How to have a thrifty Christmas that doesn’t feel cheap

Christmas is often a strain on finances, but families are especially feeling the pinch this year. With energy bills rising and inflation at its highest level in nearly a decade, some will wonder how they can comfortably afford to celebrate the festive season.

Citizens Advice estimates that almost one in ten shoppers are planning to use buy now, pay later (BNPL) schemes to see them through Christmas.

After analysing income data against household spending, the charity found some 3.2 million households are struggling to cover the cost of essentials.

Festive revamp: Octavia Lonergan (pictured) is upcyling second-hand doll’s houses for her twin girls

A poll by investment firm AJ Bell also found that two thirds of us are planning to spend less this Christmas. On average individuals are spending between £100 and £250 on gifts this year.

But it’s not all doom and gloom — second-hand marketplaces are booming.

Research by online store Vinted found that more than half of shoppers intend to buy pre-loved gifts this year. Food waste apps, recycled wrapping paper and tree renting can also help you bring costs down while boosting sustainability.

Here Money Mail speaks to five frugal parents who share their tips for a thrifty and eco-friendly Christmas…

‘I’m upcycling for my girls this year’

As the mum of two-year-old twin girls, Octavia Lonergan knows all too well how expensive children’s toys can be.  

That’s why the 41-year-old has decided to stick to second-hand shops and auction sites this year and is committed to ‘upcycling’ — a booming trend where people repair and transform old, unwanted items.

She has found her daughters matching pink doll’s houses which she is now revamping in time for Christmas.

Octavia, a poet and children’s author from Croydon, says: ‘I noticed the girls were always playing with the doll’s house at their pre-school.

‘But when I started looking for one for Christmas, I found they were all really expensive.

‘I try to shop sustainably anyway and I liked the idea of not buying loads of new plastic. So I started keeping my eye out for second-hand doll’s houses instead.

‘The first one cost me £37, including postage, then I managed to find an identical one from another seller for £15. I’m now going to paint them and do them up so they’re unique for both of them.’

Food waste apps, recycled wrapping paper and tree renting can also help you bring Christmas costs down while boosting sustainability

Food waste apps, recycled wrapping paper and tree renting can also help you bring Christmas costs down while boosting sustainability

Octavia says she and her husband have become increasingly concerned about rising energy costs and monitor their smart meter carefully.

They’re also worried about soaring costs in the supermarket.

Octavia says: ‘We moved to a bigger house in the summer and it means our energy costs have gone up. And with having twins, everything we buy costs twice as much. They turn three just after Christmas so we have two sets of presents to pay for.’

‘Our gift wrap is from the 80s ‘

Since setting up their own second-hand toy swap app in 2018, Emma and Jason Ash have been committed to living sustainably.

The couple, from Berkshire, buy exclusively pre-loved gifts for their three sons, aged between eight and 14 — and this Christmas will be no different.

Emma, 46, who used to work in PR for brands including Moët & Chandon and Givenchy, is also a fan of recycling old wrapping paper and cutting up old cards to be reused as gift tags. 

It’s a trick she learned from her mother, meaning the family still has wrapping paper that dates back to the 1980s.

She says: ‘I’m very thrifty and proud. As a family we’re keen to show that you can be sustainable and still give a nice and memorable gift. There is so much stuff already out in the world that is gathering dust. It’s important to take stock of what we have and what we might not be using.’

Emma insists her boys — Freddie, 14, Thomas, 11, and Hector, eight — don’t notice a difference. They have received everything from second-hand toys and bikes to technology such as laptops and consoles.

She says: ‘The actual cost of the gift isn’t important. It’s the value the child sees in it that’s key.

‘Re-gifting something that’s already been used significantly reduces the environmental cost and impact and that can only be a good thing.’

Emma and Jason run YoungPlanet, an app that allows parents to swap childrens’ toys and clothes for free.

‘I forage for presents’

Sloe gin, rosehip syrup and crab apple jelly are among some of the Christmas gifts Roxanne Braun has made from foraged goods. 

The mum of two and her husband Doug are determined not to overspend at Christmas and rely on second-hand and home-made presents to keep their costs down.

