It's 100 days to Christmas! Yup, you read that right. So, while late summer is still in the air, it's time to think about spreading the cost of Christmas to avoid festive money panic. Here's what you need to know:
New research reveals that around a fifth of UK adults have already started shopping for Christmas, and we're all planning to spend big. The AmexTrendex research shows that UK parents are planning to spend £420 typically on festive gifts in total for all their children this year, £367 on other family members, and around £239 on their partner or spouse.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also show that, on average, families spend £1000+ on presents, food, decorations and going out during the festive period.
Yet, with more than two in five people (42%) saying they struggle to budget for Christmas and a YouGov poll revealing that more than one in four people (28%) will struggle to afford Christmas this year, here are our best ways to start saving early and make your Christmas affordable and stress-free.
Saving and budgeting early:
- Enables you to budget your Christmas costs around three paydays, making it easier to avoid debt.
- Gives you more time to shop, allowing you to save money by accessing as many discounts, sales, and flash sales as possible.
- Stops you from panic-buying and helps you track your spending to avoid a large credit card bill at the start of 2026.
- Gives you time to make savings. For example, saving just £5 a day from today ( a lunchtime meal deal) will provide you with £500 to spend over Christmas.
- Reduces holiday stress - eliminate the panic of last-minute shopping and the anxiety that comes with financial pressure.
Strategic money-saving tips:
The number one way to save money is to implement what's known as a strategic money-saving technique. Similar to going on a fitness kick, this means working out your spending triggers and dealing with them before you do anything.
To help, ask yourself these six questions:
- Are you someone who is enticed to buy via social media and by influencers, especially when you are bored?
- Do you love Christmas so much that you feel compelled to go all out when you shop?
- Do certain shops lead you to go way over your budget?
- Do you feel under pressure to keep up with the spending levels of family and friends?
- Are you lured in by the false urgency of festive marketing slogans such as 'limited time' or 'X amount of people are looking at this item'?
- Where are you more likely to overspend online or in-store?
Manage your spending triggers
If you answered yes to any of these, then it's worth addressing your triggers before you start saving. For instance, if social media on your phone is behind your extra spending, start by not having your debit and credit card details saved to your phone. Having to go and get your card physically gives you enough of a break to stop and think, especially on impulse buys.
Better still, put your phone in a different room to avoid doom scrolling. Research shows that social media significantly influences consumer behaviour, with 51% of us more inclined to make impulse purchases.
If you know certain shops or even Christmas itself make you spend more, avoid overly festive shops. For instance, Costco employs several strategies to encourage more spending, including free samples and a festive treasure hunt-like store layout that encourages exploration and unplanned buys.
Shift your money mindset
Finally, just like successful healthy living, saving money requires shifting from a restrictive mindset to sustainable lifestyle changes. Here's how to apply proven diet psychology to money-saving:
1. The "calorie counting" approach: Track every purchase for a week (like logging food) to identify your spending patterns. Most people are shocked by how much they spend on small daily purchases. Just like people underestimate how much they eat, we underestimate our expenses by an average of £75 per week, the equivalent of £3,900 a year.
2. The "Meal Prep" Strategy: Plan your spending in advance, just like you would with meal prep. Set daily spending limits, and "prep" by putting exact cash amounts in envelopes for different categories.
3. The "80/20 Rule": Allocate 80% of your budget to necessities, savings and planned purchases, and reserve the remaining 20% for spending. This mirrors how healthy eaters eat well most of the time but allow occasional treats without guilt.
15 ways to spread the cost of Christmas:
Practically, the amount of money you can save in 100 days depends on your income and expenses, but the median amount saved each month in the UK is £180, meaning 50% of households save less and 50% save more.
According to this figure, it would mean saving £6 a day. That's running a high-wattage appliance such as a tumble dryer twice a day or more. £6 is also a takeaway coffee and a sandwich. A fizzy drink, a packet of crisps and a chocolate bar or two. All of which means it's relatively easy to save £180 a month or £540 by Christmas.
Here's what else will help you save money:
- Shop weekday mornings when stores are less crowded and you don't get caught up in a Christmas buying frenzy.
- When making a major purchase, time it around paydays when you have clearer budget visibility and are less likely to buy on credit.
- Use cash if you know you spend more using Google/Apple Pay or tap and pay.
- Become a Voucher Codes VIP and earn a £5 gift card for every two shops, up to five times per month, which is £25 of gift cards to spend on Christmas! Plus, you get VIP discounts and exclusive insider tips and tricks to save money.
