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There are now fewer than 100 days until Christmas Day. But if September 16 sounds too early for festive spirit, think again. With cost-of-living concerns and rising inflation top of mind, planning well ahead for Christmas will pay dividends this year. Here’s how.

If you think Christmas is getting more expensive, you’re not wrong.

Ahead of Christmas 2024, the average UK consumer expected to spend almost £600 on core related products and activities – food, gifts, decorations, socialising, travelling, and so on, according to a recent survey of British people’s Christmas shopping intentionsi

As it turned out, UK households spent more than ever.

Christmas sales were £13.8 billion – up 3.4% on the previous year over the four weeks to December 29 2024ii. And the cost of an average UK Christmas dinner surged by 6.5% year on year to £32.57 for four – pushed up by hefty price hikes for vegetables, especially.

While the average Christmas is costing more, however, yours doesn’t have to.

Consider keeping costs in check in some of the following ways:

Wrap up your budget

Start with how much you want and can afford to spend, set a budget, then stick to it. A quick check of what you spent on what in the run up to last Christmas can be a useful starting point to understand how much you will need.

Useful tools to help include ‘savings pots’ within the linked savings accounts, M, M Plus and Club M Saver. These can be individually named for a specific goal and tracked to see how close you are to achieving your goal by saving a little, regularly, to spread the cost.

Even if you can’t make regular deposits, consider a banking app with ‘round ups’ that automatically saves spare change when you spend. By rounding up debit card transactions to the nearest pound and transferring the difference to a designated savings account, you can save even when you’re spending.

Seasoned advice for the festive season

We don’t all spend, save, or shop the same. So, learn from what different age groups do best.

This year, for example, 80% of 18-24- year-olds and 79% of 25-34s plan to spend at least a quarter of their Christmas budget during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales period in late November when prices are cheaperiii. However, while Black Friday deals can be tempting, be wary of offers that seem too good to be true and shop only through trusted retailers.

And everyone should learn from parents, who typically shop one to two months earlier for Christmas than non-parents – taking time to find the best deals.

Sleigh your spending

Look for deals, pounce on discounts, and embrace ‘cashback shopping’.

Cashback websites pay you when you go through them to spend with retailers or providers and the sum ranges from pennies for groceries to tens and even hundreds of pounds for some mobile or broadband contracts. Many employers also offer schemes where you can buy gift cards for high street retailers at a discount.

Deal-stacking is all about combining multiple offers to maximise your savings. For example, you might start with a retailer’s Black Friday discount, then add a promo code for extra money off, and finally pay using a debit or credit card that offers cashback. Many banking apps now include cashback schemes where you earn a percentage back when shopping with selected retailers. By using these offers alongside existing sales and discount codes, you can effectively “stack” the deals. Just make sure to activate any cashback offers in your banking app before you shop, so you don’t miss out.

Get to know your freezer better, too. Christmas foods that freeze well include butter, meat joints, and some cheeses (like cheddar) as well as luxury items (like smoked salmon) – all worth buying early when on offer.iv

And if you’ve the space to store them, as soon as Christmas is done you can buy Christmas cards, wrapping paper, decorations and more at knock-down prices that can be set aside ready for next year – so long as you pop a note in the diary to remind you what you’ve done.

Don’t follow the herd

Resist social pressure to be either traditional or on trend. For many people, much of what we do each year is habit or because it’s what's expected rather than what we most enjoy.

Just because turkey is traditional doesn’t mean we have to have it. A slow-cooked joint can save on money and free time for fun away from the kitchen and consider whether you find yourself throwing out the same sorts of uneaten foods each year.

Re-imagine gifting. Embrace second-hand, for example. UK shoppers spent £2.05bn on ‘pre-loved’ gifts last Christmas, representing 10.2% of total UK Christmas gift sales – primarily driven by cost concernsv. And where you can, recycle.

Or get practical – 56% of 18-24s and 25-34s were looking forward to receiving practical or essential gifts rather than luxury items last Christmasvi.

Create new traditions

Giving your time can be a deeply meaningful and appreciated gesture. Whether it’s to do something for someone else or for a shared experience, the lasting memories this can create are truly priceless.

Remember, Christmas is just one day, and the most important thing is time spent together. How you spend that time is down to you and only you.

So, don’t do the same old, same old just because you always do. Prioritise what you and yours will most value and enjoy. Year by year Christmas is getting costlier, yes. But with imagination, an open mind and a little planning, it doesn’t have to cost the earth.

Keywords

Mastering moneyBudgetChristmas  Tips  Shopping  Budget