They have a £75 budget for their children Lockie, five, and Scarlett, three. On top of that they run a Secret Santa for their extended family with a spending limit of just £30.

Goodwill hunting: Roxanne Braun (pictured with son Lockie) and her husband are determined not to overspend at Christmas and rely on second-hand and home-made presents

Goodwill hunting: Roxanne Braun (pictured with son Lockie) and her husband are determined not to overspend at Christmas and rely on second-hand and home-made presents

Everybody else is given gifts made from Roxanne’s foraging trips. Roxanne, 37, from Sussex, says: ‘Christmas is so expensive, especially when you have children.

‘I really don’t want to get into debt over a holiday. That’s why we do everything we can to keep costs down.

‘I often go out foraging with the children anyway as I think getting outdoors is good for their development.

‘And I use what we find to make gifts for my friends. This year they’ll be getting crab- apple jelly and it will be nicely packaged up in glass jars.

‘As for the kids, we have a no plastic tat rule. We only buy toys that they will actually play with to make sure all the money is well spent. I don’t think they have a clue.’

‘We use food waste apps’

When Laura Roso Vidrequin and her family settle down for Christmas dinner this year, it will include leftover vegetables which otherwise would have gone to waste.

The 31-year-old mum is a big fan of Oddbox — a service that provides customers with fruit and veg which would be otherwise rejected by supermarkets due to their unusual shape or size.

At £12.99 a week, Laura considers the boxes a bargain that helps bring down food waste. She also uses the app Too Good To Go — a service where users pick up food that would otherwise go to waste from cafes and restaurants.

Laura, who lives with her husband Harold and three-year-old son Albert in West London, says: ‘You have an idea of the kinds of food you will get and then you can start creating a meal around that.

The Too Good To Go app provides a service where users pick up food that would otherwise go to waste from cafes and restaurants

The Too Good To Go app provides a service where users pick up food that would otherwise go to waste from cafes and restaurants

‘A few years ago, I started to commit to a more sustainable life and so I try to keep Christmas as eco-friendly as possible. We have even managed to rent our tree this year for around £80.’

Millions of trees end up in landfill but renting one means it will be stored in a pot until it is needed again the following year or replanted somewhere, she explains.

Laura has worked all over the world as a buyer for premium fashion brands including Net-a-Porter and Ralph Lauren.

However she turned her back on the luxury world last year, moving her attention instead to her second-hand business for children’s clothing and toys.

The site — Kids O’clock — boasts items from big labels including Gucci and Harvey Nichols as well as High Street brands for low prices.

She says: ‘For so long, second-hand items have come with the expectation there must be something wrong with them.

‘I’m a big believer that it doesn’t matter how much you have spent on a gift. What matters is that it is thoughtful and well presented.’

‘Our Christmas plan takes all year’

While most of us spend January winding down from the festive buzz, mum Imogen Tinkler is already planning for next year.

She and her husband Duncan, both 39, spend all year making presents and foodstuffs to put into hampers for friends and family at the end of the year.

Their goods include marmalades, cocktail mixers and elderflower chutneys made when the ingredients are in season, then stored for Christmas.

The idea came from when the couple fell on hard times last year after they had to close their pop-up supper club business in lockdown. Determined not to let their financial difficulties get the better of them, they started preparing ahead for Christmas.

Imogen, from Whitstable, Kent, says: ‘We started making the hampers because we were low on money last year.

‘The first lockdown was quite a dark time for us. But this year we’re doing it because our friends and family really appreciated them.

‘It made us realise that you don’t have to spend a fortune at Christmas and it’s far better to give people something meaningful.’

The couple have since turned their business into an online community called the Kitchen Table Revolution.

They offer lessons to members on foraging and making goods.

They are also planning to buy second-hand gifts for their daughter Xanthe, four, and their son Athene who is just four months old.

Imogen says: ‘I just want to reassure anybody who is struggling with their finances this Christmas that they really shouldn’t worry.

‘There are lots of ways to give special gifts without spending a fortune.’

h.kelly@dailymail.co.uk

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