Tips for buying Christmas presents on a budget

To keep tracking of your spending and who to buy for, you can download a budget planner on Money Saving Expert.

The planner is free to use and printable, and designed to help you manage your budget for all your festive activities.

Christmas e-cards, or digital cards are a great alternative to Christmas cards. They are free to send  and with the cost of greetings cards and postage is increasing every year, for those with lots of family and friends, this can be a great way to save money.

Plus, digital Christmas cards are more environmentally friendly, with some Christmas cards not being as recyclable due to the materials used to create them.

The following websites offer free Christmas E-Cards:

• Hope Spring e Cards
• eCards.co.uk
• Punchbowl eCards
• Kisseo

All you need is an e-mail address for yourself, and your recipients e-mail address.

Alternatively, you can send personalised text messages to your friends and family.

Secret Santa isn’t just for work colleagues, you can also do this with your friends and family. Reduce the costs of having to purchase for multiple people and focus on one person from your ballot.

Simply set a budget, draw names, and enjoy the spoiling the chosen person! This could also help share the cost of Christmas dinner, so everyone is allocated what food to buy, and a budget can be set.

Alternatively, you can use a free Secret Santa Generator such as Drawnames.

Many products and gifts are discounted by retailers around the festive period. These discounts can add up to big savings on your purchases. You can also recieve big savings on products that have been returned but are in perfectly giftable condition.

Use MoneySavingExperts discount finder to find gifts at huge discounts on previously return items, including gadgets, toys and clothing.

For those friends and family member that are hard to buy for, or if you’re struggling for ideas you can create Christmas cheques. These are cheques that enable you to gift your time and offer an act of service, whether it’s babysitting, offering to make a meal, or undertaking the house chores, there’s something for every occasion. You can create and print your cheques using the Xmas gift cheque tool.

You can try selling items on eBay, local Facebook selling groups and other sites such as Gumtree and Vinted – but bear in mind that in January lots of people will be doing the same, so prices can dip. See 40+ eBay selling tips, Facebook selling tips and Vinted selling tips for more.

For CDs, DVDs, computer games and books, there are specialist trade-in sites which make selling quick and easy.

Returning unwanted Christmas gifts

When money is tight there really is no point in keeping the jumper that was bought for you that doesn’t fit, or things that were bought at Christmas that you really don’t need. It can be awkward to ask the buyer for the receipt, but most people will understand the need to refund or exchange things sometimes.

Your right to return things can be complicated, but in summary:

• If an item is faulty by law the buyer can get a refund whether bought in-store or online.
• If bought online by phone or mail order most items can be returned and refunded if done quickly, no matter what the reason.
• If bought in a shop unless faulty you’ve no automatic right to return.

However, many shops have generous returns polices and will at least offer an exchange or a credit note. Often the buyer doesn’t have to return an item if you’ve a gift receipt.

It’s also worth noting:

• You might have longer to return things bought over the festive period (some shops will extend this as far as the end of October/November).
• Technically only the buyer has rights, but many shops will accept returns from the person that received the gift.
• You may need a receipt or proof of purchase.
• If bought on card, any refund will often go back to the card used.

More information on returning products see the Which? consumer rights guidance.

And if you can’t return it, maybe you could regift it to someone else or resell it!

For those families that are really struggling, the Salvation Army operates across, England, Wales and Scotland and provides gifts to those that are need.

Eligible families will receive gifts donated to the charity. If you would like to register, you will need to create an account and share details about your finances and family. You can apply here.

Applications will then be reviewed by the Salvation Army team.