Christmas Budgeting Hacks

There’s so much pressure at Christmas.

Have to see Santa somewhere.

Have to buy the teacher a Christmas gift.

Have to cram the diary full of activities for the kids.

Have to book in Christmas drinks with everyone you haven’t seen all year.

Add in buying Christmas gifts and cards and December quickly becomes a VERY expensive month.

So, how can we save money over the final months of the year?

Here are my Christmas Budgeting Hacks

Ditch the cards

Can we normalise not sending Christmas cards to everyone we know? I send about 10 cards. Usually to the older relatives and a few work people.

You can easily spend £30 on cards and stamps.

Shop second hand

Thankfully for the planet and our wallets, second hand shopping is much more normal.

I’ve got 90% of the girls gifts on Vinted, Facebook Marketplace or from the Charity shop.

They won’t care that things aren’t in packaging. In fact, packaging gets in the way of playing INSTANTLY with the toys.

I sold lots of toys they don’t play with anymore on Vinted and Facebook. This built up a pot of money to buy other things for them that they’re more into now.

See Santa somewhere local – if you want to!

When I was a kid, there was no stress about having to see Santa every year. Maybe you’d go to a little grotto at a garden centre, but I don’t think there were these elaborate train ride experiences like now.

I suggest looking local for visits to Santa. Garden centres, school fetes, village centres. One of the best Santa’s I’ve seen was at the local village centre. I’m pretty sure he was the real deal and it cost us £2 per person and the girls got a little bag of sweets.

This year, I’m going to the Harvester for a breakfast with Santa. This is £10 pp.

The train ride was over £100 for four people and that felt too much for a 45 minute activity with no breakfast!

Get out in nature for table decorations

Pine cones, holly, red berries make lovely, natural, and eco-friendly decorations. Take a walk in the woods with the kids and go on a treasure hunt.

Look for free activities

Seeing Santa would be fun, but how about a wintery walk in the woods? Or just spending the whole day out in the park with your friends and theirs.

Not everything has to cost money to be fun.

Some of the best days I’ve had with the family are the simple ones.

Swimming then home for pizza.

A day in the park.

Walking in the woods and doing a treasure hunt.

Making Christmas cookies or Christmas crafts on a rainy day.

When you splash money on an activity it adds pressure to it. Pressure for everyone to feel well, be happy, and in good moods.

Going to the park then for a hot chocolate will set you back less than £15 and will be much less stressful than queuing for ages to see Santa or dragging them around a light trail that looks amazing on Instagram… but we know the reality.

Don’t book the lights trail

Just a little more on the above point. Leave the lights trail if you have young kids.

The timings are always off. Kids are tired, hungry. They won’t want to walk. They’ll be cold even if they’re bundled up.

This isn’t just based on my experience. Yep, people on Instagram post lovely pictures under a tunnel of lights with smiling kids, but is this the reality?

For me, it’s not worth the £50-100.

Instead, find out where the best streets are in your local area and take a walk or drive around them.

See your friends next year

The world doesn’t end on 31st December. You don’t have to arrange Christmas drinks with EVERYONE, or anyone!

You can see these people for a coffee in the New Year when life is less busy.

Family secret Santa

I love this idea.

Do a secret Santa with your close family members.

You could set your spend to say £30-50 and you’ll each get one decent gift. You can give lists or just leave your secret Santa to choose something themselves.

This Christmas budgeting hack will save you loads as you’ll buy one gift.

Save throughout the year in a high interest account

If you’re reading this in October, then it might be too late.

But, maybe for next year!

Save a set number each month in a savings account ready to spend in December.

Buy Christmas stuff after Christmas

Last year I did this for the first time. And 2024 me thanks 2023 me.

I got 15m of wrapping paper in the sale for 20p last year. I stored it in the loft with the Christmas decs.

Next year I’ll do this again for sure!

Bring a dish

If you host, ask everyone to bring a dish or a bottle. Otherwise you spend hours in the kitchen cooking and lots of money!