‘Tis the season to save lolly...
How to enjoy Xmas without blowing the budget
A WHOPPING £20billion will be spent on the festive period this year, with the average household blowing £719 celebrating Christmas.
More than half will manage to foot the bill for the festivities from their income.
A quarter have put money aside throughout the year to cover the cost of the December splurge.
And one in 10 households will be relying on their credit card to cover the whole cost of Christmas.
But you don’t need to rack up mountains of debt to enjoy the festive period.
Georgie Frost, of Go Compare, said: “Christmas is meant to be the most wonderful time of the year but the pressure to overspend can turn it into one of the most stressful.”
Here’s our guide on how to cut hundreds off your splurge – so you can celebrate without the fear of being in the red in January.
Make your own cards and presents IF YOU’RE feeling particularly creative, think about making your own Christmas cards this year or even gift hampers full of homemade chutneys and jam.
These can be made well in advance, will save you money and will also show how thoughtful you are.
Recycle last year’s Christmas cards by cutting out the pictures to use as gift tags.
Instead of buying selection boxes which can be expensive, buy multipack chocolate bars and sweets, divide them up and put them in gift bags instead – you get much more for less.
If you are considering buying a hamper, do your research first – as you might be paying more than £50 just for the basket.
For example, at Waitrose, a Duchy Organic Christmas Hamper costs £100. But buying the contents individually in the same store, you can save more than half the price.
Cut delivery costs COMPARE prices and send gifts using discount parcel-delivery services. For example, sending a 5kg signed-for next-day parcel costs £8.99 with DPD, compared to £17.70 with Royal Mail.
With all discount couriers, check the list of prohibited goods and consider paying extra for insurance.
Amazon offer free delivery if you spend £20. If your order is a few pence short, Super Saver Deliverytool.com checks for filler items, such as Sellotape, to bring up your total.
Book rail tickets for those festive trips RAIL passengers travelling during the festive period can take advantage of a loophole. Save cash by buying “split tickets” instead of direct journeys. It is legal as long as the train stops where the tickets are split. It works by buying tickets between stops on a journey as opposed to one “through” ticket and there is no need to change trains. In general, booking up to 12 weeks in advance is the best way to keep costs down. But even on journeys this month and next, it’s possible to save with free online services such as Trainsplit and Split Ticketing. Research by raileasy.co.uk found passengers travelling over Christmas can save £100 on some routes.
Discounts on presents IF YOU leave an item in your online basket, many retailers track your shopping activity and nudge you with an email including a discount code to motivate you to buy.
For example, two hours after abandoning an item on Buyagift.co. uk an email was sent offering a 15 per cent discount voucher.
Remember to log in when browsing so the retailer can track that it’s you shopping.
You can also save about six per cent by snapping up unwanted giftcards from the likes of App Store, iTunes, Jack Wills, Pandora, Halfords, John Lewis and New Look, using online marketplace Zeek.me.
You will be charged a 30p transaction fee. You can also sell your unwanted or unused giftcards, too. Get further discounts by heading to Amazon to look for their “warehouse deals” – used or warehouse-damaged items from toys to wine.
Items can be cheaper just because the box has been opened. A ghd air hair dryer with a “minor cosmetic imperfection” is £82.66, compared with £99 at Asos.com.
Christmas dinner MAKE a shopping list and work out portions before you hit the shops to avoid food waste.
A 2-2.5kg turkey crown will feed six, a 3-4.5kg small turkey six to eight, whereas a medium bird weighing 4-6kg will be enough for eight to 10.
If your budget is tight, you can have bigger portions of pigs-in-blankets, stuffing balls and vegetables.
Plan to serve per person 225g-250g of roast potatoes, two or three stuffing balls, 80g each of Brussels sprouts, carrots and parsnips, two or three pigs-in-blankets, 120ml of gravy and 25g of cranberry sauce.
Save on nights out A NIGHT out for 10 costs £60 a head, on average. But you can make merry for less with these great tips.
Check out the booze bundles at restaurants, such as Bella Italia, where three bottles of party prosecco cost just £49.99.
Three bottles of wine are £34.99 or get six beers for under £20.
You can avoid splurging the budget on clothes by hitting a charity shop instead. The key is to arrive about an hour after opening. Most will have been saving sparkly items all year for festive shoppers. For example, a sequin top at Oxfam costs just £2.99 compared to a similar £36.75 option at Warehouse.