- Avoid expensive festive extras like beauty advent calendars. These have become a huge trend on social media, and while they are lovely and often luxurious, they can take a hefty chunk out of your festive budget (think £75 to £250) in the months before Christmas.
- Consider a cashback debit card. These cards pay you every time you spend. For instance, Santander Edge Credit Card gives you 1% cashback on your everyday spending.
- Use Pricerunner to track the prices of items you're interested in, whether it's a Dyson Hair Wrap, a new phone, or clothes. Pricerunner compares prices from over 6,800 retailers and has 126,000,000 prices updated daily. You can set alerts for when the price drops and buy the item at its cheapest.
- Utilise marketplaces to find money-saving bargains. Sites like Vinted, Depop and eBay have a 'new with tags' filter that allows you to buy new goods at fantastic prices. Think clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery, books and more.
- For festive food items, consider generic or store brands or non-Christmas packaging, which can often be 20-30% cheaper than branded equivalents—for example, Christmas biscuits and sweets versus standard packaging and everyday biscuits.
- Check cashback apps (Top Cashback, Airtime Rewards) before you make any online purchase.
- Make daily micro savings. Save all £1 and £2 coins in a jar (can easily reach £200+ in 100 days). Round up every purchase to the nearest pound and save the difference (or use a round-up app).
- Use supermarket loyalty cards and coupons to save a significant amount of money on your festive shop, especially if you buy in advance and freeze items.
- Sell unused items around your home (clothes, electronics, books) to make extra money for Christmas. Tailor your sales for Christmas by selling autumn clothes, party dresses, accessories, and beauty items.
- Open a separate Christmas savings account to avoid temptation to spend, and add all your micro and weekly savings to this.
- Try what's known as the invisible bill method. Set up an automatic transfer that moves 10% of your regular bill payments to savings every time you pay a bill. For example, every time your £80 phone bill comes out, automatically transfer £8 to savings (10% of the bill amount). Do this for all your monthly bills - utilities, insurance, subscriptions, and expenditures to save extra money over three months.
Save money shopping on sales and Black Friday:
Between now and Christmas, to save more money, keep an eye out for flash sales, Black Friday deals, pre-Christmas deals, and other special offers. To save money on kids presents the big money-saving tip is to look out for supermarket toy sales, which always offer substantial money-saving deals:
- Argos, ASDA and Tesco are going live with their toy sale early this year on September 15th.
- Aldi's is on the 21st of September.
- Morrisons is on the 29th of September.
- Sainsbury's is in early October.
- Smyths Toys has a half-price toy sale from 3rd October.
Also, watch stores like Boots for their Christmas gifts going on sale, as from October onwards, you can grab their excellent 2-for-3 deals.
Also, some of the best deals happen on and around Black Friday. Last year, we spent an estimated £9 billion on Black Friday, with many of us taking advantage of significant discounts to make our budgets stretch further for Christmas.
Here's how to get the best out of Black Friday:
- Research regular prices 4-6 weeks before Black Friday using price tracking tools like CamelCamelCamel for Amazon.
- Create a specific wish-list with maximum prices you're willing to pay for each item, and stick to this list.
- Sign up for email alerts from all your favourite brands. These will give you access to the sales before the general public.
- Follow money-saving influencers on Instagram and TikTok for news of bargains, sales and money-saving deals that they spot before everyone else.
- Shop the outlets on Black Friday. You can make significant savings by opting for outlet stores such as Amazon Warehouse, Office outlet Offcuts, ASOS outlet and Molton Brown outlet.
- Check Cyber Monday for better electronics deals than Black Friday.
- Monitor prices on the Tuesday after Black Friday, as many retailers may quietly drop prices further to clear excess stock.
- Use incognito browsing mode on Black Friday to avoid dynamic pricing that increases based on your search history.
- Download store apps for early access to deals and app-exclusive offers.
- Use Reddit's r/deals community for crowd-sourced bargain hunting.
- Join Facebook groups and the Voucher Codes Facebook page for deal sharing and price error alerts.
- Shop Vinted on Black Friday, as users often offer their own discounts on items.
- If you are prone to overspending, set a total spending limit and bring only that amount on a prepaid card.
- Create a Black Friday shopping email. This keeps your primary inbox clean and avoids you being spammed (and enticed) by deals outside of Black Friday.
- Avoid purchasing extended guarantees for electrical items, as you may end up paying extra for faulty goods coverage that you're already entitled to under consumer law or the manufacturer's warranty.
If you've found this post helpful, check out our other money-saving posts: Counting costs not sheep | How to ease money worries, Low effort side hustles that pay out, and The best savings accounts.
