Making Savings This Christmas

How to make savings this Christmas – Make a list and check it twice 

It does not matter that it occurs at the same time every year, Christmas seems to catch many of us out every year. Even for those that are super-prepped you can guarantee something ends up costing more than they expected or items go un-used. This is hardly surprising when according to the Bank Of England the average Christmas spend is over £700 per person.

After discussing how to save money at Christmas in the branch with account holders and Northern Community Bank staff we’ve created a list, like a 7 years old’s list for Santa, it is quite long however we guarantee a number of these will save you money running up to the festive period

1. Budget – always at the top of any money related list but budgeting for Christmas is vital if you want to control your spending. Traditional pen and paper or modern phone apps, it does not matter, getting it down in advance will help. Decide how much money you have available or can save before deciding who you have to buy for, how much to spend on presents and whether you can afford the nights out you’re invited to. We will have to see if this year’s Christmas works do or nights out actually happen…
2. Make a list and check it twice — simple. Cut down the present list and prioritise
3. Start shopping early — if you’ve missed the boat this year then set a reminder in your phone for summer 2021. Have a spot in the house where you store items, a bottom cupboard or a secure spot in the (dry) attic. Heck some start buying in January when the sales start!
4. Search for the cheapest deals, vouchers or price match — search online then check whether the high street will price match. Use an incognito or private browser, so you are not charged more by online retailers who recognise that you’ve previously searched for a specific item.
5. Online price trackers – There are many, with everyone’s favourite search engine Google provide a reliable service. A number of others allow you to compare well known website; ShopSavvy, Scanlife, Honey App, Keepa and CamelCamelCamel
6. Don’t go Christmas shopping with you children, friends or family — Sounds boring but unless they are a good influence (let’s be honest we mean penny pinching influence) they’re best left at home
7. Online marketplaces are great places to find new or used items — Ebay, Facebook market place and Gumtree
8. Section 75 laws — If the items you purchase are over £100 then pay with a credit card. Section 75 means the credit card company should take some responsibility if things go wrong with your purchase.
9. Unused Vouchers? Have you got a pretty box with unused store voucher cards that you didn’t get around to spending in time or worst still…the store doesn’t exist anymore
10. Discourage children from watching every Christmas advert going — hard but doable with some distraction. The Argos catalogue used to be the big worry, 700 pages with 3000 circled items for Santa, now it’s the sneaky adverts on TV
11. IOU or BWYL — instead of wasting cash on a guess, if you think your partner or family would take a “Buy What You Like” credit note, it could result in them getting what they want and you not wasting cash, they might also get the item cheaper in the sales….let’s be honest you’re going to probably buy the other items they really want at some point in the year
12. Discount and Pound shops — There is nothing wrong with cheap stocking filler. Toiletries and essentials are also options for stocking fillers, they also reduce the need to buy in the difficult ‘skint’ months after Christmas; we did say we were looking at ways to help you save money
13. Make your own decorations — we know we know,  we’ve all walked into a friend’s house and given the home-made snow angel with one wing a second glance but children love getting involved
14. Do you buy decorations every year and then find you already have something similar? You’re not alone, have a little look at your stocks before buying new items. Don’t bother getting the tree out covered in fake snow…
15. Real or artificial tree — this is your preference but buying a real tree to decorate your carpet each festive season is not the greatest way to keep cost down
16. Food waste — think back to last year and every other year you’ve been in charge of the Christmas shop….did you need all that food? Did you throw certain items away….did only one person eat a certain item at your Christmas feast
17. Secret Santa — It is not just for work places. It can work with circles of friends and your extended family
18. Gift a charity donation or agree not to buy for family or colleagues
19. Think twice about a store card — the interest rates are not always favourable!
20. Cashback and using Store Loyalty points you’ve built up — Northern Community Bank’s exclusive Engage Debit Card has a wide range of cashback rewards and a handy calculator to find out what rewards your purchases could earn found here. If you’ve built up loyalty point from purchase throughout the year with stores or companies, now may be the time to cash in
21. Not used it since last Christmas? Maybe it was not a must have item….move it on and make some money back
22. Budget, plan for next year – re-read the list!

We could not write a list on making savings at Christmas without mentioning the free Northern Community Bank Christmas Savings Account. Open at any point during the year, save as little or as much as you like throughout the year but only withdraw from the 1st of November to 31st December. Savings put away especially for the festive period!

This year over £270,000 has been saved by people in your community, that is a real helpful hand during the most expensive time of the year. If you’ve not opened one yet…contact a friendly member of staff on our Nivo app and do it today!