Spending at Christmas can really add up - Joanne Gilchrist has plenty of ideas to help Christian parents keep control
As a parent on a tight income, Christmas can turn from a season of joy to one of dread. Instead of Advent being the joyful anticipation of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, it becomes a prolonged period of anxiety. Waking up each day with that tight knot in your chest, feeling like you can’t breathe because you are counting the cost of every penny, leaves you feeling emotionally empty as well as financially broke.
As someone who has lived with the tension of a small income but a huge love of Christmas and desire to be generous (my second love language is ‘gifts’), I would love to share some of my tips and tricks to making Christmas (and Advent) amazing while on a tight budget.
shopping on a budget is not only empowering but also a gateway to freeing up your creativity and problem solving skills
A budget doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s basically a list of ‘Christmas stuff’ with a number next to it of how much you can afford to spend. (See the picture below I made for you).
I resisted making a Christmas budget for years (I was in denial about how much I spent on Christmas). I have since learned that shopping on a budget is not only empowering but also a gateway to freeing up your creativity and problem solving skills.
1. Start now for next Christmas
If you have never made a Christmas budget before, start by making a list of everything you buy this Christmas - don’t budget this year, just keep track and add up the total in January. If that’s too scary, ask a friend to help. Then open a new savings account with your bank (this takes about 90 seconds with online banking) and rename it ‘Christmas 2026’. Divide last year’s total by 12 and create a monthly standing order into the ‘Christmas 2026’ account from your main account, soon after payday.
If you can’t afford to save that much every month, then instead, save what you can afford and follow some of these tips to reduce your spending at Christmas.
2. Go Shopping with Jesus
When my friend Claire told me that she always goes shopping with Jesus, my first thought was “That’s ridiculous” and my second thought was “of course! Why have I never done that before?”
She told me that when she goes shopping with Jesus, she prays before she goes, she listens to his voice, directing her towards certain shops, staying away from others and often finds the perfect bargain for what she needs.
If we can trust God with our hearts, our lives and our eternity, then surely we can trust him with our bank balance
When Jesus is Lord of your life, it’s not just in the big things but the small, every day things too. If we can trust God with our hearts, our lives and our eternity, then surely we can trust him with our bank balance.
“Father God, help me shop for Christmas. Help me make good choices, show me the best use of my money and lead me towards a bargain, I pray. Amen”.
3. Make gifts personal, not pricey
Shopping on a budget fuels creativity. Eighteen years ago, my boss asked me to buy each member of our crew (yes, the literal crew, who worked on our YWAM ship, the m/v Pacific Link in New Zealand) a Christmas Gift and I had a limit of $15 each (about £8).
With such a small amount, I had to get very creative. I had to think about each person as an individual and what would bring them joy. It was wonderful fun! Much more fun than ordering the same expensive corporate gift for everyone - because it’s always more expensive to go with the easy option.
the retail sector needs us to spend money at Christmas but the burden of the UK economy really doesn’t fall on your shoulders
4. Shop smart, not quick
Recognise some of the retail sector’s tactics. They put time limits on things so you panic-buy instead of smart-buy. So shop around. Leave things in your basket and come back the next day to see if you still want it. If it’s on sale that doesn’t always mean it’s the cheapest option available. Yes, the retail sector needs us to spend money at Christmas but the burden of the UK economy really doesn’t fall on your shoulders.
5. When you’ve bought everything on your list, STOP
I am always tempted to do a ‘panic shop’ in the last few days before Christmas but those panic-buys are almost always unnecessary nonsense. Instead, ask God for more self-control and imagine all the extra money you will have in January because you stuck to your budget and stuck to your list.
embrace the life-giving empowerment of guilt-free shopping because you know it’s been saved and budgeted for
6. Stockings are money suckers
I try to limit stockings to £20 per person but that’s really difficult; you can easily spend £30-£50 on a stocking without even thinking about it. For my family of five, do I really want to spend £150 - £250 on stuff that is essentially rubbish and forgotten about within half an hour?
One of my tricks is to put a chocolate orange at the bottom plus a bottle of something like bubble bath or a favourite festive beverage. With two bulky items in the stocking, you don’t need to spend as much to fill up the rest. I also buy stocking trinkets throughout the year, to spread the cost.
Read more:
Keeping Christ central is key for Christian families this Christmas and Advent
Wait for Christmas as a Christian family - it’s a vital part of who you are
7. Christmas cards
Christmas cards are not particularly expensive but the postage is. So feel free to give Christmas cards to as many people as you see face to face and only post cards to those you will otherwise offend or to those you’ll be posting a gift to anyway. If you do it early enough in the season, they’ll often give one back so you can still have a mantle-piece full of cards and get that festive feeling.
8. Subscribe to the experts
I am indebted to the tips and discounts I’ve found subscribing to the Money Saving Expert newsletter over the past 20 years. This year, on Martin Lewis’ Money Show, they’re even looking for people who have decided to go “Pre-Nupp” this Christmas which stands for “Pre-Christmas No Unnecessary Presents Pact”. Have you heard of such a thing? It sounds like a great idea. I wonder if it will catch on?
gammon is much cheaper than a turkey and you can glaze it with Christmas spices
9. A Night Light Drive
Instead of buying expensive tickets to a stately home’s light-walk, simply designate a night for a ‘Late-Night-Light-Drive’ and make it an event. Get the kids into their PJs with a bag of festive snacks and a warm drink and let them stay up late for a drive around town, aiming for streets with the most lit-up decorations. Let the Christmas music blare! (If you don’t know where to go, your local community Facebook page or WhatsApp group will). You could even get creative and make a bingo sheet for them to complete.
10. Cheaper substitutes that are just as festive
There are plenty of other festive substitutes that cost less. A gammon is much cheaper than a turkey and you can glaze it with Christmas spices. Cheap crackers make the same bang as expensive ones (and you get to join in with the nation’s collective humour over cheap Christmas cracker jokes and gifts). There will be more bargains at your local church’s craft fair then there will be at city centre Christmas markets.
Instead of thinking it’s a burden to Christmas shop on a budget, embrace the life-giving empowerment of guilt-free shopping because you know it’s been saved and budgeted for.
Most of all, that knot of anxiety will be replaced with peace and you’ll have the emotional freedom to worship Jesus and celebrate his birth with joy without worrying whether or not you can afford it.
