Guest post by Nicki Cawood, Mum of two boys, freelance writer & blogger and budding frugalista!

Yes I said the c-word, and in May too. Despicable! Why on earth would I post about Xmas so early in the year? Well, because Christmas shopping and saving for me, starts in January! We have a large family and Christmas is a big deal for us. I like to get people something special as a gift but don?t want our everyday household budget to suffer for it! Here are a few things to consider to help spread the cost and the strain of Christmas throughout the year.

Be organised!

I have a terrible memory so I always carry a notepad and pen in my handbag. My pad has a dedicated section for Xmas, a simple system where everyone?s name is written down, and what we got them last year. This means if I am out and about and spot an unbeatable bargain, I can consult my notepad and check 1) If I already have something for the person in mind and 2) it?s not too similar to what I got hem last year (variety is the spice of life and all that).

Sales

These can be false economy. A lot of things in store over Christmas can be overpriced, therefore when they are knocked down in the sale you aren?t really getting that much of a bargain, so make sure that if you go sale hunting that you really weigh up the worth and price of the item before getting your purse out. One gem for bargain for me has been the Boots sale. Over the years I have picked up some terrific gift sets for less than 25% of the original sale price. These are great to put aside for December but remember, if buying Xmas chocolates, sweets and even toiletries and cosmetics, these have a best before date, so check they will be in date and not too close to expiry come Christmas day. In addition, consider where you will store that cute mug with the marshmallows that you don?t want to melt.

Bag a real bargain

Online shopping has saved me an absolute fortune over the past few years! Taking advantage of end of season sales, money off promotions and free delivery periods has cut the price of my shopping considerably! Some amazing bargains can be found by browsing the well known MoneySavingExpert site, and by signing up for the weekly newsletter, you won?t miss any short-dated special offers.

Saving the pennies

I flatly refuse to do Christmas on credit! I love the festive season, the lights, the music, the fun with the kids…. worrying about paying off ?the big day? does not feature into my plans! I do a few things through the year to help pay for Christmas.

Saving Schemes

Most supermarkets have schemes where you can buy stamps and save them up, usually ?50 per card. By buying 2 stamps a week you can really take the edge off your big Christmas food shop or, if like us, you are with family for Xmas dinner, you can use this for normal shopping to free up cash for shopping elsewhere, or for other instore trimmings & gifts.

Loyalty / reward schemes

Using Clubcard points (Tesco) and exchanging them is a great way to buy gifts from Tesco Direct, we bought loads of games and jigsaws using our vouchers last year and didn?t spend any ?real? money. I was most impressed. Our vouchers so far this year will go toward Thomasland/Drayton Manor in August, but after that they will remain untouched! If I remember correctly you can rejoin the Christmas savers club anytime through the year so I will probably do that after the next mailing. You can also ?top up? your Clubcard at the till, but the cash top ups can?t be included in any voucher double up promotions (etc). There are many other schemes out there such as the Boots? Advantage card, Nectar card etc so be savvy with your shopping and make sure you get the best return.

Old fashioned saving!

Use a terramundi (sealed jar or pot) and empty your purse of change at the end of the week, you?d be surprised how quickly those ?1 and 20p coins add up!

Use Independent Traders!

A biggie for me, as well as being a great way to source unusual items, using small businesses, online and off not only saves money (how much extra do you spend in a department store just adding to your basket because it?s ?there?) but supports the backbone of our economy and can be a much more enjoyable experience!

These are just a few things to consider when planning and executing missing Christmas. It?s all in the organisation, but you can also feel a sense of achievement, knowing you?ve got everyone some lovely & well thought out gifts, without breaking the bank!

Wednesday

We went to Downtown Disney where Erin went snap happy with her disposable camera, I’m sure they’ll be worth developing, not! Erin also relieved herself of some pocket money with a Little Mermaid jewellery box and a Goofy case jammed with sweets.

We stopped for some brunch at Earl of Sandwich, I revisted memories from six weeks ago and had the exremely large chicken caesar salad, while Alex had the daily special, a bbq beef sandwich toasted with cheese which he said was the best sandwich he’d ever had, but he says that about most foodstuffs here, so I’m not sure how much that can be believed, it did look tasty though.

After we’d seen all we wanted to see we decided to try and navigate our way to the Florida Mall, turns out it’s not far and very easy to find. New trainers for all, some bargain clothing and a few belated birthday presents and we’d managed to relieve ourselves of $400, not bad for a couple hours work. We stopped by TGI’s for sustinence and Dunkin’ Donuts for more sustinence, and then fell asleep

Thursday

Finally time to visit Magic Kingdom! We went on the teacups and then into Mickey’s Philharmagic Show, my favourite attraction in Magic Kingdom. We visited Minnie and Mickey’s house, and Erin tried her hand at sewing.

We braved Tony’s Town Square for lunch, the last time I was there with the Disney 7 we had a few issues with cold food, no cold food this time although it’s still not really my taste but if you like BIG food you should go for it. The pistachio creme brullee was the best desert I’ve had for a very long time

After lunch we did the country bear jamboree and it’s a small world and then it was back to the hotel for a swim.

That night we headed out for chinese, there was a tv in the restaurant with the breaking news that Michael Jackson had died, very odd, I’m no great Micheal Jackson fan but it did feel like a ‘where were you’ moment, and therefore a bit strange to be in a random chinese joint in Florida.

There’s been a lot of coverage recently about an impending recession, the american mortgage crisis, and the rising price of food and fuel. Is there anyone who hasn’t given at least a quick thought to their monthly budget and looked for where they could trim some fat? I have, and I’ve also been wondering how I’m doing with my food budget compared to everyone else. This isn’t an opportunity for one upmanship, I’m actually more interested in finding those who are spending less, and how?

Please answer the following questions either on your own blog (and link here, so I can find you) or in the comments.

Here are the questions and my answers.

1.) Predominantly, where do you shop? Tesco

2.) How often do you shop? Weekly

3.) How much (on average) do you spend? ?60(this includes household products and nappies)

4.) How many people are you buying for? 2 adults, one infant

5.) Do you do any of the following – meal plan, make a list, have a budget? Yes to all

6.) If at all, how have you tried to lower your spending on food and household items? I started meal planning and buying online to keep my costs down, recently though I have had to increase my budget from ?50 to ?60 as I was really feeling the squeeze.

Thanks for taking part.