Martin Lewis gives us five festive tips

Martin Lewis gives us his five best festive tips…

In the run-up to the most expensive time of year, money expert Martin Lewis is helping us get our finances into shape for the festive season.

Over a series of special programmes, Martin and co-host Angellica Bell will help us sort out our monetary woes including heating bills and show us how to make the most of our savings.

In this week’s episode, Martin offers advice to a viewer who wants to know the best place to invest £200,000, while there is a fast-food tip that could provide big savings for consumers, and a report on who is responsible for council tax.

Before that, Martin, 46, shares with TV Times his five top tips to make the most of our money this Christmas…

1 Only buy what you need

‘Ask yourself how much money do I have to spend on Christmas and what’s the best possible Christmas I can have with that money. Talk to family and friends and suggest not buying each other presents this year. They will probably breathe a collective sigh of relief. And next year start making your savings in September or it’s too late.’

2 Never give gift vouchers

‘I’m very anti-gift vouchers. If the company whose vouchers you have bought goes bust, you’re not protected and the vouchers are worthless. Money is the best form of gift voucher.’

3 Offer your time, not money

‘People value time more than money, so give IOUS as gift vouchers. Maybe offer an evening’s babysitting or promise to cook someone a nice meal or give your partner a lovely massage instead. Otherwise you do tit-for-tat buying and end up with tat.’

4 Change your bank account ‘Banks offer money,

vouchers or gifts if you switch. So see what deals are around and then use that money towards Christmas.’

5 Ignore posh branding

‘Don’t upshift unnecessarily. Mostly people can’t tell the difference, so buy the foods you like and ignore the branding.’