If you’re worried about your expenditure this Christmas, don’t panic – Moneymagpie Editor and financial expert Vicky Parry shows how a homemade Christmas is fun and moneysaving
Did you know that almost a third of people rely on using a credit card at Christmas?
Recent research by MoneyMagpie revealed some interesting Christmas spending habits – including that, of those who use a credit card, only an average 55% pay it off immediately. Don’t get into debt this Christmas with loads of expensive gifts – try these homemade ideas to reduce your bills and add a personal touch to your festive season.
Cook together
Whether you’re meeting with family or friends, the food is a central part of festive celebrations. However, the bill can quickly rack up and there’s nothing left to show for it (except a tighter waistband!). Instead of setting up large social events with expensive feasts, consider hosting some smaller low-key dinners with your loved ones.
Rather than being the host with the most, bring your friends over for a cooking session (or ask your kids to help bake the dessert!). Spending time together to cook is a wonderful time to share memories and create new ones, without spending hundreds on going out.
Give baked goodies
While we’re on the subject of cooking, why not dust off your baking skills and give some gingerbread or sugar cookies for gifts? Or, perhaps you’re a dab hand at Christmas cake. Even if you think you’re not a great cook, you can make some delicious mince pies with ready-made mince filling and ready-rolled pastry. You can whip up a delicious plate in under an hour!
If you know your friends are more likely to want to bake than taste your own cooking, consider gifting a recipe. Fill a mason jar with the dry ingredients to make all-in-one cookies, for example, and tie a ribbon around the top with a cookie cutter in place of a tag. Simple gifts that give an experience will always be appreciated!
Print your own wrapping paper
Cheap wrapping paper is all well and good, but it rips while you’re wrapping, often isn’t recyclable if it is foil based, and doesn’t look that great overall. Get a large roll of brown paper and print your own! This is a fun activity to do with young children or on your own.
Find stamps, cut potatoes into star shapes, or even use items found on a woodland walk like fir branches and pine cones to dip into paints and stamp on the paper. Once dry, you’ll have personalised, good quality and inexpensive wrapping paper!
Make your own decorations
Making decorations is fun and means you get to have something that looks amazing in your home that is truly unique. You could start off by buying bases such as faux garlands and wreaths online, and add your own haberdashery items to them.
Or, make your own garlands by drying out citrus in the oven ( or air fryer, if yours has a dehydrate setting!). Slice oranges, lemons, and even grapefruit very thinly, blot with paper to remove excess moisture and then dehydrate. When done, string onto twine along with cinnamon sticks, bells and baubles rescued from old Christmas decorations, or anything else you fancy.
Have a Christmas film marathon
This one works particularly well in the days running up to or even including Christmas Eve, to get you and your loved ones in the festive spirit. Each person gets to pick their favourite Christmas film – you can find hundreds on streaming apps, or try your local second-hand DVD shop like CEX to pick them up for a couple of quid.
Make sure you have favourite snacks, or even spend the morning cooking some tasty things together. A fan favourite – and affordable option – is homemade popcorn. Popcorn kernels are very inexpensive, and you can make huge bowls of the stuff from just one bag! Create a topping bar with everything from salty flavouring to M&Ms to sprinkle on top, so everyone gets the flavour they love.
Swap mix tapes
Alright, these days it’s Spotify or YouTube playlists, but the sentiment is the same. Make a playlist of your favourite tunes – it could be festive or just your overall favourites – that you want to share with your loved ones. Each day of the Christmas season you spend together, someone gets to share their playlist. It’s a great way to get to know people’s music tastes, puts everyone in a good mood, and can start conversations between music nerds!
Find new traditions
Christmas is a very traditional time of year – but that can mean lots of excessive expense. Instead of, for example, traipsing around the local Christmas market together and spending money on overpriced mulled wine and trinkets, consider taking a walk around your neighbourhood to look at the Christmas lights your neighbours have put up.
Or, instead of investing in a new computer game or board game to entertain the family, try some Christmas Olympics: design silly games to compete against each other while you wait for the Christmas dinner to cook. It’ll help burn the fizz off any kids (big and small!) and make fun memories that last forever. One favourite on the MoneyMagpie team is the scavenger hunt: set clues around the house for teams to find and the winner gets a homemade trophy – that they must compete for again next year!
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