Tips for SAVING $$ these holidays w/out looking like a GrInCh

Need to know

• Keep your Christmas spending under control. Make yourself a budget, allocating a certain amount for gifts and stick to it. Overspending and impulse buying leads to parents spending an average of $300 on presents per child!
• Think tactically when buying for kids, if you start buying them expensive, advanced, electrical pressies from a young age, you'll have nowhere to go when they get older
• Use comparison sites like shop.com/prettysmart when you're shopping online to find the gifts for the best price. Remember to factor in delivery cost
• You can get branded gifts like watches, clothes and even toys with up to 70% off from Secret sales sites. BUT some sellers can be VERYslow to dispatch-  an estimated delivery date should be given at checkout but it’s safer to expect them to be late, if it’s getting close to the big day you may want to shop elsewhere
• In mid-December shops will start cutting prices, Black Friday which has MASSIVE online discounts is Friday 28th November. For the BIGGEST discounts shop from shop.com/prettysmart to catch the January Sales. If you’re meeting up with family after Christmas wait and grab their pressies then
• A cashback site like shop.com/prettysmart will give you money back as you shop. Confident credit card users should consider a cashback credit card with their favorite regular stores. 
• Homemade gift ideas
• • Well presented homemade gifts need never look cheap. Check out shop.com/prettysmart for ribbons and cellophane wraps) and get creative!
    • Infused Olive oil or Vodka is SUPER easy, check out allrecipes.com for recipes and shop.com/prettysmart for posh bottles to decant into
    • Christmas Cake Pops and Gingerbread men will go down a storm with kids and foodies. Make your cake pops ahead of time and freeze them (with or without dipping.  We’ve found thawing them in the fridge prevents them from ‘sweating’)
    • A 52 Reasons why I love you set of playing cards is a lovely gift. Just stick a reason on the back of every card of a pack. 
    • A GREAT Retro gift could be buying a pretty jar (again try shop.com/prettysmart) and filling it with the recipient’s favorite penny sweets
    • Cut an offshoot of any veg, flowers or herbs you grow, put it in water and after it has grown its own roots, transfer it to a personalised pot – great gift for kids as it turns into a project. Or, use a few pots and shoots to create a small indoor garden for adults!
    • Here's a REALLY easy reciepe for a GREAT body scrub: 
    1. Buy a pretty jar (or EVEN CHEAPER decorate a jam jar)
    2. Fill it with granulated sugar
    3. Fill the jar with rice bran oil (great for your skin), you can infuse this oil first with a couple of drops of essential oils (shop.com/prettysmart)
    4. Let the oil settle and then top up
    5. Present with a ribbon and a label