Many people struggle with money over Christmas. It can be really expensive especially if you have a ton of people to buy for. It can be possible to not overspend and make yourself broke whilst still getting great gifts.
1. Budget
It's a really good idea to decide on a budget for everyone. So make a list and decide how much you want to spend on each person and stick to it, doing this really makes a difference when it comes to not overspending on gifts. My budget this year is £10-15 per person and £20 for the kids. This is an amount that you can afford to spend and will not cause you to have any monetary issues, bearing in mind how many people you have to shop for; we have around 15 people to shop for between us.
2. Start Early
I know most people don't like to think about Christmas until November or December even, but starting early really does help. I know it's late to be saying that, but even starting now can definitely help. A lot of companies have deals and discounts at the end of Summer and those things may be more expensive in the lead up to Christmas. It's also a great idea to spread the costs so it's not one big outgoing in December.
3. Never pay full price
I refuse to pay full price for just about anything. I look around for coupons and deals, along with loyalty cards. More chances than not you will be able to save money on what you are being. Websites such as flubit are great for getting better prices than Amazon. I recently did a Mothercare order and received over £140 worth of toys for only £58 through codes and deals. Meaning that I could get many gifts for less that half of what they would've cost me. For discount beauty Fragrance Direct is great. Boots also always has it's 3 for 2 every year.
4. Store gifts together
Keep the presents that you have already bought together so that it is easy to look and see how much you have for each person. Storing them together will also make it easier as you will know where they all are when it comes to wrap them and they won't get forgotten. It's also a good idea to make a list along with the prices so you can stay in your budget.
5. Try not to buy the same unnecessary presents
Think about it, how many times have you bought the same person pretty much the same bath set because you have no idea what to buy them. They are then obliged to buy you a presents back. It's a good idea to think what we're giving, to whom and why. These gifts might not even get used. So put a little thought into it, is it really a needed or wanted gift.
Let's face it, who doesn't love Christmas food! It can get incredibly expensive with the Turkey and all the trimmings, but it doesn't need to be. Decide what you want to spend your money on, for us it's our Turkey and we will splurge slightly on that. Get your veg from Aldi and Lidl, our parsnips and potatoes were around 50p for each of them. Aldi also have really nice Brussels sprouts which definitely are indulgent without costing the earth.
7. Gift Wrapping
Having pretty presents is a must for me. It might sound ridiculous but I definitely put a lot of effort into ensuring that my presents look nice under the tree. It would be pretty easy to fall into the trap of spending £4 on a roll of paper, but with so many presents that would easily stack up, and it's just not worth it. The paper is ripped up and thrown away so why spend so much money. I like to use brown paper and decorate with candy canes and ribbon, the ribbons can be reused and the candy canes eaten. Brown paper is much cheaper than a lot of papers, Poundland also has some cute paper and bags if you look hard enough.
I hope these tips help your Christmas season be that little bit less stressful, and show you that you can spoil without breaking the budget.
Love Sarah
♥
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