It is that time of the year where the public rushes to the shops to buy gifts for friends and family. The job doesn’t always go to plan – items go out of stock, deliveries are late, your mum isn’t letting on to what she wants and you don’t think getting her chocolate and flowers will cut it for another year.
This can prove to be an even bigger challenge for students as their student loan has likely already been stretched too far on alcohol and club tickets.
However, there’s no need to threat, here is a list of ways you can get ahead of the game this holiday season, whilst shopping on a budget:
- Budgeting Spreadsheet Templates
A great idea for managing your money this Christmas, and in general, is to keep all your finances in spreadsheet so you can work out how much money you can afford to spend on gifts. Microsoft have free templates available as well as premium ones available at www.templates.office.com/en-gb/budgets. They have a variety of templates you can download and use right away including ones for university, personal use, budget calculators and holiday trips if you’re going away this Christmas. They’re very straight-forward and easy to use, allowing you to have all your finances in one place. If you don’t have access to Microsoft products, google sheets has templates built into their website for you to use.
2. Budget Binders
If computers aren’t your thing you might want to invest in a budget binder. The binders come with pouches for different categories, such as bills, personal, food, etc, and it is a good alternative for people who aren’t too tech savvy. It will easily let you set limits for yourself for how much you will spend on certain things.
3. Discount Code Finding Google Extensions
There are two google extensions you can install onto your google browser that will come in handy this Christmas: Pouch and Honey. These extensions search the web for discount codes on items you are buying when you are at the checkout. There will be a lot of discount codes going around this festive period which may take large chunks off your shopping totals. Simply go to chrome.google.com/webstore/category/extensions and search for pouch and/ or honey. Personally, I think honey is better as it usually generates more codes but it is definitely worth having both to maximise your chances of finding codes.
4. Unidays
Unidays is an app exclusively for students which automatically generates codes for discounts off products from your favourite brands, such as Nike, Adidas, Apple, ASOS, JD Sports, etc. Discounts are usually between 10% and 30% but can sometimes be as high as 50% off. The app is free to download on the Apple and Google play stores. Once you download the app, all you need to do is make an account using your student email and you will have access to all kind of discount codes!
5. Student Beans
Student Beans is an app just like Unidays, giving discounts for students. Deals include 80% off all Gymshark items and an additional 5% off for students, discounts for boohoo as well as 10% off office. If you are a student there is no reason not take advantage of these kinds of apps.
6. Wowcher
Wowcher iscurrently doing huge deals on its website, www.wowcher.co.uk for a wide range of Christmas products. Products include Christmas decorations, cushions, socks, watches, pajamas, etc. You can get up to 88% off some products.
Stocks are going fast so buy them sooner rather than later.
7. Etsy
Etsy is an online marketplace which focuses on handmade and vintage items. They have a wide variety of products such as jewellery, bags and clothing. Etsy is great if you’re looking for something a bit more unique and also want to help out small businesses and creators. The prices on there are also more than fair so you will get great value for your money. They currently have a full section for Christmas which includes products such as cards, ornaments, crackers and decorations. You can find them at www.Etsy.com.
