Take the pain out of seasonal spending with top tips for Christmas cutbacks.

SANTA’S revving up, his clothes are dry cleaned, the sacks are piling up and the shops are starting to rub their hands in glee at what, for some, is a retail festival.

And we all need to be like the elves and start preparing. Far too many cry poverty in January and blame Christmas (or Eid, or Chanukah). Yet it’s on the same date every year, it’s not a shock, and with some decent pre-planning, you can keep the costs right down.

Don’t get me wrong. I hate the creep of Christmas into November as much as the next person – this isn’t about early festivities, it’s about planning your spending. Here are my future festivities top tips.

There’s still time to spread the cost

The best time to start saving for Christmas is on Boxing Day. After all, the average family spends £600. Spread over the year that’s only £50 a month.

Too many try to pay for Christmas out of December’s income, often a hard stretch, leaving people making up the gap with debt. However, there’s still time to start. Work out your likely Christmas spend and split it by three – and start saving now, so it’s not so tough.

£90-plus of free high street vouchers

If you have combined family income of more than £30,000 and a decent credit score, sign up to an American Express Rewards credit card.

For each month in the first three you spend more than £500, you get a bonus of 6,000 reward points – enough for a £30 Marks & Spencer, Amazon or iTunes voucher and more.

Better still, unlike most reward cards you can redeem the points as soon as you’ve earned them (in £25 tranches). ONLY do this if you pay off in full every month (preferably by direct debit), so there’s no interest. Full instructions and other freebies such as free flights at moneysavingexpert.com/ccfreebies

Let your finances rule

Too many just work through a wanna-have list: massive tree, gifts galore, plasma telly, and gourmet food – and only afterwards ask how on earth will we pay for it?

Yet the best possible thing is to work out how much you’ve got to spend and see what is the best Christmas you can have within that budget.

After all, it’s not worth a debt-soaked new year for.

Shopping is about technique

Ensure you use a “shopbot” (shopping comparison site) to benchmark prices for everything you need, even if you don’t want to buy them online (though you do get extra consumer protection). Use sites such as Kelkoo.co.uk, Pricerunner.co.uk, Foundem.com or my own megashopbot.com, which combines the results of a range of shopbots. If you do buy online, visit stores via cashback websites such as topcashback.co.uk or quidco.com to get a kickback (though only ever see this as a bonus, as it’s never 100 per cent guaranteed).

If you don’t know what you want to buy, keep an eye out for discounts and bargains. You may find a cracking “three for two” offer that gets you presents for three people at a good price.

Try moneysavingexpert.com/amazontool which finds seriously reduced price deals on the website (though always compare elsewhere to see if they’re genuine bargains).

Don’t use Tesco vouchers for Christmas food

You can often do better with them by trading them in via Tesco’s Clubcard Reward scheme, where you can get up to four times their value on things like days out, magazine subscriptions and gifts.

So £20 of vouchers becomes £80 of Clubcard rewards. However, that, of course, is based on the list price. Do check the real price of those goods before using vouchers to ensure you get maximum value.

Fancy perfume on the cheap

It’s said that more smellies are bought as a last gasp on Christmas Eve than in the whole of August. If you’re going to do this, at least do it early and save some cash via cheap online sites such as fragrancedirect.co.uk, directcostmet ics.co.uk and halfpriceperfumes.co.uk

Make a ‘no unnecessary presents’ pact

Before you start yelling Scrooge at me, it’s important to understand the impact of buying Christmas presents. I’m not just talking about all the novelty clockwork noses that are never used, but the bigger picture.

Even if you love the joy of giving, remember it creates an obligation on recipients to give in return, whether or not they can afford it.

Worse still, it can mis-prioritise our finances.

If Janet gives skint John £20 socks, and he feels obliged to return a scarf costing £20, in effect John’s spent £20 on the socks. Is that really what he’d have chosen to spend the cash on?

So while gift giving for children or in the immediate family is great, if you’re going to spread it wider, draw up a list of who you are giving to and consider its effect. Make sure you’re buying things they will need or want, and consider a pact to either not give or limit the cost.

Grab an Uggs bargain

★ Amazon’s online shoe store, javari.co.uk has classic Ugg boots from £150. But you can shave £10 off this by using the code JAVATNGC at the checkout to take £10 off orders of £50 and over. Code ends October 31.

More Ugg bargains at moneysavingexpert.com/uggs ★ For instant Burger King two-for-one vouchers, go to burgerking.co.uk/offers.

You can grab eight vouchers, including two for one Angus burgers, wraps and Tendercrisp burgers. Offer ends November 7.