December is upon us! I don’t mind admitting that, due to a long term pain in the neck (not Mr S or Brexit, but a trapped nerve) I am a little behind on my Christmas plans. It is hard to concentrate! However, I need to prepare for a frugal Christmas and stick to the budget.
We don’t all have wads of cash to throw around at this time of year. However , it is perfectly possible to have a fabulous frugal Christmas with a little forethought and planning.
This week’s Five Frugal things consists of five random thoughts towards achieving a frugal Christmas.
Visit the discount stores
Check out the Christmas aisles at Aldi and Lidl. They always have a great selection of Christmas food and gifts. Home Bargains, Poundland and B&M can also be good.
Shop around for your Christmas meat
I don’t eat meat so will be settling down to a vegetarian Christmas dinner. However, the rest of the family do. I am absolutely positive that the price of a roast goes up at this time of the year so it makes sense to buy early and get your meat in the freezer. Iceland do some good frozen meat joints.
If you are buying fresh do a price comparison online and check out your local butcher or farm shop as well.
Buy brown paper
Consider buying plain brown parcel wrap instead of fancy foil covered (and unrecyclable) Christmas wrapping paper. It is much cheaper and looks very pretty with some ribbon or raffia ties. You could even keep your children entertained and get them to do some potato printed wrap!
Plan your food
I tend to harp on about meal planning, but it saves loads of money and prevents food waste. This applies just as much at Christmas. As it can be a time of over consumption and waste, perhaps even more! Plan all of your food over Christmas and only buy what you will actually eat. It is only a couple of days! Also plan what you will do with any leftovers.
I tend to buy as I go along over several weeks to spread the cost as well.
Bargain sites for a frugal Christmas
Don’t forget to check the online cashback sites before you shop online. I got 8% cash back buying my daughter’s Christmas present at ASOS by clicking through from Top Cashback, for example. I also check Quidco to see if they have a better deal. Both of these are my tell a friend codes. If you click through and make a purchase via a the Top Cashback one you will receive a £5 Amazon gift card (you need to spend a minimum of £10). You also get £5 if you make a purchase via Quidco using my link.
I also like Bargain Crazy for its discounts on pretty much everything, but it is looking particularly good for frugal Christmas gifts at the moment.
How are you preparing for a frugal Christmas? Check out my other posts to help save money at Christmas here and here.
This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission. Thanks!
As ever, I am linking up with Cass , Emma and Becky in their Five Frugal Things linky.
I have a Christmas budget that has gotten completely out of hand and would love to trim back much of the gift giving, but at this point, it would create more waves than I am up for dealing with. Instead, my goal is to give and plan as if my budget is so high, but look to squeak it down by 10-15% through extra attention to prices. Thank you for the ideas above-I certainly will put to use.
We prefer to have a chicken rather than turkey. It is much cheaper, we all prefer the taste and don’t have days of struggling to deal with leftovers.
Sounds sensible to me!