Mums reveal £290 Christmas saving hacks to help towards gifting costs

Christmas can be the most expensive time of the year for mums. We all want to spoil our little ones rotten with gifts, splurge on festive food and treat ourselves to outings with friends – but it can be easy to get carried away with spending.

To help parents save those extra pennies this December, Little-Loans.com has rounded up some saving tips from Instagram Mums on how to decorate the home for less.

Their tips and hacks can save mums up to £286.50 which should make Christmas spending that little bit less stressful whilst keeping your home looking like a Winter wonderland. 

“It’s hard not to get pulled in by all the shiny new Christmas decorations this time of year, but I actually really enjoy being creative and think it makes your home unique when you make a few things yourself.”

– @emma.wears.it.all

Emma Stretton is a mum-of-two and savvy-saver living in Manchester. She has a keen eye for fashion and interiors and knows how to dress her house for Christmas without breaking the bank. 

1. Swap fancy wrapping for simple brown parcel paper – save £10
   “A 6 metre roll of brown wrapping paper costs £1 at The Works. I can get two rolls of this to cover all my Christmas presents. The beauty of this is you can then decorate each present individually. I use some simple string or cheap balls of yarn, or even the kid’s craft supplies to make my presents look festive. You can also get the kids involved and ask them to draw Christmas pictures on the presents, making them really unique and personal.”

1. Save glass jars for table decor – save £20
   “Next time you’re dishing up dinner using a Dolmio jar or similar, peel off the label, wash it out and keep it for Christmas. I decorate them using old bits of ribbon that I’ve saved from gifts or with different coloured yarn and then put tealights, acorns or pine cones in the bottom. It’s a really simple way to dress a table or a fireplace and much cheaper than buying Christmas candles you only use once”
   
2. Use cheap fabrics to give your table a rustic finish – save £30
   “A metre of red checked fabric can cost about £5.99. I use this as a simple table runner. You can also buy a pack of Christmas fabric offcuts for about £2.80 on ebay; I roll these up, tie them with yarn and use them as napkins. Instead of buying fancy chargers, I just use my everyday wicker placemats which, alongside the decorated glass jars, creates a simple and rustic Christmas table look.”
   
3. Use Christmas cards to your advantage – save £5
   “We tend to get a lot of Christmas cards from my children’s classes. So I buy a ball of twine and some miniature pegs and hang them from the walls. They double up as Christmas decor and keep your shelf space free. This also might be a bit ‘bah humbug’, but I don’t ever give Christmas cards, it’s a waste of money and precious time!”
   
4. Fill up your tree with snowballs to spend less on baubles – save £25
   “Decorating the tree can get expensive so over the years we’ve come up with a few ways to fill it up without overspending. One of my favourite things is the fake snowballs we put on it every year. A bucket of 20 costs £5 and we dot them all over the tree to make it look less sparse. We’ve also accumulated several Christmas teddies over the years. These get stuffed between the branches and the kids love seeing Kevin the Carrot peeking out at them.”
   
5. Create DIY crafty Christmas letters – save £15
   “This is a good one for keeping the kids occupied. You can buy mdf 3D letters from Amazon for £1 each, then get the paints out and let them decorate them for Christmas. Last year, we did some with our elf’s name on so she had a designated spot in the house where we could find her if she’d been ‘too tired’ to get up to mischief that day.”

Savings tip	Amount saved
Brown paper instead of fancy wrapping	£10
Simple table decor including a runner, napkins and glass jars	£50
Not buying Christmas cards	£5
Snowballs and teddies to fill up the tree instead of expensive new decorations	£25
Decorating our own Christmas letters instead of buying them	£15
Total savings:	£105

“I’ve made cute Christmas tree decorations from an old tartan scarf and Christmas bunting from leftover fabric I had after making my niece some patchwork dungarees.”
– @sarahrefashionhunter 

Devon-based Sarah Hunter is the mother of two twin boys and upcycles forgotten clothes in her spare time. She uses her passion for sustainability and DIY to save on festive decor each year and shares some easy tips on how you can do the same. 

