It’s time for me to play Scrooge and talk about saving money at Christmas. None of us want to look mean during the festive period, but look at it this way, if you can save money in some areas, then there’s more to spend on presents for the kids or grandkids!
Of course, Christmas is really about seeing friends and relatives and having a good time, rather than thinking about money, but a little thought now, about your spending plans, might make for a happier time in the post-Christmas period! We’ve put together a few tips, to give you some ideas for saving cash, perhaps making sure you’ve got even more left to spoil the kids!
1 Grab early discounts
In the build up to Christmas, events like Black Friday (this time on November 29, 2019) are worth taking advantage of, giving you the chance to buy presents at the best possible price. Check out the websites of major suppliers and see which has the product you require for the least. Also, don’t forget websites like Ebay, which also has new products for sale, as well as used ones. Website www.moneysavingexpert.com has an Amazon Discount Finder to help you secure the best discounts when buying products from the Amazon website.
2 Make it yourself
Since Christmas is the time of sharing love, then why not put some love into making your own Christmas presents for friends or family? These could range from some home-made jams or even wine. Or, why not push the boat out and make Christmas cakes or puddings for your family? You can even recycle the designs on old Christmas cards to make decorations for your tree.
3 Cash or gifts?
Instead of buying presents in the shops in November and December, when they are at full price, why not give cash and vouchers as presents this Christmas, perhaps with a small gift on the day, like a box of sweets? This means that people can then go and get much more for the money in the January sales, plus they will be buying a present they really want, rather than one you think they will want!
4 It’s all about the kids
If you have loads of grandchildren to buy for, as well as adults, why not make a pact before Christmas with all the adults in the family, saying that everyone will only buy presents for the children, and not for other adults? This means that the kids still have a great Christmas and adults won’t need to buy gifts for each other that probably won’t get used anyway.
5 Sell stuff first
If you need to raise funds to buy new presents, why not start by looking round your home and see if there are any old presents which you could sell to raise money? It’s amazing what will sell on websites like Ebay and, if you are payed via Paypal, you can then use these funds directly to buy new gifts. You don’t just need to sell old presents either, think of any household or garage items you don’t want and see if you can sell them to raise cash.
