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It is no secret that at Christmas time we spend the most. It‘s the only time of the year where we, as a family, would go mad on the spending. However all the children get the same amount of money spent on their Christmas presents. It’s only fair in my opinion.
I consider myself organised for Christmas. The last thing I want, is being stressed out last minute. In November I make the Christmas wish list and ask the kids what they want for Christmas. We go through the Smyths catalogue and mark off what they are asking for. We are that family who creates a Google doc spreadsheet where each family member has its own tab.
REUSE WRAPPING PAPER
I write down the gifts they want, the price of it and a link to the website where to buy it from. I then add the cost of each present together and mark the gifts I have bought in green. This is the most efficient way in my opinion (I am German after all). Once I have bought all the presents, I sit down on an evening to wrap them all. It’s a good idea to reuse wrapping paper from last year to save a few quid.
ARTIFICIAL TREE VERSUS REAL TREE
In Germany we generally don’t put up the Christmas tree until Christmas Eve. We pick up a real Christmas tree in the nearest shop that sells them. My granddad used to cut the stem so it would fit into the stand. Since living in Ireland, we have only ever had an artificial tree. Some people prefer the real smell of the tree and so like to spend a bit more on one every year. However if you get an artificial tree, you can save a few hundred Euro. A good real tree would be sixty Euro.
BLACK FRIDAY SALES
Most of my Christmas shopping is done mid to end of November. The last Friday in November is known for Black Friday. A lot of businesses are actually starting sales during that week and it could last up to two weeks. If you need to buy presents for children, then I would suggest you look out for the Smyths vouchers which gives you money off if you spend 50 or 100 Euro. I saved 20 Euro last week using this.
Morses Club have released a Christmas saving survey which shows how people are budgeting this Christmas as well as how to save a few quid. Morses Club offer Christmas loans (Representative 466.37% APR) which could help you out this year.
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