Tips to rein in the cost of Christmas don’t have to be humbug

Next year's Christmas decorations could come from New Year stock clearance sales. Picture: iStock/PA

The research also found women are the most likely to be planning to impose a strict budgeting strategy, with 76 per cent vowing to spend less, versus 66 per cent of men.

It’s not hard to see why some are trying rein back, given that, according to separate research from American Express, people expect the festive season to cost up to an average £1,522 in total. This includes money they’ll spend on festive getaways, gifts and hosting parties.

Here are some ideas if you’re looking for some inspiration to keep the costs down.

Write it down

Laura Laidlaw, head of customer communications at Standard Life, suggests taking a note of how much you’ll need for each part of your Christmas shopping. Include how much you’ll need for food, socialising, presents, decorations and anything else Christmas-related.

By writing down exactly how much you plan to spend, it becomes much easier to resist impulse spending on unnecessary extras – and there may be some items on your list that you can cut out more easily if it’s all written down.

Handing over cash when you make your purchases could also help you resist the urge to spend, as it may seem more like “real money” than paying by credit card.

Have an ‘appy’ Christmas

Laidlaw suggests downloading stores’ apps, as many will offer special discounts. And don’t forget about online discount codes and cashback websites which give you money back on what you buy – just make sure you’re still only buying what you need.

Have a Secret Santa for family or friends

Although many of us would only think about Secret Santa for work colleagues or large groups of friends, Laidlaw suggests if you’re sticking to a budget, a Secret Santa could also be an ideal way for the adults of the family to give gifts.

If a maximum price is set in advance, this can be an effective way of keeping costs down.

Ask guests to contribute to Christmas dinner

If you’ve got to put on a feast for friends and family over Christmas, asking them to help out could ease your costs. AA Financial Services found that 8 per cent of women are planning to ask guests to contribute food and drink over Christmas, as are 5 per cent of men. Asking for help doesn’t have to mean requesting that guests hand over cash when they walk through your front door. You could ask them to contribute by bringing drinks, snacks, side dishes or desserts over to help spread the cost around a bit.

Re-use leftover food

Give food that’s gone untouched on Christmas Day a tasty makeover by re-using it in pies, soups or with noodles or pasta rather than letting it go to waste. There are plenty of recipes online for re-using leftovers.

Get rewarded for loyalty

If you’ve been shopping till you drop all year, now’s the time to use all those reward points you’ve built up. More than a third (36 per cent) of shoppers plan to use loyalty reward points from retailers for Christmas, redeeming £61 on average across the festive season, according to a survey from Sainsbury’s Bank Credit Cards. One in 10 (10 per cent) plan to use over £100-worth of loyalty points to put towards shopping this year.

Separate analysis of Sainsbury’s Bank Credit Card data found that during December last year its customers accrued Nectar points worth a jolly £1.3 million.

Think about next year

When stores start selling their Christmas cards and decorations off cheap, snap them up for next year. Laidlaw also suggests putting away a bit of spare cash into a savings account each month. By the time next Christmas comes around it could have turned into a sizeable sum.