Today I am sharing my tips when budgeting for Christmas… Every year, I tell myself I’m not going to go overboard on Christmas. I always do, but I usually manage to “balance the books” by combining several tricks.
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Budgeting For Christmas
I’m going to share my personal favourite ways of budgeting for Christmas. I try to avoid using credit to cover the cost, as I find that’s a vicious circle to get out of. So I’m going to share tips to help you make your limited funds go further.
January Sales
Firstly, I start buying the kids presents in January and putting them away. This means I won’t have to find all the money in November / December. I used to try saving up, but something always came up. So I’d end up dipping into my Christmas pot to cover unexpected bills. (Like the car needing repairing, or the washer breaking).
For me, buying toys means I can’t spend the money on anything else. It’s a great way of budgeting for Christmas. My loft is usually jam packed by September! I know it isn’t always easy to make ends meet though. There have been times in the past when we’ve relied on our catalogue to buy some Christmas gifts. It was especially tough back when I was on Maternity Leave. I think it was probably that which kick started my money saving ways and spurred me on to shop around for deals.
Start Early
Secondly, I look out for bargains. I have a list in my phone of people I need to buy gifts for. So if I see a bargain throughout the year, I’ll buy it and put it away for them. The January sales is the perfect time to grab some bargains, but there’s always end of season sales, Mother’s Day promotions etc that will bring the costs down too.
I have been known to pick up 20 rolls of wrapping paper in January, when it’s 9p a roll. People always laugh at me, until the following Christmas when I’ve saved myself a fortune.
I do this with Christmas cards, gift tags etc too. They get packed away with the Christmas decorations on 6th January. So then when I bring everything out the following December, they are there waiting for me!
Loyalty Points
Throughout the year, I also save up my Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda points. This means I have these ready to buy all of the indulgent treats at Christmas time. Last December I had over £40 to spend on my Nectar card, £60 on my Tesco Clubcard and about £70 on my Asda Rewards App. That was £170 worth of Christmas food and gifts I didn’t have to find the money for. It’s a brilliant way of budgeting for Christmas, without cutting back.
Cashback With Quidco
Quidco is my favourite way of budgeting for Christmas. Whenever I’m about to make a purchase online, I check Quidco to see if the website is listed. In my experience, 90% of the websites I shop from are. I earn anything from 0.75% to 30% cash back on my purchases throughout the year, then withdraw it in December, to help pay for Christmas! I’ve been doing this for 4 years now, and in that time I have earned over £722 cashback!
As you can see in the above photo, I’ve already got £56.80 ready to withdraw, plus £57.92 pending – this will be confirmed in the coming months and added to my 2024 Christmas fund. If you’re not a member yet, sign up to Quidco here and you’ll get a £15 joining bonus once you’ve earned your first £5 cashback!
Amazon Prime
My Amazon Prime account is another brilliant way to save money. Amazon have so many deals, and the free next day delivery you get with Prime is a total life saver. We have Prime Now in our area too, so we can even get our groceries delivered by Amazon. This saves us a fair bit as well – especially on nappies! If you’re not already a prime customer, the 30 day Amazon Prime free trial is always worth doing in mid November, ready for their Black Friday deals!
If we needed a short term loan to help tide us over, “Bank of Mum and Dad” wouldn’t be an option for us. We’d struggle to make ends meet if we didn’t plan ahead. This is why we try to spread the cost of Christmas over the year, just in case something comes up and we are left a little short in December.
What about you? Do you have any tips for keeping the cost of Christmas down? Finally, if this budgeting for Christmas post has been useful, check out more of my money content here.
