15 Christmas Money Saving Hacks You Need To Try

This list of money savings hacks you NEED to try this Christmas will give you ideas and inspiration on how to save a little money this Christmas, making it a less stressful time for you and your loved ones.

Do you find it overwhelming trying to save enough cash for Christmas presents, decorations, food, wine & other costs that seem to come up during December?

This comprehensive guide will give you everything you need - from saving money on gifts, making a little extra cash & putting your DIY skills to use.

Christmas can be a financially stressful time for many, however with a little planning and creativity, you can make less money go a lot further.

Why Should You Budget for Christmas?

Budgeting for Christmas allows you to enjoy the holiday season without the stress of added debt. Rather than spending all of your money (and more) on presents, decorations and other Christmas knick knacks, you can spend only what you need. This allows you to keep any leftover money to pay bills, get out of debt and build both emergency and long term savings.

How to Create a Christmas Budget

There are 5 EASY steps to follow in order to set-up your own Christmas budget:

1. Write down how much money you will make between now and Christmas (e.g. $1000)
2. List your ongoing expenses for a month: mortgage, rent, electricity, petrol, phone (e.g. $500)

3. Calculate your budget by subtracting your expenses from your income (e.g. $1000 - $500 = $500)

4. List all Christmas expenses and their costs - these may include presents for family, wine to take to dinners, groceries for Christmas meals, decorations, a Christmas tree, wrapping paper etc. Add up all of the costs.

5. If your Christmas list costs more than your budget, go through and cull the money wasters using the tips in this blog post! Ask yourself which are the 'essentials' and which are the 'nice to haves.'

Money Saving Hacks

1. Use Old Gift Cards

Do you have any unused gift cards from last Christmas sitting around? If you aren't planning to use it for yourself, there's nothing wrong with using it to buy gifts. That way the gift card doesn't go to waste and it is a money win for you!

2. Try Cashback Sites

Cashback sites, as the name suggests, give you money if you purchase certain products. Be careful to only use this for items you were already planning on purchasing, rather than buying items just because they are 'cheaper' than usual.

3. Shop Early

Shops tend to inflate prices as demand goes up closer to Christmas. If you start planning what you want to buy earlier in the year, you can wait until the item goes on sale to buy it.

4. Make Your Own Gifts

If you can't afford to get some people gifts, make something. Create a photobook, decorate a photo frame or even look up a recipe for bath salts. If you are stuck for ideas, head to Pinterest for an endless list of DIY inspiration.

5. Create a Gift Basket

Put together a bespoke collection of items to create the ultimate hamper for any occasion. Some ideas to get you started:

Movie Night In Hamper - popcorn, chocolate, wine & DIY 'movie night in' voucher
Spa Night Hamper - face mask, cleanser, hand cream, candle, chocolates
Baking Hamper - put all of the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies (or any other dessert) into glass jars you have at home and print out the recipe.
Games Night Hamper - all their favourite snacks + game (you can get this from a second hand store or find a cheap one)

👉 Pro Tip: A lot of these items you can get from the dollar store or make yourself! Once again, Pinterest is the place to be for creative hamper ideas.

6. Give an IOU

Make a voucher for an experience to do together. This could be for a movie night in, picnic at the park or brunch at home. The benefit of this is that it postpones spending until January.

👉 Pro Tip: Gift a friend an experience such as a movie night at your place or picnic at the park. You can create a voucher for this in Canva (for free)!

7. Homemade Christmas Cards

Does anyone ACTUALLY keep store bought Christmas cards longer than a month? And if you are one of those people that keep them, when is the last time you read through them? Spending money on a piece of paper that's folded in half is a money waster! Especially when you can make them yourself for free!

👉 Pro Tip: Use the free version of Canva to make professional looking Christmas cards in less than 5 minutes!

8. Secret Santa

Would you rather receive 5 random items that cost $30 that you probably won't use or one bigger present that's $60 that is something that's better quality? The great things about doing a Secret Santa with friends or family is that it's a win-win, you save money (since you only buy for 1 person) and everyone gets a better present!

👉 Important: This tip is as an alternate idea for people you would already be buying presents for. I am not suggesting you organise Secret Santa's with all your different groups of friends.

9. Price Comparison Sites

Make sure you are getting the absolute BEST deal on your purchases by using a price comparison site. There are loads of them out there so you should find one easily with a quick Google search.

10. DIY Wrapping Paper

in my opinion, this is a contender for the biggest waste of money at Christmas. Not only this, but it's going straight into landfill! Save some money buy using old newspaper & twine OR brown paper - which you can get here for $5.

11. Buy Second Hand Items

You can purchase second hand items - sometimes barely used - from a charity shop, Facebook marketplace or eBay. This also helps reduce waste by gifting a pre-loved item.

12. Gift Your Time

Gifting your time is such an underrated gift. Ideas on how you could do this:

1. Offer to babysit their kids for free
2. Offer to cook a meal
3. Offer to pet sit
4. Offer a specialised service - it's time to lean into your skills. Know how to do hair, make-up, fix a car, repair an appliance?

13. Celebrate Christmas Later

Obviously this is not for everyone but definitely something to consider if you are celebrating with a small group of people and can be a bit flexible. Christmas decorations, food and gifts are so much cheaper after the 25th of December.

14. Shop Online

Shopping in stores can be stressful and can result in you making impulse purchases. If you add exactly what you need to your online shopping cart, you aren't rushed to make purchases and can wait for the best deals on those items.

👉 Pro Tip: Write a physical Christmas shopping list and cross off each item as you purchase.

15. Skip the Turkey

Instead of cooking a big turkey or ham, find a cheaper meat to save some extra money.

It's crucial when trying to save money during the festive season, to stop comparing your Christmas to others and come up with new traditions that work for you & your budget.

Know someone else that needs this too? Please share!