Your guide to the best deals this Christmas

On the back of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, all of us are in bargain mode, especially in the run up to Christmas, making a good saving is vitally important. It is a time of the year where you see family and friends and create precious memories. It also tends to be an expensive period when you think about all the meals, presents, social outings and even holidays involved.
It doesn’t need to be an issue though – as long as you know where to go to get the best deals, you can save yourself plenty of pennies over the next month. I’ve found a few which hopefully you’ll find handy…

Health and Beauty
When it comes to gifts, you can’t go wrong with health and beauty products! Aldi are doing a great offer on concealer pen, which is going for just £2.99. Alternatively if you have a look in at Boots, there is an excellent deal of just £23 for a full Sanctuary Spa skincare set, including body wash, hand creams – the works. Boots have star gifts each week so it is definitely worth keeping an eye on. The Body Shop has a 40% off offer on all full-price items.
Restaurants
Until 5th December, you can get 25% off on all food at Prezzo if you register on their website (applies Sun – Friday). Or if you fancy staying in, there is always Papa John’s. Their Tuesday 2 for 1 offer is widely renowned, but not everyone will be aware of their 33% off for pizzas ordered online. Otherwise Bella Italia do an excellent deal of 40% off on all mains from Sunday to Friday.
Days out
You can swap Nectar points at Vue Cinemas, but another impressive deal they do is a third off on Super Tuesdays. Another interesting one for the school holidays could be to send the kids to a workshop at one of the Pets at Home stores, which is absolutely free. There are also some great deals to be had on all sorts of family days’ out as well when you register on the Days Out Guide website.
Clothes and Fashion
Not all deals close with the end with Cyber Monday.  Topshop’s online store still has up to 70% off on selected items, and although delivery is £4, you can collect in store for free. New Look have an ongoing sale of 60% off on womenswear and menswear, while Oasis are offering 70% off on roughly half of their in-store goods.
Credit card savvy
One of the best ways to give yourself a pay rise is to stop paying interest on your credit card! The APR they charge is often in excess of 20%. Whether it’s just a case of tightening the purse strings to pay it off quicker, or getting a cheap personal loan to consolidate this debt, it’s worth doing. That said, if you’re able to clear your balance each month on credit cards, you’d benefit hugely with cashback schemes on Amex or Halifax cards of up to 5%, which can give you a really significant boost. If you don’t mind switching banks, Halifax currently offer £100 when you switch. They do all the work from you and within a week, I switched a couple of years ago to them.
Planning ahead
The biggest saver of all when it comes to gift shopping is planning ahead. Often the last-minute panic of trying to find presents for everyone is to throw money at the issue! A bit of careful planning, and purchasing as far in advance as possible, should see you stay nicely within your limits, and hopefully leave you that extra bit of money on the side so that you can really enjoy yourself and even treat yourself.