with nearly £200 by saving the nectar points correctly and using the coupons they give you. http://lifewithpinkprincesses.co.uk

~  Remember that making memories are more important than ‘things’. In the long run you’ll enjoy spending time together as a family much more than an expensive toy that will be put aside after 5 minutes. Http://www.mrshsfavouritethings.com

As you can see, there are some really good tips here. Every year we save up our Nectar points and use them to buy gifts for extended family members. You don’t realise how many people you actually have to buy for and the cost can quickly creep up. I also find Sainsbury’s gifts go on sale before Christmas Day. So if we aren’t seeing someone until after Christmas, we can buy their gifts in the sale and with our Nectar points.

I’m generally a bargain hunter, so rarely pay full price for something. I’ll always hunt out a voucher code or at lease buy on my Amazon Prime account.

Before I lost my job I would of bought most of the Christmas gifts by now. But things are different now I don’t have a regular income.

We are definitely cutting down on the amount we buy the boys this year. To be honest we won’t be buying Bear much at all as he really doesn’t play with toys much.

What tips do you have for saving money at Christmas?

~A~

 

 

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