Surviving a credit crunch Christmas

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Many households will be dreading Christmas this year, worrying about how they'll cover the costs.

However, with a bit of planning and perhaps a little ingenuity, there is no reason why, just because money is tight, this festive season should be any less enjoyable than previous years.

We've compiled some tips to help ensure Christmas is a merry one:

Don't spend more than you can afford

It's become much harder to get credit cards and loans as a result of the credit crunch.

Lenders are more picky about who they will lend to and many have increased the cost of borrowing. Therefore it is more important than ever not to get carried away and spend more than you can afford.

Agree a spending limit

You can guarantee that you won't be alone in feeling the credit crunch pinch so why not make a suggestion to friends and families to agree a cap on spending for each gift.

Even if this is £5, there is a lot of fun and creativity to be had when resources are limited. You could even go one stage further and make a pact to cut out the adults all together and just buy for kids.

Discount codes

If you're going to be shopping online for presents, make sure you visit our Christmas discount codes section where you can find codes to input, once you've gone through to the check-out, which will get you some great reductions.

Buy in bulk

High street shops like Boots usually carry three-for-two promotions at Christmas, which comes in especially handy for stocking fillers. And if you are shopping online, make sure you buy more than one item at a time which reduces the cost of packing and postage. You may also qualify for free delivery.

Stagger your shopping

Avoid a sudden blow to your wallet by dividing your gift-buying into weeks. There are also some great supermarket offers on things such as beer, wine and nibbles - so stock up now on non-perishable items and help spread the cost. Mysupermarket.co.uk is a good site to visit to find details of the latest special offers.

Cash in those loyalty points

There is no better time than Christmas to bring out all the loyalty cards you have been saving points on during the course of the year. Remember, even if you have only been collecting points at your local supermarket, spending them doesn’t have to be restricted to food.

With the major stores now stocking electrical goods, CDs, books, gifts and perfumes you may be able get a lot of your Christmas presents bought at the same time as you do your weekly food shop.

Shop online

Many items are cheaper if bought online (although make a note of delivery times and cut-offs for Christmas orders). As well as the money saving opportunity shopping from the comfort of your own home means you will avoid the Christmas throngs – not to mention carefully marketed temptations that are surplus to your requirements.

Haggle

Haggling isn't something us Brits are used to doing (unless perhaps, we're bartering for something when you're on holiday). But it's time to lose those inhibitions and get practising on your bartering skills.