A Great Christmas For Less Money

Make it a perfect, but purse-friendly, celebration this year – Frances Quinn explains how

- Frances Quinn

Presents

Suggest to friends and/or family that you all – or at least all the grown-ups – opt for small presents and a low price limit. There’s often more fun to be had in tracking down fun presents for under a fiver than spending £20 on yet another unwanted gift set, and most people will be glad someone else has made the suggestion.

Alternatively, suggest a no-present pact for the grown-ups in the family. Most people are only too pleased to cut down on their list, and to escape the annual ritual of pretending to like what other people have bought them. Another good money saver is to buy family gifts instead of individual ones – you could, for example, buy a box set, a family game, or a fun gadget like a popcorn maker, and spend a lot less than you would on a present for each person.

Aim to get several gifts in one shop, so you can take advantage of two-for-one and ‘buy two, get one free’ offers. Got loyalty cards for your favourite stores? Check your points – a quarter of us never use the points we accumulate on our cards, so you could find you can get some of your Christmas gifts for free.