Expensive! That is what we always expect Christmas time to be. What with all the presents, food, clothes, cards and decorations to buy. In fact, it is very easy to clear out all of your savings when it comes to Christmas. A situation that can make January even more challenging to bear. Happily, there are some strategies you can use to cut the cost of Christmas, without sacrificing any of the fun. Read on to find out what they are.
Buy less.
Simple it may be, but buying less this Christmas can actually work like a charm. Of course, the idea isn’t about being a Scrooge and getting rid of Christmas altogether. Instead, it is about cutting down on the number of gifts and the amount of food we buy to a reasonable amount.
In fact, when it comes to gifts, those of us with kids can end up buying so many that they barely fit under there tree. Yes, it may be true that kids will go crazy when they see so many presents at first, but they can quickly become bored, over-excited or even tired while opening them. Only to discard them immediately, later on, meaning all that money goes to waste.
Instead, some parents are now choosing to lessen the number of gifts they buy for their kids. In fact, there is even a rhyme that guides this that you can find at youtube.com Although the basic idea is that you buy a clothing item, a book, something they have asked for, and something you know they will need during the coming year.
DIY gifts.
You can also save considerable amounts of money by making instead of buying gifts. In fact, homemade gifts are ones that have several advantages, including the fact that you get the joy of creating them, as well as just handing them over on the day.
Additionally, they do say that handcrafting gifts are more meaningful because you have given up your precious time to create them. Something that can really make the recipient feel special without you having to spend a fortune.
Now, you may be thinking that handcrafting a Christmas present is beyond your skill level. However, you don’t have to be a talented artist or baker to create something that will be perfect for gifting. In fact, there are plenty of DIYs like the ones at cosmopolitan.com/uk that even a total beginner can make successfully. All of which will cost a great deal less than buying a comparable item new.
Brown paper packages tied up with string.
One thing that you are likely to need this Christmas is gift wrap. In fact, you can end up spending quite a bit on wrapping paper, bags, tags, bows and tape. Once you have added it all up.
Fortunately, there are a few different tactics you can use to cut costs here. The first is to swap out fancy foiled and laminated papers, for old fashioned brown packing paper. In fact, not only is this cheaper by-the-foot, but as you can read about at metro.co.uk it’s also way better for the environment as well, as it can be put into the household recycling. Something that you cannot do with foil and laminate papers. Oh, and of course, when you tie a brown paper parcel up with string it actually looks super cool as well!
Alternately if you are still determined to introduce a little Christmas sparkle into your wrapping, why not pay a visit to the dollar store? The reason being that you can get some high-quality tags, tape and ribbons there for a mere fraction of the cost!
Although you need to watch out for the quality of the paper in cheaper stores. The reason being that it is often the kind that feels slightly wet to the touch and it’s tough to get a crisp edge with when wrapping gifts. Something that can be infinitely frustrating and may not be worth the money that you save on it.
Shop smarter.
Another way to save some significant amounts of money this Christmas is to shop smarter. One method of doing this is to watch out for the limited exclusive deals that they run on Black Friday. Where you can often get up to 60% off big-ticket items such as electronics. Something that makes them much more affordable when buying as gifts.
tively, you may wish to check sites like NetVoucherCodes.co.uk before you make your purchases. This is because they often have significant currency or percentage discounts for famous and well-known brands. Something that means even if you are planning on buying a more expensive branded item, you could make a significant saving. Just running quick search beforehand.
Set a time limit for celebrations.
Now, you may think that setting a time limit on Christmas is a real Grinch sort of thing to do. However, before you judge, hear me out! In fact, one of the reasons that people end up spending so much money in the festive season is because it goes on for so long! It’s not just the twelve days of Christmas anymore! Instead, people are celebrating for the entire month of December, and even before, which can certainly rack up the costs involved.
With that in mind, if you cut down the number of days, you celebrate, you can also cut the costs involved without having to scrimp and save. In fact, you may wish to only celebrate on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day this year. Something that means you are likely to spend vastly reduced amounts of money on food and drink, yet do not have to cut the quality of what you are purchasing.
Of course, an additional benefit of doing things this way is that you can fight the Christmas weight gain as well! Something that may make this tactic doubly attractive to many!
Christmas baking on the cheap.
When you walk the aisles of the supermarkets at this time of year, the amount of food, especially sweet treats that are on display can be overwhelming. Of course, they are all packaged up nicely with the aim of trying to get you to buy as much as possible, which can end up costing a lot of money.
However, if you choose to bake your own Christmas treats like the ones you will find at momdoesreviews.com, you can save a tremendous amount of money. Additionally, Christmas baking is a fabulous family activity that can create wonderful memories and get the whole family in the Christmas spirit in the run-up to the Holidays.
Secret Santa for the whole family.
Finally, an ingenious way of keeping the cost of Christmas down for the entire family is as suggested at lifehacker.com, to run a super-sized secret Santa. What this entails is writing everyone’s name down on a small piece of paper and then getting each person to pick one out. With whomever they get is the person that they will buy a gift for. The idea being that they do not but for anyone else in the family.
This then means that everybody only has to buy a single gift rather than the multiples ones that are usual. Something that not only can make Xmas a lot easier but reduce the cost as well.