Buying the bulk of my Christmas presents and food early has saved me a bundle ahead of the big day.
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Why I decided to do my Christmas shopping early
Hate how your local garden centre displays Christmas cards in August?
Fed up with the fact your supermarket was flogging mince pies in September?
This year I decided that if I couldn’t beat them I’d join them, so I did my Christmas shopping in October.
I’ve been looking out for Xmas bargains on and off all year.
Money is tight as we have a toddler and only one of us works full-time. Last year I left things too late and panic-bought online. In the rush, it’s easy to overspend.
So here’s how I went about starting early – and saving.
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January sales: finding a tree
Creating a present list
Fortunately, I have just a small list to buy for, which makes life easier. Here is my list:
Mum, Dad, Hubby, son Stellan (3), mother-in-Law Kay, nephew Aidan (3), cousin Anthony (3), cousin Christian (1), god-daughter Phoebe & her sister Clara (13 & 10), friend’s daughter Zara (1) & son Zach (4).
I also have a number of birthdays in October and November to buy for, including my friend Allison’s daughters Chloë and Juliette.
Financial Christmas gift ideas for your loved ones
Hit the discount stores and supermarkets
Beating the cost of postage
With the cost of stamps, sometimes it can be cheaper to buy online, especially if you get free postage.
This is an issue with my folks, who live in Ireland, and my American nephew.
Often I fork out more on airmail to the US than I did for the present so, for his birthday, I bought him a toy from Amazon.com with postage included.
This time around, I discovered the deadline for International Economy Postage to the US is Saturday, 13 October, so this meant I could send my package for £6.10 – slightly cheaper than I usually get stung for.
According to their Mum Vix, god-daughter Phoebe and her sister Clara love the £2 selection boxes I’ve got into a habit of buying them each year, so I’m sticking with this option for them and will save on postage by giving them to them ahead of Christmas.
Online deals
My bearded hubby is seriously into ‘mampering’ these days, so I headed online to voucher site Wowcher to grab a beard oil and conditioning set for £14.99 plus £2.79 postage, 63% down from £39.99.
I like to ask my folks what they want for Christmas – my Dad is very particular, so it just saves time.
But they had no idea what they wanted yet – this is the risk you take with buying early.
Fortunately, once again, Wowcher provided some ideas such as a £19 afternoon tea for two deal at Patisserie Valerie in Belfast (down from £25).
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Food & drink: bought what I can early
Food can be a bit trickier because not all things keep and you don’t necessarily want to decide what you’re having for Christmas dinner in July. But there are a few things I’ve stocked up on.
Booze can be a big expense so I used a £30-off voucher I’d got from Majestic Wine to get a £100 case of 12 bottles of red for £70 – so £5.83 each.
Luckily, there was no delivery charge and no insistence we sign up to a monthly wine club.
On the beer front, my other half belongs to a brewing club and has started a brew in time for Christmas.
This means 40 pints of beer at around 60p a pint. Not bad!
I considered making a Christmas pudding again but decided that, given how long it takes to steam, it would be more economical to buy one.
Last year the Co-Op’s £3 Irresistible Christmas pud came third in a Which? trial of 10 puddings, trumping Waitrose and M&S’s offerings and beaten only by Aldi and Asda but cheaper than both at £6.61 per kilo (versus £11 for Aldi’s and £8.81 for Asda’s), so I got one. If you fancy making your own, why not try Mary Berry's Christmas pud recipe?
One thing I haven’t bought early is mince pies. While I probably will be eating some in November, I don’t want to buy things that might go off too early or risk getting squashed/chewed up by the dog.
I have mincemeat made by Auntie Toria at our Hertford Food Swap ready to make my own pies and, with most of my shopping done I might have the time to do it this year.
Plus, as my husband grows his own we have carrots, potatoes and parsnips in the ground ready for Christmas too.
How much am I saving?
So far, I think we have saved nearly £250 by buying early.
The one present we haven’t decided on yet is Stellan’s main Christmas pressie.
We think we want to get him a bike – I have my eyes on a £99 Batman bike in Argos – but we’re not sure yet, so this one needs a bit more thinking through.
However, the savings we’ve made on the other presents and food will cover it.
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Verdict: is buying early worth it?
You also beat the crowds at the check-out, get organised and minimise panic buying. Of course, the risk you take is that things could be cheaper closer to the big day.
Often the high street retailers panic that footfall is low and slash their prices in the run-up to Christmas – and of course Black Friday is still to come – so I could be missing out on these discounts.
But, overall, I think buying early has given me the peace of mind that the bulk is done and that the cost of Christmas shopping is spread out and hopefully won’t come back to haunt me and my credit card come January.
What do you think? Are you also an early shopper, or has the thought of Christmas hardly crossed your mind? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.