1. Upcycle bags for life to make decorative Christmas gift bags – save £30
   “I recently found a beautiful quilt in a charity shop for £2.99 and will make little trinket bags from it. If sewing is tricky they can simply be glued with fabric glue, which I like to get my twin boys involved with. For larger gift bags, I repurpose supermarket bags for life. They are nice and sturdy for present holding and you can use faux fur to cover it and make a really fun gift bag that also looks great under the tree.”
   
2. Use faux fur trimmings to revamp old decorations – save £40
   “With the offcuts from my gift bags, I tend to cover any tired looking Christmas decorations to give them a new lease of life. The tatty old hearts and stars look much better with a new faux fur cover. It also means I have the same patterns and themes running through my decor which I can easily change each year if I fancy something new, with little cost.” 
3. Create a DIY rag Christmas wreath – save £30
   “This year, I’m going to make a Christmas wreath using rags. I’ve been saving the offcuts from my sewing projects and will buy a wire frame to wrap them round. There are loads of tutorials and I love that it’s something a little different and uses things that would otherwise be thrown away. It’s also much cheaper than a shop-bought wreath and I can add to it each year to freshen it up.” 
4. Use old Christmas cards to make personalised gift tags – save £10
   “My twins will be helping me out this year by making gift tags with me. I kept some of last year’s Christmas cards which will be cut into shapes to make new tags, adding stickers, paint, whatever they fancy to customise them. Then just a hole punch at the top and a bit of string or wool and you have your own homemade tag.”

Savings tip	Amount saved
Gift bags made from fabric and bags for life	£30
Faux fur/sheepskin Christmas tree decorations and favors	£40
Rag Christmas Wreath	£30
Homemade Christmas tags	£10
Total savings:	£110

“You’d be surprised at how much you can save on Christmas decorations whilst still making your home look like a Christmas paradise!”

– @imperfectly_sustainable_style

Karen Ford is the mother of a boy and a girl, ages 13 and 11. To avoid wasting money on disposable Christmas decorations, Karen’s tips focus on second-hand thrifting and DIY creations which look the part and don’t break the bank.

1. Make your own chocolate tree decorations – save £2.50
   “I’ve always made my own chocolate tree decorations, my mum taught me this trick and I do it with the children every year. Our personal choice is usually coins, but you can use any wrapped type. Simply push a threaded needle through the sweet, then create a loop by tying the ends together to your chosen length. You could go really bright or more traditional with your choices according to your tree’s theme and colours and it can save you a few pounds whilst feeling way more bespoke and special.”
2. Choose second-hand decorations – save £30
   “I keep an eye out for any decorations in the charity or second-hand shops and Facebook local selling groups in the build up to Christmas. They often put out saved stock and we have found some really good quality items this way over the years, saving us some money and the bonus of knowing you’re recycling something.” 

1. Create a DIY pinecone centerpiece and garland – save £24
   “I collect any pretty pinecones, tree vines or sticks we come across while out on walks in local woodland. Simply give them a wash and create your own table centerpiece or garland using a glass bowl and some ribbons or fairy lights.”
   
   “If you wanted to go really fancy you could dehydrate orange or lemon slices and add them too! You’d be surprised at how beautiful and effective this can look, it’s completely free and really gives that personal touch.”
   
2. Revamp old decorations using spray paint – save £15
   “Use spray paint to revamp decorations you already own. If you have classic decorations, like baubles for example, but you feel you want to change your Christmas colours without spending out on a whole new set, spray painting them can be a helpful money-saving option.” 

Savings tip	Amount saved
Make your own tree decorations	£2.50
Second-hand decorations	£30
Pinecone centerpiece decoration and garland	£24
Revamp old decorations	£15
Total Savings:	£71.50

Commenting on the tips, Little-Loans.com‘s Personal Finance Expert, Paul Wilson, said:

“Christmas is probably the easiest time of year to get carried away with spending. Though it’s important to treat yourself and others, it’s important to find the balance with savvy saving.”

“We love these tips from real mums who know exactly what it’s like to feel the financial pressure over the holidays. Their advice just goes to show that you don’t have to lose any of the Christmas magic in your home whilst cutting back financially on decorations! The little ones will never know the difference.” 

The influencer savings tips have been created in partnership with Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorised and regulated credit broker Little-Loans.com, a unsecured loan broker that allows customers to browse credit options from over 40 lenders to get the best APR.