FOOL'S EYE VIEW
15 Ways To Save Money This Christmas!

By Alison Hunt (TMFAlly)
December 8, 2005

Anyone who ventured to his or her town centre last week would have witnessed a very surprising sight. Although there was a good three weeks until Christmas Day, a large number of shops were holding sales!

WHSmith gave 10% off all purchases on Thursday, with Dorothy Perkins trumping it with 20% off. HMV gave 10% off during its happy hour promotions and Debenhams gave 10% off all weekend. Fantastic!

High Street stores have clearly been suffering and are now finding that they have to compete for our attention (and cash). Bad news for them, great news for us! In fact, it's been rumoured that we can look forward to a bargain Christmas as retailers are cutting prices to a four-year low. Online prices are often cheaper and online sales are expected to top £5.2bn this year - a 45% rise on last year, which has helped to drive down High Street prices. However, this isn't always the case so it can be worthwhile checking the High Street too!

It's clearly a case of being in the right place at the right time if you want to snap up some great deals, so it pays to listen to your local radio station in the car and keep an eye out for any adverts for sales when you happen to be watching the television. And if you really want to become a discerning shopper and save money on practically everything you buy, why not follow these top tips?

1. List your targets - Firstly, make a list of the gifts you would like to buy and jot down their cost. Your aim now is to buy each of those presents for less than the amount you've written - every penny counts!

2. Toys - If you have a lot of children to buy for, check out the three for the price of two offers on toys (starting from just £5) at Marks & Spencer and Boots. Boots is also offering triple Advantage card points (12p back on every pound spent online) until 12th December and free delivery if you spend over £45.

3. Books - WHSmith is currently offering 40% off Trinny and Susannah's "What your clothes say about you" and Rick Stein's "French Odyssey" books, both £12. Order online and collect in store and you won't have to pay any postage costs. Or why not find out how to save 50% on hardbacks and paperbacks?

4. Flowers - if you'd like to send some flowers this Christmas, you don't have to spend a fortune at companies such as Interflora. Supermarkets such as Tesco offer flower delivery services that are often much cheaper and Tesco is currently offering a free bottle of wine with its Christmas bouquet deliveries, which start at £19. Alternatively, pop into the store and pick up a beautiful bouquet for much less cash and deliver it yourself!

5. Wrapping paper - Take advantage of three for two deals at Marks & Spencer and Boots. Superdrug is often much cheaper for wrapping paper too.

6. Children's books - Snap up ten Roald Dahl books in a box set for just £9.99, and various other bargains at The Book People site. You'll get free delivery if you spend £25 or more; spend £40 and you can choose a free gift - either a Jamie Oliver DVD or a Royal Horticultural Society diary!

7. Experiences - If you're struggling to think of a gift for someone, check out the various "experiences" available. They aren't all hideously expensive - for example, you can buy two Odeon cinema tickets in a gift set for £13.99 (which is actually cheaper than buying two tickets at my local Odeon!). Other offers include 20% off a Sports Quad bike experience.

8. Nectar Points - Spend over £15 at Amazon and you'll get free delivery, plus, if you go to the site via the Nectar website, you'll earn Nectar points, too. Plus, earn double points (four points per pound spent) if you shop at these retailers, including Play.com, CD Wow and the Apple store before 15 December.

9. DVDs - Why pay full price for films when we can show you how to get 46% off DVD prices? And Tesco is currently selling Disney Christmas DVDs for just £5.97, inc. delivery.

10. eBay - Snap up bargain toys and games for just a few pounds on eBay; there's even a special "Stocking filler" category.

11. Lastminute.com - Get a special two-for-one deal on its floatation tank experience (£35). Alternatively, check out its "Deal of the Day" if you're struggling for ideas. The current deal is for 20% off a luxury Spa day at any Marriott hotel, but as the name says, it changes daily.

12. Theatre Tickets - Grab some bargain theatre tickets from companies such as London Theatre Direct and Whatsonstage for an interesting Christmas gift. Current deals start at just £10 at Lastminute.com, but you can also get up to 50% off top price seats for shows such as Blood Brothers. And clever use of the theatre seating information given on the TheatreMonkey site could mean you pick up fantastic seats for very little dosh!

13. Beauty Products - Boots and Superdrug are currently waging a price war so you should be able to save up to 50%. Boots also includes beauty products in its 3 for 2 mix and match offer.

14. Gadgets - Buying presents for men is usually a nightmare. Check out sites such as Iwantoneofthose.com, gadgets.co.uk and Firebox for various gadget style gifts. Alternatively, Boots' 3 for 2 mix and match offer includes men's gadgets too.

15. Food and Drink - Finally, take advantage of all of the supermarket offers when it comes to festive food and drink. Supermarket stamps can save money on the price of your shopping and you can find out which store has the items you're looking for on offer by using sites such as FixtureFerrets.

So there you have it, fifteen tips to help you save money this Christmas. Good luck!

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