It's going to be a three-speed Christmas, according to the latest research*. While some of us are planning a return to the indulgence of Christmases past, others will be working hard to celebrate despite an ever-present squeezed budgets, but the majority of us will fall somewhere in the middle – just about managing to stay afloat financially.
Whatever your Christmas is looking like, you'll find plenty of money saving shopping tactics to help your budget stretch further, from tips and schemes to apps and old-fashioned consumer know-how! Here's what our consumer, finance and cookery experts have to say...
1. Plan before you spend!
It's estimated that the average British consumer will spend almost £600 on core Christmas-related products and activity this year - including food, gifts, decorations, socialising and travelling, the IPA's annual Christmas survey shows.
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Start by making a budget. We spend around 30% more in December than other months. Check your bank statements for last December to see how much you actually spent last year. Pretty much everything costs a bit more this year. Break down your plan: how much will go towards gifts, food, drink, leisure and entertainment, in addition to the usual monthly household costs. Don't be afraid to 'cut your cloth' to the size of your budget. Far better to do this than wake up in the new year with a financial hangover.
2. Keep track of your spending
Once you've set a budget, keeping track of your spending means you're less likely to overspend. Whether it’s by using a notebook, an app on your phone or an excel spreadsheet on your laptop, choose a system that works for you. If your bank offers you alerts for when your current account dips below a set amount, opt in.
Download a free app, such as Emma, MoneyHub or Snoop, to bring all your bank accounts and credit card accounts together in one place to keep track of things more easily. Digital-one banks such as Starling, Chase and Monzo, have lead the way in offering budgeting features but it's worth checking what your own bank offers.
3. Do ‘family gifts’ or a Secret Santa
If you've got a lot of people to buy for, such as extended family and friend groups, suggesting a Secret Santa (use an app such as Elfster to organise) is a great way to keep costs down.
Similarly, buying a 'family gift', such as a large box of chocs, a hamper or a board game, can be a great way to gift to a group rather than buying individual presents. These are always on offer in the run up to Christmas, so use Google Shopping to find the cheapest source and stock up!
Talking of Santa... Post your letter to Santa by 30 November (to Santa/Father Christmas, Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland XM4 5HQ) and little ones will receive a free reply from the big man in plenty of time for Christmas.
4. Plan meals
Check in early to find out what your guests really love to eat– and remember to take note of any food intolerances, too. To help you calculate the right quantities for the numbers you’re feeding, use The Love FoodHate Waste portion planner.
5. Be smart about delivery
Book your slot. If you’re planning a supermarket delivery close to Christmas, bag a cheaper time slot by placing just a few items in your virtual trolley well ahead of time. As the big day approaches, the cheap slots vanish and you end up having to throw money at the problem later on. When Christmas gets closer, add special offers and your usual goodies to the list – you can always remove that original bottle of Dom Pérignon!
6. Stock up the freezer early!
Avoid the pre-Christmas crush and spread the cost by making the most of your freezer. Most of the Christmas meal can be frozen, including the pigs in blankets, stuffing and even the gravy. If you spot a bargain, especially on joints of meat or the turkey, buy it now and freeze it.
7. Add discounts automatically
Use the browser extensions to keep a constant eye out for the cheapest prices for you. There are plenty of options and you can download and install more than one. So check out Rakuten, The Camelizer, and VoucherCodes 'DealFinder'.
8. Don't lose your head over sales
The golden rule of sales is: it's only a bargain if you were going to buy it anyway! In the deluge of deals around Black Friday (24 November) and Cyber Monday (27 November), try to resist impulse buying.
If you are buying on Amazon, check camelcamelcamel.com first — this tracks prices over the year so you know if you're getting a real bargain or not.
9. Be Post Savvy
Be sure to make a note of 18 December – the last date for sending Christmas cards by second-class post – you could save as much as £10 by posting early rather than using first-class. To make it even easier, you can now buy stamps online from send.royalmail.com and print them out at home. Then all you have to do is drop them in your nearest postbox.
10. Get free delivery
Why pay for store deliveries when you don’t have to? Some last order dates for free delivery are as early as 16 December, so it pays not to leave it too late to order online. Check our last free delivery dates for Christmas article here for an up-to-date list.
11. Find the cheapest way to send a parcel
If you're posting presents this year, do your research to find the most cost-effective option. Sending a medium parcel (2kg) to a UK address costs £5.89 second-class with Royal Mail via your local post office. However, if you sent it by courier with Evri, it would only be £4.37 for the same parcel. It's also worth checking different delivery and courier firms at comparison sites like parcelmonkey.co.uk or parcel2go.com to find the cheapest option. Find out more about Royal Mail Click & Drop.
12. Travel home for less
Don't forget to factor in the cost of getting anywhere this Christmas or the New Year, whether you are visiting family, travelling to shop or attend events.
Booking train tickets 8-12 weeks in advance could save you big bucks. Cheap tickets tend to go quickly but you can sign up to a free alert via Trainline to let you know as soon as they go on sale. And don’t forget railcards: a Family & Friends Railcard (£30 for a year) will give you a third off adult rail and 60% off children’s tickets.
Avoid travelling at busy times or on busier days if you can, they will be more expensive. Consider splitting your ticket to find the cheapest way to travel by train. Make sure you use a website or booking platform that doesn't charge fees, many do.
