I’m a cash-savvy mum – here’s where you can bag £250 gifts for £25, and four other tips to slash Christmas costs

IT whitethorn look similar summertime conscionable ended - but Christmas is little than 100 days away.

Although this clip of festivities is expected to bring america each unneurotic and bask much-needed clip with our loved ones, for galore cash-strapped households December besides comes with financial pressure.

The sentiment that you should lone bargain the champion of the champion and the latest of the latest was besides evident successful a survey conducted past year, wherever the mean spending per caput ranged from conscionable beneath £700 successful the North East - to an eye-watering £973 successful London, Statista showed.

Data by MoneySuperMarket paints a akin representation - the mean outgo of Christmas roseate to £1,811.70 per household past year, which is much than 80% of the mean monthly income.

Plenty of parents consciousness truthful overmuch pressure, chiefly owed to social media, that they've ended recovered themselves successful hefty debts astir Christmas.

As we're fast-approaching the astir peculiar clip of the year, 1 cash-savvy mum-of-four, Casey Major-Bunce, has revealed 5 ways to slash the costs - and however to dainty your small 1 with a posh Xbox adjacent erstwhile you can't spend it.

The influencing parent, amended known to her 693k Instagram followers arsenic The Queen of Hacks, spilled the beans connected everything to cognize - from festive cards to purse-friendly deals.

Décor galore

No Christmas Eve and Day is implicit without the main centrepiece - the Christmas tree.

As festive play ace fans - and garden centres crossed the UK - are already decking their homes, you whitethorn privation to commencement looking for the one already.

But with prices for an artificial histrion averaging astatine astir £60 to £70, Casey advised to champion cheque retired immoderate second-hand offers online.

The money-smart mum, whose Big Book of Major Mum Hacks is launching successful March adjacent year, said: ''Facebook Marketplace is your champion mate!

''You tin find immoderate superb trees for a fraction of the price, and don’t forget—you tin flog your aged 1 connected determination too.

''Trust me, radical are ever aft a bargain, particularly astir the festive season.''

Fancy a cheeky bauble makeover but don’t privation to splash the cash?

Casey, whose hacks person been liked by everyone from Stacey Solomon to the cleanfluencer Mrs Hinch, besides had thing to connection to the trade lover.

''Here’s a hack I curse by: drawback a inexpensive battalion of balloons successful your desired colour, snip disconnected the top, and wrapper them implicit your existing baubles. Voila!'' she said, chatting to Fabulous.

''Instant transformation. I did this a fewer years agone erstwhile I switched from golden to pink, and it looked fab!''

Bagging the champion - for the least

From mince pies to scented candles, the shops are dilatory getting filled with each things festive - including gifts.

Whether you're aft toys for your small ones oregon a marque caller perfume for that peculiar someone, Casey had 1 regularisation - to '' store around''.

Spilling the beans connected bagging the champion deal, the mum-of-four said: ''PriceRunner is simply a lifesaver here. Just popular successful the artifact oregon gadget you’re aft and it’ll comparison prices for you, truthful you cognize you're getting the champion deal.''

The terms examination site, which claims to ever beryllium ''on your broadside arsenic a consumer'', offers the work with implicit 5.8 cardinal products and offers from adjacent to 7,000 retailers.

Portsmouth-based Casey, who had her archetypal kid astatine the property of 19, went on: ''Speaking of deals, Black Friday is simply a goldmine... astir of the time. But don’t beryllium fooled by dodgy discounts.

''Some shops are sneaky and hike the terms up beforehand to marque it look similar a bigger saving.

''A bully instrumentality is to screenshot the point you privation successful the weeks earlier and support it successful a abstracted medium connected your phone. That mode erstwhile Black Friday hits, you tin cheque if it’s a due bargain.

''Last twelvemonth I had my oculus connected thing that claimed £200 disconnected but successful reality, it was lone £25!''

The cash-savvy parent, who utilized to get brutally trolled for ''wasting her life'' arsenic a teen mum, besides urged families to not slumber connected second-hand goodies.

She told The Sun: ''Check foundation shops and online for pre-loved gifts. We snagged my girl a Frozen Elsa castle for £50 alternatively of £250—and it was already built!

''Wrapped it up, and she was conscionable arsenic excited, if not more, due to the fact that we didn’t walk fractional the time trying to enactment it together!''

It's enactment time!

What's Christmas without the festive feast, tipple and and guests having a jolly time?

Although hosting a enactment tin beryllium fun, the costs rapidly rack up, particularly erstwhile determination are snacks, appetisers, mulled wine involved.

But alternatively of asking guests to bring a bottle, Casey advised to effort a antithetic petition this twelvemonth - to bring a platter.

''Get each impermanent to bring a dish—nibbles, blistery food, desserts—sorted by letters of the alphabet.

''You’ll prevention a fortune, and your sanity, by not having to provender the full assemblage yourself.''

Cards and traditions

As overmuch arsenic we emotion sending - and receiving - adorable festive cards with a Santa design, the postage costs are oftentimes higher than the cards themselves.

The societal media hack queen revealed however to prevention wealth - without ditching the Christmas essential.

''Consider e-cards to prevention connected stamps, oregon if you’re inactive going traditional, manus them retired successful idiosyncratic erstwhile you spot people. Much cheaper than posting them!''

Casey went on: ''Family traditions don’t person to outgo an limb and a limb either. Loads of radical splash retired connected the panto for Christmas Eve, and with tickets going for £50-£100 a pop, it adds up fast.

''Why not commencement a new, budget-friendly contented similar cooky decorating oregon Christmas slime-making instead?''

Pricey gifts connected the cheap

If your small ones are asking for thing much costly, specified arsenic a PS5 oregon an Xbox, and you don't privation to fto them down, Casey advised ''to rally the troops''.

The mum-of-four revealed: ''We each chipped successful past twelvemonth for my son’s PS5—us, the grandparents, adjacent my brothers—and helium inactive got his imagination contiguous without america having to fork retired the afloat amount.

''For the under-fives, spot me, they’re much excited astir opening presents than what’s inside!

''Pop to your section bargain shops and prime up small bits and bobs—they’ll beryllium conscionable arsenic happy, and you’ll prevention a ton connected big-ticket items they’ll outgrow successful six months anyway.''

Casey wished: ''Simply redeeming a fantastic Christmas time!''