My top 10 ways to save for Christmas

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Today I am going to share with your 10 ways to save for Christmas. Christmas is a HUGE deal in my home, and with my family. I most look forward to my husband having some time off work (before, during or after Christmas).

My lovely husband is a shift worker so sometimes he works 12 hour shifts over Christmas. To allow for this we often move Christmas to a slightly later date, so we can really enjoy the days together.

Now that we have two daughters it is a little harder than it was before to just rearrange Christmas, but we do our best to make the most of the entire festive season to have lots of opportunities to spend time together.

While Christmas means so much more than just presents it is fair that this makes up a nice part! With the added expense of time off work (for me), food, decorations and more it soon adds up.

I like to start thinking about Christmas in advance and these ways to save for Christmas are how I save up.

Survey websites

Over the year I make thousands of pounds from survey websites. Whether you have a lot of time, or a little, you can make a nice amount for your Christmas fund.

You can check out my favourite survey websites. I have included details of my favourite websites, as well as my average earnings and payout thresholds. In the past surveys have helped me with buying a car!

Mystery Shopping

I don’t do anywhere near as much mystery shopping as I could, as it is just not that well paying anymore. I have had free food in restaurants, free takeaways delivered and free goods in homeware shops.

MarketForce is my preferred mystery shopping company, as they have so many jobs on offer. Payments are made every two weeks and I’ve never had a job rejected so far.

Cashback on purchases

Earning cashback has made me over £3,000 in the last decade. This is all from buying items that I was going to be buying anyway.

My favourite cashback company is TopCashBack and they have a fantastic addon for your browser now. This helps to ensure that you need never miss cashback again.

I also love to use Airtime Rewards as this is passive cashback that doesn’t require any effort after you download the app and add your cards to it.

Amazon Deals

Amazon have fantastic deals throughout the year. At selected times of the year, including Black Friday, they have even better deals. You can find the latest Amazon Deals *here. I suggest checking back in and ensure that you keep a list, so you don’t end up impulse buying.

Paid website testing

Intellizoom is a good way to earn yourself some extra money. You only need around 15-20 minutes to complete a paid website test and earn yourself some money.

Shopping Apps

This one may be useful closer to Christmas, but really you can make savings all year round. Shopping apps allow you to submit photographs of receipts for food and drink purchases. You can then receive cashback on your purchases. I really like Shopmium, and it is my favourite!

Change your supermarket

I have switched from almost exclusively using Sainsburys in the past to using other supermarkets too. I now visit Tesco once per month and Aldi or Lidl several times per month.

I’ve been able to save a significant amount of money (Around 40% of my budget) by doing this. I now only visit Sainsburys when I have Valued Opinions vouchers to use. Find out what happened when I switched from Tesco to Aldi.

Stick to a budget for each person’s gifts

I set a budget in advance for gift giving. I tend to stick to the same amount per sibling, niece and nephew. Then I agree a budget with my husband so we can be realistic with one another if asking for any gifts.

Having a budget gives me something to aim towards. If I find something that is perfect, and a tiny bit more expensive, then I stick to just one gift for that person.

I try to make sure that everyone has a similar amount of gifts, to make it less awkward when opening them together. I like to ask people if they have something specific that they want and I speak with some people in advance about a budget.

Get yourself on eBay

Last year I kept an eye on gift sets on eBay. I was able to buy quite a few brand new gift sets for significantly less than in the shops. Postage is usually the most expensive cost so I looked out for items near my home. I’ve also used my top tips for selling on Vinted to make a few pounds too and my top tips for buying on Vinted too!

This meant that I could collect them in person and save even more money. If you are going to do this ensure that you check the seller will allow this first.

Stock up on cupboard goods

By buying your cupboard goods in advance you can save yourself money. Stock up when items are on offer and keep an eye on expiration dates. I bought mincemeat for just 10p in the past that lasted until the following year. I have used a few jars throughout the year but as this is normally £2.19 per jar this is a fantastic saving!

If you’re a big fan of mincemeat then you may like to make a slow cooker mincemeat yourself – yum!

I like to visit the supermarket every few days in the run up to Christmas and I often get great items in the reduced section. Also I bake my own brioche, rolls, garlic bread and all sorts – to stock up my freezer for guests. I love to make stuffing from scratch, prepare air fryer roast potatoes and even cook a chicken in my slow cooker.

Hopefully you have found these ways to save for Christmas useful. I am starting to think about my Christmas budget this year and who I will be buying gifts for. By starting early I am able to hunt for bargains and save myself money in the process.

If you’re looking to make some extra money online then be sure to check out my post of great ways to make and save money.

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