How planning for Christmas can save you serious money

You know those crazy people on Facebook who, in mid February start planning for Christmas and sharing posts of how many weeks it is until the big day? I’m not one of them, don’t worry.

In fact, I’m the sort of person who still recoils in horror when shops are all decked out by October 1^st. Sell the gift sets by all means, but if you ask me, we don’t need tinsel in our faces and Mariah on repeat until December 1st. (Then I’m all for it, but not a second before.)

However, that doesn’t mean I haven’t given Christmas a second thought. In my old, full time job, I didn’t really do any planning for Christmas as the money was always there in my November paypacket to cover the expenses.

I learnt the hard way 3 years ago, part time and 25k a year lighter, that suddenly I didn’t have hundreds of pounds spare each month to cover it. So I did what many other people do – stuck the lot on my credit card and tried to forget about it.

I dread to think how much interest that Christmas has cost me, but luckily I was soon able to find another way. And it worked so well, that I’ve turned it into a toolkit that anyone can use.

The Ultimate Guide to A Debt Free Christmas

In the toolkit, I make planning for Christmas a breeze. It includes a spreadsheet to allow you to plan out all your Christmas expenses well in advance, as well as savings challenge printables, a 12 month action plan and a 37 page ebook outlining my entire process.

However, in this post I’m going to share some of my top tips from the Toolkit to prepare for Christmas in advance without turning into a crazy person who has their house decorated by October.

Tip number 1: Save for Christmas each and every month

It’s so tempting to forget all about Christmas in January, especially if you’re still faced with paying off the last lost of festive spending. Then many of us turn our focus to summer holidays / vacations, and before we know it, it’s Halloween and we have approximately two more months’ paydays and nothing prepared for Christmas.

Planning for Christmas by saving each and every month can really take the financial strain off the later months of the year. However, I know it can be difficult not only to remember to save the money, but to find it in your budget in the first place.

This is where Plum has been a big help for me. For those who don’t know, Plum is an automated money management app that can be installed onto your Android or iOS phone. It is safe to use and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), but if you wish to find out more about how it works you can visit the FAQ here.

I initially signed up to Plum in April (2017) and it managed to set aside over £350 by the end of November without me even noticing! Considering I only work 3 days a week I think this is a fantastic amount.

Update October 2022: Plum has now put away over £4000 for me! You can read more about Plum in detail here

Tip 2: Take Advantage of Black Friday

Planning for Christmas has definitely got easier since the onslaught of Black Friday here in the UK. It makes sense to know in advance what you might want to buy as Christmas gifts so you can take advantage of any suitable offers.

This is not the same as buying something you don’t need (or your gift recipient won’t want) just because it’s on sale. Many shops have storewide offers, such as 30% off all giftsets, meaning you have a much wider choice of what to buy. If there’s no offers on what you need, then you haven’t lost anything by checking.

I have a more detailed post on my Black Friday shopping strategy here.

If you want some help getting organised planning for Christmas, you can download my completely free Christmas planner by filling in the form on this page.

Tip 3: Get your Christmas Food shop organised

Planning for Christmas food might not be something you want to think about earlier on in the year, but if you want to get organised and spread the cost, by October it would be a good idea to write a list. My Free Christmas planner has a template for this.

Then in the 10-12 weeks before Christmas, you could pick up a few non perishable items along with your normal grocery shop to spread the cost. For example, alcohol, tins of sweets, frozen foods – anything that is not in danger of expiring. Although, you might have to hide it from your family!

If you want more details on how I budget and plan for Christmas food shopping, you can check out this post.

Tip 4: Find ways to cut back on what you spend at Christmas

Before you start yelling Scrooge at me, I don’t mean purging the kid’s presents or cutting back on the things you actually use and enjoy about Christmas. However, many of us fall into a routine where we buy things at Christmas that end up being forgotten or wasted.

Have you ever bought a cute Christmas ornament and then remembered you already have the same one when you unpack the decorations? Or maybe you feel you *have to* buy new a Christmas outfit when you still have a wardrobe full of perfectly good party clothes.

When trying to cut my Christmas budget, I identifed six things to cut back or stop buying at Christmas that you can read in this post.

Tip 5: Read up on Money Saving Christmas tips in Advance

There are literally so many “little” ways to save money that I put together a compilation of my favourite money saving Christmas tips from UK Bloggers. By reading this well in advance, you can ensure the tips that work for you have plenty of time to be implemented.

Other Posts You May Like

How I Saved over £250 on my Christmas Shopping

Clutter Free Christmas Gift Guide

Last minute Christmas Gifts under £20

Affordable Christmas Gift guide: £30 and under

If you want more ways to get organised for Christmas, Becca Blogs it Out has some great tips here.

Want more ways to save money for Christmas? Hayley from Miss Manypennies has it covered.

I’m taking part in the Monday Money linky with Lynn from Mrs Mummy Penny, Faith from Much More With Less and Emma from EmmaDrew.Info