Christmas 2022: budgeting tips to save money on gifts, food and travel
Half of shoppers are looking to spend less this Christmas, thanks to budgets being squeezed by the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Research from market research firm Kantar found that one in three shoppers who intend to spend less will cut gift budgets for close family and friends by more than £25 a person.
Further to this, around half of respondents said they are worried about Christmas.
With this in mind, Which? rounds up ways to save money on presents, food and travel in the festive period, and the best ways to budget.
You can use the links below to jump to each section:
- Tips to budget for Christmas
- Ways to save on presents
- Cut down on food costs
- How to make travelling cheaper
Tips to budget for Christmas
Setting a budget early will stop you overspending, and can help you save money. Some of these ideas might need to be saved until next year, but it's not too late to put some saving plans into action now.
Try budgeting apps to keep on top of spending
If you have multiple bank accounts, it can be hard to keep track of your outgoings, but there are apps that could help you get a better overview.
Some apps have been specifically designed to help with budgeting, such as Money Dashboard and Snoop. With these, you can see all your accounts in one place, helping you to identify spending you can cut down on.
Some banking apps also have features that make it easier to stay on top of bills. For example, Starling Bank offers Bills Manager which allows you to set aside money each month just for your bills so you ensure you don't fall short.
Getting a better handle on your essential outgoings can make it easier to see how much money is left to spend on Christmas.
- Find out more: best budgeting apps
Put money away with a savings challenge
For those that have followed the 1p challenge since the beginning of 2022 - where you save 1p on 1 January, 2p on 2 January, and so on - you should have around £450 set aside by now.
If you leave the cash alone, you'll have £668 by 31 December - but it could also provide a Christmas spending fund if you need it. If you didn’t take part in the challenge this year, think about it for 2023.
If you haven’t followed a savings challenge, see if you can try the Little Vices challenge in November to get a Christmas bonus. This involves cutting out any non-essential spending for a set period - so, if you currently fork out on a weekly takeaway and a daily coffee, you'd forgo these for a month and put what you've saved towards Christmas instead. For a £15 takeaway and £3 weekday coffee, there's the potential to save £120 over four weeks.
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Ways to save on presents
Kantar research found around 5% of shoppers have already bought Christmas presents this year, but if you're not one of them, there are lots of ways to reduce what you spend on gifts.
Sort your present strategy
When we asked people how they were planning on saving money this Christmas, many said they would be cutting down on presents. This might not be the worst thing considering last year one in four received an unwanted gift, according to Which? research.
You don’t have to give presents to all your friends and family - if money is tight, think about doing Secret Santa so everyone only has to buy one gift.
Some of you had other strategies in place. One Which? member told us they give their children 'one present they actually want, one present they need, something to wear and something to read'.
One of the most popular ways people were saving money on presents was not to buy any at all.
- Find out more: seven ways to turn your unwanted gifts into cash
Stick to your budget
If you are going to give a gift, make sure you get the best value for your money and stick to your budget.
If you're in need of ideas, we’ve created a Christmas gift guide with a selection of products at different prices to suit all budgets.
All gift ideas have been tried and tested by our experts and performed well in our tests. Some have earned our Great Value recommendation, but you’ll need to read our full product reviews to find out which picks are Best Buys.
Shop around and compare prices
If you know what gift you want to buy, make sure you compare and track the price.
Websites such as Google Shopping, PriceRunner, PriceSpy, Kelkoo can help compare product prices from online retailers, to see where you can get the best deal. For Amazon products, CamelCamelCamel tracks product prices over time, allowing you to see whether its sale price is actually offering you a bargain. They work best if you’ve already narrowed down your search to specific items or models.
If you've got children to buy for, we’ve also analysed which website is cheapest for Christmas toys, and listed toy sales on offer in UK supermarkets.
Hunt down discount codes
If you’ve got your eye on a particular purchase, signing up to a retailer mailing list could net you discounts – from introductory offers, to personalised codes that appear in your inbox if you abandon your shopping cart. Some retailers also offer discounts if you refer a friend.
Elsewhere, Coupert and Pouch are free online shopping tools that offer to automatically find and apply discount vouchers to your basket, so could be worth a try.
- Find out more: seven costs you can cut today
Get cashback on your shopping
You can earn money back on purchases if you choose to make them using a cashback credit card. Just remember to pay back your full balance each month to avoid cashback gains being wiped out by interest charges.
Some debit card providers also offer cashback. Chase, for example, pays 1% cashback on everyday debit card spending for the first year after opening your account. Other providers have cashback offers with specific retailers - it's worth checking your provider's app to see if there are deals before you spend.
Alternatively, shopping via a cashback site such as Quidco and TopCashback could be worthwhile - just make sure you click through via the cashback site link before making your purchase, or else it won't be registered.
- Find out more: cashback sites explained
Buy second-hand
Second-hand selling sites such as Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Depop and Vinted are a great way to save money on gifts.
Alternatively, you could try looking for gifts in local charity shops, or check out car boot sales.
