Christmas is coming, the shops are getting packed. We spent an average of £320 on presents last December, but if your budget’s tighter this year then never fear – Felicity King-Evans shows you how to get your Christmas shopping done for free…

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We went frugal 2 years back. If we want anything we buy it- last year we bought ourselves a dishwasher and a weekend away at Christmas. We told all family & friends not to bother with presents and this year we have bought one big present for each of the kids and left it at that. Everyone else gets a decent Xmas card and we don't have to endure another year of socks or toiletries we will never use. Less chocolate to gorge on and using online grocery shopping ensures we don't overbuy.

Aha - We went frugal 2 weeks ago. Credit cards were locked in the safe and we now take out a set amount of cash on a Saturday to last us the week.

It sits in an envelope and when any is used, we update the total remaining on the front.

It has been a revelation. We now understand exactly where our money is going. We plan the weeks meals on a Saturday and write a shopping list for the things we need and not the things we like the look of in the supermarket. We walk short distances instead of jump in the car so that we save on fuel.

All in all (so far) it has been fantastic. We eat varied meals all week and spend less time popping out to the shop for something. If we keep on budget, then this month we will save £250 on our monthly food bill as well as all the other stuff we used to buy.

By the time Christmas comes, we will have saved a huge amount more that we spent for the same time last year making it more palatable. (I have my eyes on a nice yacht off the missus...)

Do you know, I am always deciding to try far stricter budgeting, even for a short period, to see how much more I could theoretically save - but can never bring myself to.

I keep deciding to keep a little book and write down everything I spend but there's a financial coward inside me that doesn't want to know how much I spend on books or various miracle hair products in a month.

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Felicity King-Evans, Deputy Site Editor
felicity.king-evans @ moneysupermarket.com

Go for it Felicity.

We are doing it for a reason as we have to save for a very big holiday next year so it does give us a focus for it. We used to think we used our credit cards for convenience, not credit (always paying off the balance each month) but it had got to the point where they were too convenient.

£10 here & £20 there was mounting up to a huge monthly bill. Our new bugdet reduces our spend by 65% from the month before we started.

You could always try it for a short time in order to realistically give you an affordable budget for your books and hair products.

You will also be able to add a small amount for upkeep of Denty...

Felicty,

You shound remarkably like the heroine in the books my fiance is reading. MAybe you're familiar with the shopaholic series?

My sister has a 'shopoholic' book about a personal finance journo whose finances were abysmal, is that the one you mean?

Ha, I wouldn't say I am that bad at all! It's more that I'm conscious I could save more than I do.

Maybe I'll do the book budgeting thing and write an article about it.

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Cast your vote in the Community Stars awards

Felicity King-Evans, Deputy Site Editor
felicity.king-evans @ moneysupermarket.com