I am sorry to mention the “C” word in September, but it is just 94 days until the big day, although even I was very surprised when I walked into a local shop yesterday to see it full to bursting with Christmas decorations already.
As a mother of 6, Christmas can be an expensive time of year, but I do have a few hints and tips to save money along the way.
1. Manage Expectations
My top tip is to manage the kids expectations.
We make more of a fuss of birthday’s rather than Christmas, so I allocate £50 to spend on their main presents and then a little bit more for stocking fillers.
The little ones love nothing more than going through the Smyths Toys Catalogue with a fine-tooth comb and circling everything they love. It is also a great tool for letting Grandparents and other relatives know what the kids want for Christmas too.
For the older ones, I simply drop into conversation what they want or need and go from there.
2. Save Nectar Points / Clubcard Vouchers
A long, long time ago I worked for Tesco and saw their Clubcard launched. It is a great tool for saving for Christmas and although some of their offers have been reduced in the past year, it is still a great way of saving money either on your Christmas shopping, or on days out and experiences.
3. Use Cashback sites
There are a few cashback sites to choose from, but I use Top Cashback to get money back on my shopping.
Simply search your desired shop on the website or the app and they track your visit and give you cashback on your shopping. I have earned over £150 for Christmas so far already this year.
4. Black Friday / Cyber Monday
I always used to moan about American celebrations coming over to the UK but I do like the discounts that come with Black Friday and Cyber Monday (23rd / 26th November) this year.
Amazon have some of the best discounts, especially if you are after a Kindle Fire or Amazon Echo, so buy some Amazon vouchers now and save them for the big day to guarantee you have the funds for a bargain.
5. Start food shopping early
There is nothing worse than when the supermarket runs out of your favourite mince pies a week before Christmas.
Start picking up Christmas treats and hide them away, so the kids can’t start picking early. Make sure you check the use-by dates first though!!
What are your top tips for saving money at Christmas??
We are a family of 6 so know how expensive Christmas can be. There are some great tips there. Like you we start thinking about Christmas early on to ensure we’re sorted. September is definitely not too early to start thinking about Christmas, that’s exactly what my most recent vlog was about!
Ah, the yearly joy for kids of looking through catalogues at all the toys the elves can make at the toy shop! Got to love the Smyths catalogue 🙂
I’ve already seen mince pies in Sainsburys! I love to be organised and have started my Christmas shopping, spreading the cost works for me.
I always use cashback websites throughout the year and refuse to dip into what I’ve earned until Christmas. Survey websites are good too. I also swear by the app Chip! It links up to your bank account and discreetly saves money for you – enough to save a fair bit long term but not enough that you actually notice it coming out of your account. It’s really smart too and whatever comes out depends on how much you’ve spent that month – and you can cancel them if you’re feeling short. More info @ https://formidablejoy.com/2017/09/11/money-saving-money-with-chip/. If you are interested, we both can earn 1% interest by signing up with my code JLB3BY which doesn’t sound like much but makes a ton of difference. Since installing this app in September 2017 I have saved £759.52 WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING IT. It’s crazy! x
wow, will have a look at that, sounds great
I am loving all of these tips and agree its important to manage expectations. I also store all my nectar points and use them only for Christmas
Its always good to save money. Thanks for the tips
I think it’s a good idea to plan early and buy little bits and pieces over the next few months to spread out costs. Managing expectations is a great way of making your children realise the specialness of Christmas x
I try and be really good in the run up to Christmas ie in [lanning some years it works others not so much ha, hopefully by doing a few of these it will all come together nicely
These are awesome ways to save some money for Christmas shopping. The cashback sites are good. I would have to try shopping for food earlier.
Nectar points are such a great way of saving the money associated with Christmas. We often use them to buy our Christmas meal and they often do a double value offer around October time for stocking up on gifts etc.
C x
Such great tips here! I didn’t use cashback yet, but I want to start. Christmas is a very expensive period, good to start in advance 🙂