Cutting The Cost of Christmas

After a year of rising food prices, soaring mortgages and high fuel costs, as a nation we’re expected to have around £3 billion less to spend this Christmas. Many of us will be feeling the pinch, so how can we make the most of this festive season on a budget? Angellica Bell has been looking into the ways we can keep costs down and still have fun this Christmas.

We’ll meet the Strong family in Lancashire, who like many are looking for ways to save this Christmas. Mum Rosemary, Dad Joe and their three children will be following the advice of our money-saving experts to see if they can get their festive spending in the black, rather than the colour of Rudolph’s nose. 

Money savvy Mum Gemma Bird will reveal how she keeps costs down when buying presents and going on festive family days out. She’ll share nifty DIY gift ideas which use every-day household items, as well as her top tip of using online marketplaces to cover the cost of this year's presents. 

Consumer expert Iwan Carrington shares some crafty ideas to save money whilst decking the halls at home, and top chef Mickael Weiss will reveal how to make a delicious Christmas dinner for half the price. 

One Christmas food favourite that’s seen price rises this year is chocolate. We’ll visit Whitakers in North Yorkshire which has been making chocolate treats for 130 years to see how they will be facing Christmas amid record high production and energy costs.

Keeping our energy bills down whilst hosting and cooking is more important than ever during this season, so super-saver Mark Thompson from Cheshire will show us hacks around the home to keep the warm in and costs down. 

Christmas this year could potentially be an expensive one, but with inflation coming down there is hope that next year we could all have a Merry Christmas without potentially breaking the bank.

Useful links:

Read government advice on saving energy in the winter month

See if you’re eligible for help with your energy bills

Try making Iwan Carrington’s DIY snowflake and angel decorations

Check out super-saver Mark’s blog here