Christmas: A Cracker of a Saving

What did Adam say to Eve on the day before Christmas?

It's Christmas Eve, Eve!

Christmastime can be tough for a student. The first student loan is almost gone, you can't move for shoppers on the high street and there's always that one person you know who has been singing Christmas songs since mid-October.

That person is me. 

I just can't help it - Christmas gives me some much-needed quality time with my family, my friends, and some really great food, and it's something I desperately wanted to recreate at university. But when I started totting up how much it would be to buy food, a tree, decorations and presents I was easily looking at a number in the hundreds, So I started thinking of ways to cut back the costs without sucking the joy out of christmas.

Oh Christmas Tree

Decorating the Christmas tree is one of my favourite childhood memories - I have my own personal decorations, gathered from when I was too small to understand what Christmas was, and decorating the tree marks the beginning of the Christmas period.

I desperately wanted a tree for our student house, but there were a couple of small problems - we didn't really have the space for one and to be honest, I didn't want to spend at least £50+ on a real tree. There are of course fake options like this one for less, but nothing really says Christmas like the smell of pine needles. With the price of baubles and tinsel and other tat added on, getting a Christmas tree was out of the question.

So instead we bought a small, wooden Christmas tree ornament from Tiger for £8, quite similar to these Christmas pegs, also from Tiger:

 Standing at around a foot tall with small bell-like ornaments, for me and my partner Dan it was a compromise between my obsession with a real Christmas tree and the realization we had no room and no money.

The Table
In the week before the end of term there is a tradition to hold a Christmas meal amongst flatmates and friends - and they can be expensive. In an effort to recreate the home comforts of a meal cooked by mum and dad, we tend to splash out on all the trimmings, which can stretch our already-tight bank balances. Christmas isn't Christmas without corny cracker jokes, and there are so many ways to to cut the costs.

W.H. Smith quite reguarly give out 20% discount vouchers, and coupled with their regular special offers and partnership with o2 Priority I managed to pick up a box of cards for free, and a box of 8 Christmas crackers for a brilliant £2.60 (originally £4.99, they were a third off, and then 20% off with the voucher).

I also picked up a huge pack of Christmassy napkins from a student favourite, Poundland, and a lovely little centrepiece from Primark for £1.50.

Presents Galore
Easily the most expensive part of the holidays, presents can rack up your holiday bill faster than you can count the receipts. So, as a way of demonstrating that you don't have to spend more than your yearly rent in one month, I challenged my partner Dan: 3 presents for £5, with discounts and points allowed, and it was easier than you'd think.

My first stop was Boots, where I've been collecting points on my Advantage card for months, to pick up something small - and came across these wonderful smelling Original Source shower gels for men. For 200 points I left with a bottle of the Black Mint shower gel, and I'd spent none of my £5.

My next stop was W.H. Smith, where I still had a 20% off voucher, and was immediately greeted with a huge stand full of £5 books. A Hairy Bikers Great Curries book was perfect for Dan, and with 20% off it came to only £4.

My final stop was Superdrug, to pick up a small box of Peanut M&M's - they're sold in a lot of shops with but 10% student discount it was 90p rather than £1, and I'd only spent £4.90 in total.

Yes, Christmas can be expensive, but that doesn't mean we have to miss out - for an £8 tree, £5.10 on table decorations and under £5 for presents I spend only £18. A budget Christmas is so doable and easy for students and non-students alike!