How do you save for Xmas presents?

[AlwaysHopefull89]

Next year I am thinking of me and DH contributing to a joint savings account and using it for Xmas 2026 gifts!

how does everyone save for Xmas? Is there a saving scheme/ rewards scheme?
has anyone heard of chase?

You are covered by the direct debit guarantee with Park so no worries if went bust

I used to do Park but found I was struggling to spend the vouchers/card in the shops so began to transfer the equivalent money to a separate savings account. I'm upping the monthly payment next year to allow for inflation. But for this year was saving £60 per month giving a total of £720 for Xmas spends - it wasn't quite enough this year as we booked a couple of Christmas events too for the GCs but in the main having a chunk of money available for Christmas makes life a lot easier. As DH says Christmas happens every year and it's not a surprise so allow for it!!

I put £150 a month into a high interest savings account for Christmas and birthdays. It's a good help and means it's zero pressure.

I pay my council tax over ten months and in Feb and March where no money is taken I transfer that in to a regular savings account and leave it for the rest of the years.

We’ve had a DD into a regular savings account for years. It works perfectly as we know Christmas is covered every year.

Why would you not put it into a savings account?

There are loads around - all banks and building societies and even ISAs where you can withdraw 3 times a year with no loss of interest.

Do you not save already and just take money out of the accounts when you need to buy gifts?

I save £20 a week, set up as a direct debit into my savings account, giving me 1k for Christmas.

But they don't pay any interest presumably so they are investing your money and making money on it- for them.

I put £300 a month away for Christmas and birthdays for all family and friends, plus MOT if any left

£100 pm put in a savings account, £15 in supermarket saving scheme, very strict with this as couldn’t manage otherwise. I do this Jan-Oct.

So mine isn’t as practical as most, I suppose. I do the 1p saving challenge. So day 1 it’s 1p day 2 it’s 2p etc and by the end of the year it comes to just over £600 I think. I do it through my bank and don’t feel it going which is a plus. It’s been fab this year knowing it’s there

We do the envelope challenge… so we start New Year’s Day and spin a wheel with £1- £52 each week and seal that amount in an envelope. I also do an additional savings. Bear in mind I don’t drink or smoke, not get regular hair appointments etc so save a chuck every month from that.

We redeem our ClubCard vouchers and use that for the food shop (covers maybe half of it). Each month we save £500 into our joint savings but in December we don’t, so that £500 becomes the Christmas pot.

I used to save with Park but the vouchers aren’t always the best and after that other company (farepark? Can’t remember the name) went bust it put the frighteners on me. I now save confidently into the credit union, £50 a month and I get the cash out so I can spend anywhere I want to.

I think most regular savings accounts are for 1 year so it's too late to start one for next Christmas. But they have good interest rates and are worth doing. I've got one with First Direct and had several others. Setting up a Direct Debit means you don't have to think about it. Any instant access savings account will give you some interest (compare rates) which is at least something better than a piggy bank or stashing it under the mattress!

I've used my clubcard vouchers for taking DC out for a meal. There aren't many restaurant options left now but the exchange rate suddenly went up to 3x rather than 2x, so £30 of vouchers has given me £90 towards our food.

I wouldn't use Park either, you're converting your money into vouchers with limited places you can use them. I used to manage a chain of stores that was popular for cheap and cheerful Christmases and I can't tell you how many tears and tantrums we used to have around Christmas when people came in with their Love2Shop vouchers and we had to tell them we don't actually accept them.

We just have a separate savings account as part of our joint account and both put money into that every month. That way we can adjust our deposits if we need to, access the money in emergencies or if we find a good bargain gift in the middle of June, and spend our money wherever we want when the time comes.

I do a 12 month regular saver for Christmas.

We put £100 a month into our joint savings and have a line for 'xmas' on the spreadsheet, we do the same for birthdays, holidays, school uniform and other big expenses. It all goes into the same account so we get a decent amount of interest and we just have different 'pots' for each expense.

Christmas has cost us more than that this year but has covered most of it.

I might have a look at Park, or similar.

Currently I do nothing, and end up sorting Christmas out of October and November salaries. Which is obviously horrendous.

I would put it in a saving account, but it would end up getting spent on something else. Could do with putting it somewhere I can’t access until Christmas shopping time!

We use hyper jar, I have a Christmas pot that I save £50 a month in, holiday pot and summer holiday pot the same. We also save £20 a month in a birthday pot, just makes it so much easier when the events come around. X

The other thing I do aimed at Christmas is using any spare change to buy the savings stamps for my supermarket (Dunne’s Stores) during the year - for every €98 you save, they add the final €2. But also you can spend cards even if not full. Really useful to have extra put away for the big Christmas food shop and also to take advantage of the offers on staples at Christmas - to buy things I would use anyway when I get more of them, to use in Jan/Feb. Without having to dip into the regular grocery budget.

Since I discovered Dave Ramsey, I have a Monzo pot and put money into it in August when I work two jobs.

Before this I would use my credit card in surprise EVERY Christmas.

OH has a Christmas savings club at work. He gives a woman so much each week and she pays it all out in the middle of November.

I put £20 a month into an envelope then pay it back into my account in December.

Am I the only one who spends about 200-300 on presents?!?