​Martyn James: How to survive the countdown to Christmas

Make a mini-budget

I hate budgeting with all my heart. But if you take just 30 minutes out of your day, you’ll save yourself so much hassle in the coming weeks.

I recommend dividing up your festive planning in to a few separate manageable chunks. I’d suggest using the following categories:

· Gifts for family members and friends

· Cards and postage

· The Christmas meal

· Decorations

· Travel

· Entertainment

Create a simple spreadsheet – there are lots of free templates available online – and work out roughly what the minimum and maximum you’d like to spend is. You can use this list to set savings targets each week in the run-up to December.

Knowing your budget also means you can manage expectations if money is tight. Don’t be tempted to borrow to pay for Christmas – it’s a false economy.

Shop savvy in the sales

You should never go to the supermarket when you are hungry – and in the same way you should never go shopping in the sales without a clear agenda.

Use your budget planner to select your gifts for friends and family.

You can use sites like CamelCamelCamel for Amazon products and PriceSpy for other retailers to find out if you’re getting a good price on an item in the sale, or whether it was cheaper in the past. You can even set price alerts on some sites so you get notified when the price drops to your ideal range”.

My good mate, TV’s Coupon King Jordan Cox, says “You can use online sites like Honey to search for voucher codes. You can also use cashback sites like TopCashback to get a bit of your money back on purchases”.

Jordan also recommends dropping an item in your online shopping basket and leaving it there. You may find that a discount code or offer of up to 20 per cent materialises from an anxious retailer.

Get clever with your cash

There are loads of apps available online that are designed to help you save money, claim cashback and voucher offers while you spend or monitor your weekly spending. I use Hyperjar but there are loads of other options out there for free too: even through your bank!

Work out what money you can afford to put aside each week and set up a transfer so the money goes in to your new savings account as soon as your wages or credits land in your current account.

Christmas travel plans

I went to book my train tickets to Manchester this week only to discover the dreaded engineering works meant my return journey would take twice as long and involve two changes. So no matter how you are travelling, now is the time to plan your journey.

For the last few years, weather has put a spanner in the works, so make sure your plans are adaptable, and you have a bit of spare cash or an emergency credit card to cover you if you get stuck. Check out the coach options if the trains are up the spout – and there’s always flying too, though you’ll have to act now to get a good deal.

Dealing with dinner

It might seem far off, but the Christmas online delivery slots are now largely available and are booking up quickly. Which? has a great list of the supermarkets and the options if you type ‘Which? Christmas delivery’ in to a search drive.

If you’re planning on going out, now is the time to book too, as restaurants are already super busy! And don’t forget to defrost your fridge and start buying up Christmas dinner items now to avoid the mad rush!

Martyn James is a leading consumer rights campaigner, TV and radio broadcaster and journalist. Visit martynjamesexpert.co.uk