Christmas saving tips: How to celebrate without breaking the bank

With the holiday season and Christmas looming, expenses may be rapidly adding up in the form of gifts, more social events, new decorations, festive food and holiday travel plans. 

However, the rising cost of living being seen in several countries at the moment, along with higher interest rates, has meant that consumers have less disposable income to spend on Christmas and other festivities. What can be done?

Christie Cook, managing director of retail at Hodge Bank, said in an email: “In an ideal situation, we’d all like to be entering autumn with money set aside for Christmas and the costly festive season. But with rising energy and domestic bills and cost of living concerns this year, more of us than ever might be feeling unprepared and are yet to save for December’s higher outgoings.”

As such, these Christmas savings tips can go a long way in helping celebrate without breaking the bank. 

How can people better save for Christmas?

One of the best ways to better save for Christmas, is starting as early as possible and putting aside some money every payday, especially if you’re paid monthly.

Cook pointed out: “It’s a great idea to start saving in advance – not only is it a sensible option when looking long-term towards next Christmas, but if you have a lump-sum to save it will allow you to take advantage of 1-year fixed term ISAs [Individual Savings Account] and reap the benefits of interest rates.

“If you were to open a fixed rate ISA now, then you’ll be able to access your savings this time next year, which is the perfect time to start shopping for Christmas 2025.

“Alternatively, you could open an easy access savings account and by putting away £50 (€60.08) a month, that’ll give you £600 (€720.93) next Christmas plus any accumulated interest on the way.”

Consistently tracking expenses and setting firm spending limits during the holiday period can also be useful ways to stay within a budget. Using cash or a debit card instead of a credit card can also help a lot with this, providing better visibility on how much money is left, while also avoiding high interest rates. 

Similarly, starting to shop for gifts earlier in the year can go a long way in helping cut costs during the end of the year, as shoppers may be able to find far better deals throughout the year. 

This is especially true if consumers take the time to leisurely compare prices, products and websites, instead of giving in to last-minute stressful shopping at higher prices. Using cashback sites can also provide some savings. 

Shoppers who waited until Black Friday or Cyber Monday to do the bulk of their Christmas and holiday shopping were also more at risk of getting scammed, and not having much time to recover from the damage. 

Repurposing or selling old Christmas decorations can also help save money, as can making your own decorations. 

Apart from gifts, Christmas dinner can be one of the biggest expenses. However, portion planning well in advance, using online food calculators can go a long way in reducing food wastage and over-buying. 

Buying smaller, frozen turkeys can be cheaper than buying fresh ones. Similarly, cooking only the favourites, instead of a number of overlooked sides, can also slash costs and mean less waste. This can be done by having a Christmas potluck too, which could also take the pressure of hosting and cooking off any one person or family. 

What Christmas shopping trends are being seen in 2024?

One of the biggest Christmas shopping trends being seen this year is shoppers wanting to save as much as possible on holiday spending, and being savvier about deals and shopping. This includes hunting out local deals, being more active in early sales, and looking for ways to cut down on food costs. 

Vericast’s 2024 Holiday Retail TrendWatch report, which surveyed 1,000 US respondents, found that 38% of people expressed interest in receiving discounts and deals that can help slash holiday shopping costs. 27% were also interested in learning about local deals. 

Prioritising gifts for themselves during Christmas shopping is also a major trend being seen this holiday season. 41% of consumers intend to splash out on gifts for themselves this year, even if it means having to spend less on other things, including gifts for others, according to Vericast’s 2024 Holiday Retail TrendWatch report. 

Physical gifts are still trumping experience gifts this year, although the latter has picked up pace recently. This could be mainly because of experience gifts such as a spa day, or a holiday often potentially ending up being more expensive than a physical gift. 

Shoppers are also more interested in using artificial intelligence (AI) to help them find better, more personalised gifts, with digital wish lists also being popular shopping tools. Mobile shopping is also expected to increase this holiday season.

Another trend that is being seen is shoppers being much more willing to reassess their gifting strategies and exchange gifts mostly with close family and friends, instead of with extended family and colleagues, in an attempt to keep costs low. 

Similarly, more people are also reconsidering the number of people they host for Christmas, the number of items cooked, and how many holiday parties and events they plan. 

How much do people ideally spend on Christmas?

In the UK, the average Christmas spend per person is around £767.54 (€922.85), according to Hodge Bank. In contrast, in 2023, German consumers spent about €166, whereas in France, the average Christmas spend per head was approximately €159, according to Foxintelligence. 

Italian consumers spent about €117 on Christmas, with Spanish consumers shelling out the lowest amongst major Western European economies, at €95 per head. 

However, the amount that people spend on Christmas can vary widely depending on several factors like how they are planning to celebrate, their financial situation, whether they have started planning early and much more. 

Cook explained: “Think about how much money you want to put away each month to better cope with the spending that comes with the festive season. This is relative to income and how much an individual usually spends on Christmas but one of my favourite recommendations is to use wish lists for presents to minimise unnecessary spending. 

“Using wish lists will allow you to stick to a plan, and not go off-piste with your shopping. Often, this could lead to gifting unwanted gifts, which ultimately is just a waste of your money and time.”

Remember: This information does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it’s right for your specific circumstances. We are a news website and aim to provide the best guides, tips and advice from experts. If you rely on the information on this page, then you do so entirely at your own risk.