Ok, so Christmas gift shopping can quickly put you out of budget if you are not careful. As a self-diagnosed money saver/bargain hunter/budgeter/couponer (don’t ask) I found (and still learning) different tips & tricks on how to save money or get more for less.
Here are some tips
Rack up points!
Shop where you can get loyalty card points and save these for later. Places like Boots like usually have offers e.g. double points for £1 spent! Since you’re shopping you may as well get ‘money back’ on what your spending, and rack up enough points and it could pay for a whole gift!( I once racked up enough points to get me a £30 YSL primer! And I am currently building points for a £75 serum!)
Use cashback sites
There are a lot of cash back deals floating around and it’s now easier than ever to get something back for what you spend. TopCashBack is one of the best sites for getting cash back on purchases online. They have a huge variety of merchants across all departments: from beauty to tech even holidays! It’s the site I use when I’m shopping online- I make it a point to check if the site is listed on TopCashBack first before spending. Yes it takes a while to get a good amount back but make the most of it this shopping season and you could be getting a good payout in Jan or so! It’s free to sign up or premier membership is £5 for the whole year.
(referral link used)
Check out TopCashBack
Combo deals/ vouchers
This may take a bit of planning and time but it’s an easy way to rack up loyalty card points and save money. During the Christmas season especially, you will notice vouchers with your receipts that give you double/triple points on your next shop or 15% off etc. keep those receipts! And plan your next shop around whatever deal they are offering and take note of the expiry date! For instance, you get vouchers with your Boots shop that offers 15% off your next shop over £20 and its valid till 30/10/17 and another entitling you to double points per £1 spend. Almost always, you can combine vouchers (I have done it many times). What you do next is, buy your presents totalling £21 to get your 15% off plus your double points! Bonus if there is a 3 for 2 deal you can combine the voucher with (this is always around Christmas time!)
Gift with Purchase
This is one of my favourite and most used trick by me. Most of the time, especially with perfumes you can get a free gift with purchase when you buy 50ml or over. But around Christmas time, this is almost guaranteed! Gifts may be weekend bags, miniature beauty items, towels etc. it’s worth waiting out for these gifts especially if you are buying perfumes. It’s like giving the recipient two gifts for the price of 1. I especially love the bags that come with perfumes – they make great hand luggage for travel or gym bags!
1st time purchase?
This is the epitome of taking advantage of every offer available! I have noticed with a lot of sites, they offer between 10-15% discounts off your 1st order when you sign up to their newsletter. But if you’re like me and you’ve already signed up to a bunch of newsletters( I recommend it as well) then you miss out on these offers HOWEVER I have a bunch of ‘back up emails’ I use when I really want to get something and save a few coins. Enter brothers, parents, friends email address kindly lent to me for this purpose LOL. The trick is choosing someone who you have easy access to, in case they have to forward you the email to get your code or you just create new email addresses lol. I just purchased a NARS foundation using a 10% off discount for signing up for the 1st time on Liberty London and I saved 10% on Cult Beauty on a Becca Glow kit (yay me!)
I hope you try these tips and tricks over this shopping season and hopefully save your save a few pounds! If you know of any more PLEASE let us know, I’m always looking for new ways to save (and spend) money. Want some gift inspiration for the beauty lover in your life? Check out this post
Happy shopping! And saving
Behold the Christmas Gift Guides are coming! In the mean time, check out all the Beauty Advent Calendars here and here
sarah fynn 