Those of you who are super organised will have already started buying your Christmas gifts in the recent sales or even in the Boxing day sales of last year.
I am not that organised, plus I like the feeling of Christmas shopping near Christmas, the fresh cold air on my face, the regular stops for refuelling with coffee or mulled wine.
But this year like a lot of people I’m sure, there doesn’t seem to be as much in the Christmas money sack so to speak. Lots of aspects of my life seem to be costing more; the two main ones for me are petrol and food shopping. So today I wanted to share some tip on saving money for Christmas.
Here are a few ideas to help you (and me) save a few more pennies and raise a few pounds hopefully so the festive season isn’t as financially painful.
Sell stuff on eBay
The big ones for me here are DVD’s Blue Rays and Clothes. We have become fairly strict with excess in these areas and they are easy to sell on eBay- a low starting price encourages more bids, but please do weigh your items before listing them so you know how much they’ll cost. I’ve been caught out a few times with silly guestimations.
Offer a service to friends and/family
Babysitting, ironing, window cleaning, weeding, washing the car, doing the weekly shop, how to use the internet lessons…. What can you offer for a small fee?
Set yourself a daily money saving challenge
This 365 day money saving challenge makes saving super easy, ending with a decent amount of cash- for little effort. Literally 1p on the first day, 2p on the second, 10p on the tenth day, and so on until £3.65 on the last day. I’ve printed out the printable from Amelia’s site and pinned it on our noticeboard type area. I’ve even bought a massive savings tin each for the Mr and I. Lets do this!
Saving your caffeine fix
This one is more for those who work at a specific location and have to commute, like my other half. We worked out that some days he was spending £10-£15 on coffee (rounds of coffee, not always him drinking it all)!! But he does need his fix… So now he has an insulated coffee cup for his drive into work AND a massive Thermos king flask of coffee (1.2 litres!!). He loves it- RESULT!
Meal planning
Initially this involves several lists but is so worth it when saving money… Here’s how;
- Make a list of everything in your cupboards, fridge and freezer.
- Make another list- a meal list.Ask the family or those you live with what their favourite meals are is a good starting point. Try to get about 20 meals on your meal list.
- Choose seven for the week ahead. Then try and match up what you already have with the meals on your list.
- Make another list (!!!) which is your shopping list. Fill in the gaps in ingredients that you’ve discovered from your detective work and voila you have a shopping list and a meal plan for the next seven days.
Once you’ve done this a couple of times it gets really easy and you don’t need to constantly stock take what you already have in. This way you wont go spending money you don’t have, when you are panicking about whats for tea on Friday afternoon. It also minimises the risk of food going to waste.
If I’m being really thrifty then I do my food shop online and have it delivered, that way I avoid the temptation of all the delectable treats at the supermarket and save on petrol money!
Sell Gold
Worth it if you’ve odds and ends or jewellery and mismatched earrings. I’ve an awful habit of having lovely earrings, only to lose one of them- rendering the other one pretty much useless.
Go vegan
I’m not vegan but I do this a fair amount of the time and it really does save money significantly. As regular readers will know I don’t eat dairy or eggs anyway so a vegetarian diet wouldn’t suit. Vegan does though and there are some fantastic recipe books out there. Lentils are full of protein and I’ll make a soup once or twice a week and freeze the excess so there is also no reason to buy convenience meals either, which are a daft expense when you’ve got home-made and wholesome food at home.
I really hope these ideas about saving money will help you feel more comfortable with the run up to Christmas! What are your ways to save the pennies?
susan earlam ~ horror author 