It can’t be ignored anymore!! Christmas is only weeks away.  The traditional annual Christmas big adverts are already hitting our screens making us feel all fuzzy and sentimental for the festive season.  Or for some of us it makes us realise the dreaded Christmas present shopping list needs making.

There is still time to make savings and budget, ready for when you hit the shops.  So we’re not talking mega savings but every penny is definitely going to help in the run up to Christmas and you never know these little changes and savings you make now could make you realise just how much money you could be saving if you continued with it.

If you don’t already, making a supermarket shopping list is a great way to start.  Don’t stray from it, don’t let the deals on the end of the aisles tempt you into putting them into your trolley.  They’re on show there for a reason and we are all guilty of falling for the trap on the odd occasion.  Remind yourself why you don’t need three tins of soup for the price of two, when you already have a stack of them in the cupboard at home.  Have a look at the prices of the items your buying, compare them to the own-brand products.  This will certainly cut down the cost of your food shopping bill for the next few weeks…you never know it could be a game changer!!!

See what luxuries you could do without with until the new year.  If you love having your professional spray tan, you could try a self-tanning kit.  There are some great ones available in shops and online.  Maybe cut out the Saturday night takeaway.  As much as we all love them and the convenience of them. You could try doing your own version or get the whole family involved in creating something new to eat together.

You could even have a look around your home, shed or garage to see what items you don’t use or need anymore and maybe do a car boot sale one weekend.  Or even just a few odd items you could put them on ebay, Gumtree or any of the other classified ads and online marketplaces.

If you can’t start your working day without your daily caffeine hit you could try, instead of buying it on your way to work make your own at home and take it to work with you.  The amount of money saved from just this little change you will certainly notice.   If the thought of giving up your well know brand of coffee in a morning is non-negotiable, you could find a cheaper way of getting that brand fix by looking in your local supermarket.  A couple of the more famous high street coffee shops are selling their selections of coffee in shops now.  So, you can still get your fix in a morning of your favourite brand, just make it at home for a fraction of the price.

Another big saving is to take your own lunch to work with you. Just popping out at lunchtime to the local supermarket, café or even the ‘Little Butty Van’ that comes to your place of work, all these can seriously add up.  We all know the last thing you want to be doing the evening before or first thing in the morning is to be putting a lunch together.  But these items could be added to your supermarket shopping list, that will save on a lot of time thinking what to make as you’ll already have it in your cupboards.  You could even make a little extra when making your evening meal and put some aside for the next day to take to work.

How can The Wage Shop help?

Hopefully some our little tips and advice will help your purse strings over the next few weeks.

At The Wage Shop not only do we take care of your tax and national insurance requirements.  We also offer a Payment Advance service so if you need access to your money a little earlier than payday then we are here to help.

Head over to our website for more details.