To spread the cost of Christmas, you can start buying and prepping things in advance if they can be frozen, and then cook or re-heat them on the day.
When it comes to vegetables look for the Christmas veg deals. These offers, when major supermarkets slash the price of specific products, usually take effect in the days leading up to Christmas, so keep an eye out.
Supermarket loyalty cards can be a great way to keep costs down, while also building up points that can be turned into vouchers for money off a future shop. Some also offer tailored coupons based on your frequent purchases, while points accumulated on Nectar cards and Tesco Clubcards can also be spent elsewhere.
If you’re a Tesco shopper, it might also be worth considering signing up to Clubcard Plus. It’s £7.99 a month – but gives you a 10% off code to use on two big shops each month, up to a total saving of £40.
Only those who do a big £200 shop twice a month will get the full benefit, but anyone who does one £80 Tesco shop in a month would break even and then anything above that is a saving. In any event, you get a one-month free trial so you can sign up now to get 10% off your big Christmas shop and then cancel if you don’t want to commit.
Cashback sites are another great way to save – though you have to pay in full up front and it can take weeks or even months for the cashback to clear.
Deals chop and change regularly but to give you an idea, on the TopCashback website this week most of the main supermarkets had cashback offers running for new home delivery customers. They included Asda (£7.22 back when you spend over £48), Sainsbury’s (£12.75 back, £45 minimum spend), Morrisons (£8 back, £40 minimum spend), Tesco (£9.35 cashback, £50 minimum spend). Many of these also had similar offers for new click and collect customers, while existing customers could get a smaller amount of cashback.
Some retailers offer their own discount on your first home delivery order, including Sainsbury’s (£15 off, minimum spend £80), Iceland (£5 off, minimum spend £45) and Ocado (25% off, minimum spend £60).
If you’re a customer of The Wrekin Housing Group, you can use your Housing Perks app for an additional discount at many supermarkets including Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Aldi and Sainsbury’s.
If you’re able to stack some of the above offers and deals it can lead to impressive overall savings.