Hitting the roads? Plan your route in advance and check out the cheapest places to refuel on the Petrolprices app. Use The Extra Mile or Just Off Junction to find cheaper but nicer eating places just off the motorway.
If you are not in hurry, coach travel always ticks the box for value, and you can get some great last minute deals. Check My Bus is ideal for finding the cheapest way to travel by coach.
13. Use cashback sites
With sites such as Quidco or TopCashback, you can earn money as you shop. Once you've set up an account, click on the retailer you want to buy from. You'll be taken to the retailer's website to shop as usual but your purchase is tracked and you will earn a percentage of it back. The amount of cashback you earn varies, but it could be anything between 1% and 15%. Always check the price of the actual item is competitive, rather than focusing on the size of the cashback.
14. Get the newsletters
Signing up to a retailer's newsletter can bag you an immediate discount, such as 10% off your next purchase. You'll also be the first to hear about Christmas discount events. Make a separate email account for receipts and newsletters, and you won't be flooded with marketing emails in your mail account.
15. Work those loyalty schemes!
For regular supermarket loyalty card users, now’s the time to use up points, as there are very often bonus offers and boosts to make them go further. Plan how to use them and, if possible, buy ahead. Jarred sauces and mincemeat will last unopened for months, and booze and bottled or canned soft drinks can be stockpiled.
It may seem old-fashioned, but if a scheme dangles free money, why not? Sainsbury’s Christmas Club saver card offers a 5% cash bonus (equivalent to a £2.50 reward) for each £50 you have on your card by 1 November, up to a maximum £25 reward on £500 savings. This card can also be used at Argos. Morrisons’ offer is slightly less generous – £1 if you save £49, up to £6 if you save £197. You’ll need to have your money in the account by 31 October. Asda, meanwhile, is offering up to £15 as a bonus if you save £280 by 10 November (there are smaller rewards from £30 upwards). Make the most of your money by leaving it in a high interest account until just before the cut off date, then move it across to Christmas saver account.
16. Save a packet with own brands
It’s an industry secret that own-brand products can come from the same manufacturers as the big brands, but are simply packaged differently. Carry out your own blind test with the family and see if they notice! Check out the product reviews for all our GHI Taste Approved products if you need further convincing. You could save as much as 60% compared with big brands.
Always check out supermarket own-label when buying alcohol – the quality of fizz is often top-notch," says Meike Beck, GH cookery director, "Waitrose Blueprint Prosecco DOC was runner-up in the GHI’s Prosecco taste tests and is only £8 a bottle." Spread the cost of buying in the run-up to Christmas and buy in bulk from wholesalers, such as Majestic, or a wine club like Virgin Wines; it’s also worth looking for supermarket multibuys.
17. Don't blow the budget on streaming
Whether it's Home Alone or Love Actually, we all have our favourite Christmas movies. There are plenty of free streaming services on mainstream broadcaster platforms and other streaming services. So check out what's on before splashing out on paid for streaming subscriptions. Check out BBC's iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Amazon has a free service called Freevee.
18. Recycling's the new regifting
Around £42m worth of unwanted Christmas presents are sent to UK landfill each year, says Friends of the Earth, so what’s more green than recycling them? Debrett’s etiquette adviser Liz Wyse says, ‘Recycling is to be applauded and it’s certainly gratifying if an unwanted gift finds its way into appreciative hands and doesn’t go to waste.’ But you should only ever recycle a present if you’re sure exactly who the original giver was. ‘It’s a faux pas from which it’s hard to recover,’ says Liz. ‘Only regift if you are confident that the present-giver and the recipient will never cross paths, which probably means avoiding regifting within your immediate social circle.’
19. Buy a tree to last
More than 5m real trees were sold in the UK in 2023, says the British Christmas Tree Growers Association (BCTA) – and many were pre-cut firs that ended up as compost or in landfill come January. This year, why not invest in a real tree with roots that you can keep outside for the 11 months it’s not needed, then bring it inside for its Christmas performance? You’ll save money and your tree will stay green right through to Twelfth Night.
Shop locally with a BCTA member for quality trees from sustainable plantations. Use their directory to find out where to buy a real tree. Prices start from as little as £12.50 at stores such as Tesco and Homebase. Or look for companies such as Goodelf that will rent you a tree (from £119 including delivery and collection). Some even allow you to have the same tree every year so you can name it!
20. Avoid 'buy now, pay later'
Tempting as these schemes are in the heat of the moment, try to avoid them unless you have a plan in place for repaying the loan within the interest-free period. Otherwise, after the 0% phase ends, you’ll be charged an aggressive interest rate and that new sofa, outfit or TV could end up costing you far more. Not only will it end up costing you more in the long run but it could have a negative impact on your credit score if you default on payments.
If you really need to borrow, check out cheaper options, such as 0% credit cards or 0% overdrafts.
21. Get a delivery pass
We all know how paying supermarket delivery fees can really add up. Could delivery pass, where you pay an upfront fee for deliveries from your favourite supermarket work out cheaper for you? Depending on your basket size and frequency of shop, they can save you time and money.
If you're buying a lot from Amazon, it's probably worth signing up for your 30 day trial of Amazon Prime to get free shipping — just remember to cancel before the 30 days are up.
