5 money saving ideas for Christmas

Christmas can hit us all hard, all those presents to be brought, the food for the table and the decorations from the home. When adding the cost together it can really set us back a few pennies and January can then become a hard month on us all, however it is possible if you just stop and think about what you are doing to save yourself quite a bit at Christmas.
Here are 5 of my money saving ideas:

1. Hand make where you can.
Personally I adore receiving handmade gifts and cards and while they can take a while to put together and get just right, in the long run they can save you quite a bit. Plus, it doesn’t really matter what you are good at, say you love to bake – treat everyone to mince pies, cake or Christmas pudding. More of a crafter then jewellery, pictures, mugs there is all sorts you can decorate to give as a present. That’s without getting into making your own decorations (paper chains are so this year).

2. Reuse / Re-gift.
You don’t need to buy new decorations last year, get your old ones out, dust them off and pop them back up, it has been a year who’s going to remember exactly what you used last year anyway. Re-gifting is a bit of no go with some people, but if done right it can save you money, just make sure you don’t send it back to the original sender.

3. Use voucher websites.
When you do need to splash out make sure you not only shop around, but if you’re buying online check voucher websites such as Vouchacodes.co.uk to help you get the best price possible on those most have gadgets.

4. Get cash back.
This is one I’ve really started to get into over the past few months and it is so simple to do. You just need to sign up to a website such as TopCashBack and then visit the website you wish to purchase from via them, at the moment you can even get a £5 Amazon voucher for signing up (an earning £10 worth of cash back). Helen from Mummy to the Max has some great ideas for using TopCashBack prior to Christmas as well. (It is worth remembering you can often only use either a voucher code or get cash back so make sure you work out which one is best for each purchase).

5. Do you really need it?
This probably the hardest one for me, I am always spotting things and thinking ohh that would be just right for someone and so I buy it, then forget I’ve brought it and then I’ve spent more than I really need to. So get yourself organised, write a list of what you really need and stick to it. You might be surprised by how much you save when not buying those little bits.

How do you save money at Christmas? 

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