Three cracking Christmas ideas

Three cracking Christmas ideas that will enable you to cut the cost of Christmas without anyone realising you're economising.

As the editor of lovemoney.com, I love shouting about secret discounts and hidden bargains I find. I think nothing of proudly boasting that my wedding flowers were half-price, that (due to our Frugal Food blog) I never pay the full-price for a meal in a restaurant or that (using this sneaky trick) I always get £15 off my Ocado groceries every time I shop online.

But I have found that, especially at Christmas, even my closest friends and family get embarrassed when I tell them how hard I’ve shopped around to save myself money on their gifts. ‘Scrooge’ is apparently the word that springs to mind when they are forced to explain their distaste – even if I buy more presents as a result of the money I’ve saved. Spending indulgently (i.e. not sensibly), I was told by a friend recently, is what Christmas is all about. And that means being willing to pay full-price.

Or, being seen to be willing to pay full-price – but actually getting a discount. Here are three ways you can cut the cost of Christmas without anyone realising you’re secretly a Scrooge like me:

Champagne

There’s nothing I like better than quaffing a glass of top quality half-price champagne at Christmas. And of course, while I choose to tell my family and friends in great detail exactly how I managed to get it half-price, you can keep it completely secret. You’ll just need to perfect that nonchalant shrug as they cry out in amazement after the first glug.

So how do you get your hands on a bottle of cheap-but-expensive bubbly? There are often some very good offers on in the supermarket, so stock up there when you can.

But if you’re prepared to buy in bulk there is even better quality champagne to be found – half-price – online. I particularly like a site called nakedwines.com where you can currently get six bottles of Claude Baron champagne directly from the winemaker’s warehouse for £12.84 per bottle (instead of £25.99, which is what it will be sold for when it gets to the shops). Just be aware it takes around two weeks to arrive so you need to plan ahead.

Food

Every now and again, we conduct blind taste-tests here at lovemoney.com, where we taste lots of different supermarket brands out of their packet, having no idea what they are. And guess what? Whether it’s mince pies, sandwiches or steak pies we’ve consistently found that the food we’ve bought from Lidl has come top. Not only that but usually, the most expensive brands come bottom for taste – Marks & Spencer, for example, came at or near the bottom for all three tests!

So try popping into a deep-discounter to do some Christmas shopping this year, you might just be surprised by the quality and the prices. My local Lidl is selling my favourite Christmas branded chocolate - a box of Ferrero Rocher - for £2.25 (instead of £3.67) and a packet of Jacob’s biscuits as a BOGOF (buy one, get one free). And half-price Brussel sprouts too!

Just bear in mind you can save the most money in these supermarkets if you dare to buy brands you haven’t seen advertised on TV (because that’s really all it boils down to). This works especially well with party food. Serve foreign branded after-dinner chocolates with the posh champagne you imported directly from the winemaker and your guests will never guess you bought it round the corner.

If you like the sound of all this, check out our Frugal Food blog every Friday lunchtime for detailed breakdowns of the best supermarkets and offers each week.

Decorations 

Want expensive-looking decorations without the, um, expense?

Believe it or not, there are lots of sites holding Christmas decoration sales at the moment. I particularly like dotcomgiftshop.com, where you can currently get  a wide range of ‘luxury’ decorations very cheaply. There are also bargains available at Very.co.uk and laredoute.co.uk – but what if you just want something good quality and unique?

Of course, you could try making decorations yourself. But if, like me, you think the last time you tried to glue glitter onto anything was back in the 1980s and to this day you bear the scars, you’re probably better off buying it from a someone who does it for a living (or at least a hobby).

I’m a big fan of sites like coriandr.com, notonthehighstreet.com, folksy.com and US equivalent etsy.com, where you can buy one-off artsy-and-crafty gifts and decorations direct from the artists who made them.

By cutting out those poncey gift retailers, you can be sure that you’re getting a bargain, while the handmade-but-high-quality factor is sure to impress.

Who could possibly ever guess you paid just £3.99 for one of these cute wooden Santa and Snowman ornaments, for example?

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