How to Christmas shop like a boss – budgeting and top tips

That time of year is fast approaching. Christmas. The time where, as a child, you would excitedly write a list, hoping to get everything you wished for. But now it’s your turn to be gifting and it’s seeming all so expensive. Especially as a student. Fear not, as here are some tips to help you save money when buying gifts this Christmas.

Put aside some money to go towards Christmas shopping. Whether that’s £5 a week over some time or putting £50 odd in a savings account to spend, just have a little pot of spare money to go towards it if you can.

Set yourself a limit. Setting yourself a spending limit will significantly help you save money, not just at Christmas but all year round. If you say the maximum you will spend on gifts is £100, try to stay as close to that limit as possible. This will give you a better idea of how much you have left to spend on other things such as food or social activities. It will also help you feel good about your spending if you manage to get everything and have some spare leftover that you could put towards other things too.

Wait for sales. Most shops do end of the season, or mid-season sales where you could get up to 50% off items, and that is a prime time to go shopping for Christmas presents without having to pay full price.

Look for hidden treasures in clearance. Most shops have a section that’s for products reduced to clear or are on sale and in those sections you can find a lot of good things that you can gift, whether it’s a notebook for a stationery lover or a cute top for the fashionista in your life, you will probably find something to get them. The beauty of clearance is there will be something new there every week, so if you keep going back and checking you may stumble upon the perfect present.

Wait for shops to have student discounts or double student discount. If you have a look on Unidays you can find the stores that currently have a student discount and those are the ones that will tend to do double discount or 25% off for students 

Get a loyalty card. If there’s a shop you love often shop in, getting a loyalty card and collecting points can add up to money off when buying presents.

If you’re an avid online shopper you can look for discount codes on sites like ASOS, which have a good gift and home selection. Unidays is good for getting discounts on a range of online and physical shops, and it updates to the store’s current promotion, so you could get more of a discount at certain times of the year. Meaning you can get some presents early and hide them till December.

If you’re on a budget and aren’t sure what to get someone you could always opt for a gift card and pop it into their Christmas card. Many stores have cards starting from £5 minimum. This would save you money and also let’s your friend or loved one pick their own perfect present from their favourite store.

Now that you have these tips, use them to your advantage. You don’t have to only use them during the Christmas period as they could apply to the whole year. Happy shopping.