If you want to earn some extra cash for Christmas, you can also try selling some of your own items.
- Find out more: where to buy and sell second hand online
Get creative
As an alternative to buying a gift, why not try making one? After all, it’s the thought that counts.
You can get gift inspiration from places such as Pinterest, and watch tutorials on how to make just about anything on YouTube and TikTok.
For example, you could try tie dying some socks or T-shirts to give them a new lease of life. Or try making some of your own festive decorations - you can make a great homemade snow globe using just pine cones, old jars and glitter.
You might also be able to get free craft materials on neighbourhood apps, such as Olio and Freecycle.
Use Which? to prepare for Black Friday
Black Friday sales can offer some great discounts, but sadly not all Black Friday 'deals' you see advertised are good ones.
At Which?, our experts track product prices throughout the year, which means we are able to cut through the retailers' spin and bring you the deals we consider to be genuinely good value.
Our Black Friday insider's guide pages will highlight the best deals we've found, along with guidance on how to avoid the duds.
- Find out more: best Black Friday deals 2022 - what to expect this year
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Cut down on food costs
The cost of festive feasts can really add up, especially with prices rising steeply for certain food items, but there are ways to cut the cost of your Christmas dinner and avoid getting stuck with excess food waste.
Plan ahead
Pre-planning meals and writing a list of exactly what you need is one of the best ways to save money.
It should help you stick to buying the essentials where possible, and reduce waste, too. The earlier you plan, the more time you'll have to compare prices in different shops, and possibly buy what you need in stages to spread the cost. For example, any tinned or frozen products could be bought weeks before you need to use them.
- Find out more: how to spend less at the supermarket
Choose a cheaper supermarket
Each month, we track the price of 48 popular groceries, including Heinz baked beans, milk and tea bags, at the UK's biggest supermarkets to see how they compare.
In September, Aldi was the cheapest supermarket overall, with our shop costing £75.61, on average, beating rival discounter Lidl by £1.84.
The same shop at Waitrose was £99.40, on average, making it £23.79 more expensive than Aldi.
While the cost of your Christmas food will vary, this shows it can be worth trying out different stores to see if you can cut down on what you would usually spend.
- Find out more: supermarket price comparison
Make the most of loyalty schemes
Coupons, vouchers and reward points can help your money go further.
For coupons, check supermarket magazines and newsletters, promotions on food packaging, websites such as SuperSavvyMe and CaringEveryday, and money-saving apps such as Shopmium and Checkoutsmart.
Then there are supermarket-specific offers, most of which tend to reward loyal customers. As well as Sainsbury's Nectar and Tesco's Clubcard, there is also Asda Rewards, Iceland Bonus and Lidl Plus, which offer savings and discounts - not to mention schemes offered by retailers like Boots, Superdrug and Paperchase.
Some even have special Christmas discounts. For example, members of My Morrisons can sign up to its Christmas Collector scheme, giving eligible shoppers money-off vouchers if they spend in store and online at least four of the weeks leading up to Christmas. The voucher can be spent between 12 December and 3 January.
Elsewhere, Tesco’s Clubcard Christmas Savers Scheme offers a bonus voucher of up to £12 when you use your vouchers towards your big Christmas shop.
A reminder that if you have a Sainsbury’s Bank credit card and use it to earn Nectar points, the amount of points you earn have now been slashed. You'll earn just one Nectar point for every £2 spent at Sainsbury’s, a reduction from its previous offer where you earned two points for every £1 spent.
- Find out more: loyalty schemes compared
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How to make travelling cheaper
Travelling to visit family or friends during the Christmas period can be expensive, but planning in advance is the best way to save money.
Buy train tickets in advance
If you're planning to travel by train, you can usually book advance train fares up to 12 weeks before you intend to travel. This means most rail firms have already released tickets for the Christmas period.
As a tip for next year - set yourself a reminder to check for advance Christmas train tickets from the end of September at the latest - some firms release tickets even earlier than 12 weeks in advance.
Once you're able to book, it's also cheaper to travel during off-peak times if you can, and also see if you can cut your fare by splitting your ticket.
- Find out more: how to find cheap train tickets
Find the cheapest petrol
If you're planning to drive, avoid using premium pumps at the petrol station - super-unleaded fuel can be 10p to 15p per litre more expensive than other products.
The price of petrol and diesel can vary dramatically across the UK. Comparison site Confused.com compares prices at forecourts, and can be used to find cheaper options near you.
It may also be worth trying to fill up your tank when you go food shopping, as our research into fuel costs has previously found that supermarkets offer cheaper prices. This can be even more worthwhile if you can take advantage of supermarket reward schemes.
For instance, Sainsbury's and Tesco let Nectar and Clubcard holders earn points at participating Esso service stations.
- Find out more: 11 ways to save on transport costs
This article was first published on 28 October 2022. It was updated on 9 November to add details of Christmas loyalty scheme offers from Morrisons and Tesco.