The thrifty mums’ guide to Christmas shopping the savvy way

OK so the months of August, September and even October are too early to start thinking about Christmas, right? We should leave any thoughts of presents, mince pies and carols well out of our head until at least after Bonfire Night, shouldn’t we?

The cost of Christmas certainly isn’t getting any cheaper, especially if you’ve got children whose Christmas lists seem to grow in length and value with each passing year. For many families who have quite a tight disposable income all year round the additional expenses at Christmas can leave them paying off steep debts and horrific levels of interest well into the New Year. To help prevent the dread of the credit card bill arriving in January, it makes sense to start Christmas shopping early and spread out the costs well in advance.

Spread the costs by Christmas shopping early

In this sense starting to think and preferably shop for all those presents, decorations, drinks, games, clothes and general excesses Christmas demands, early and getting little bits ‘ticked off’ each month will dissipate the costs and mean that mums won’t be forced to hover close to the ‘Red’ come December.

Bag yourself a bargain

Unless you are brave enough to leave the Christmas shopping right until the death, namely on Christmas Eve, shopping for the festive season during November and December is unlikely to involve any sales. By contrast, sales are usually present during the late-summer and early autumn so why not take advantage by getting a few presents bought when the sales are in full swing.

Start saving now

It’s never too late to start saving. In order to secure your brood’s Christmas wishes and make sure that no one in the family goes without this Christmas without having to borrow any money, start saving for Christmas today.

Simple things like refraining from buying that cup of coffee on your lunch break or cutting out the pub on a Friday night and putting the money in a Christmas fund jar will mean that by the time December arrives, you’ll have saved enough money to at least buy the turkey.

Shop online

Instead of trawling from shop to shop searching for a specific toy, a Christmas tree or an artificial snowmen, why not shop online from the luxury of your own home?  Not only is ecommerce retail therapy more convenient but every thrifty mum will know that it can work out cheaper.

Think about it, shopping from your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone eradicates the need for petrol money or a bus or train fare to reach the shops. So depending on how far you live away from the shops, you’ll immediately have a few extra pounds in your pocket.

Not only this but shopping online means that you can take advantage of the price comparison sites and really scrutinise prices in order to secure the best price.

Being more convenient and infinitely less time consuming than spending hours trawling the high street shops, by doing your Christmas shopping online you’ll free up time to spend working and making money – it’s a win-win situation.

Christmas Trees and Lights is an online store that sells a myriad of Christmas-related products, including decorations, crackers and lights. Real savvy thrifty mum shoppers will take advantage of Christmas Trees and Lights summer sale, which ends at the end of August.