10 Smart Christmas Shopping Tips for 2025

It’s almost that time of year again. The time to start your festive season shopping is well and truly upon us, so why not make it as easy as possible? Get ahead of the holiday rush – plan your Christmas shopping strategies and get a grip on your gift giving with this holiday shopping guide 2025: 10 of the best Christmas shopping tips to help you avoid overspending, find the best deals and enjoy a stress-free holiday season.

The festive season can often feel less about celebrating, and more like an endless to-do list. In fact, a recent YouGov survey revealed that more than 45% of festive shoppers in the UK are very or somewhat stressed about gift shopping this year. So, if you’re wondering how to make the most out of the 2025 holidays, this guide will help you do just that.

Discover the smart Christmas shopping tips for this year, nail those gift lists with the Christmas trends of 2025, and embrace the savviest of Christmas budget tips. By managing your spending and getting organised, you can enjoy stress-free Christmas shopping.

Christmas shopping tips 2025:

1. Embrace early Christmas shopping – how to prepare for Christmas 2025? In short, start early. Plan out the gifts you’d like to get each person, the food you’d like, and set a budget, all well in advance. This way, you’ll give yourself a good amount of time to get it all done – avoiding last-minute rushing, impulse purchases and extra stress.
2. Think about your timelines – do you have friends or family you need to post presents to? Or are you ordering from somewhere with longer dispatch times? Make sure you account for these factors when planning your shopping and wrapping times. Buy the gifts that need more time to arrive, or get to their recipient, first – so you can avoid last-minute dashes to the post office or expensive next-day shipping costs.
3. Leverage technology – make use of AI-powered shopping assistants. They can create gift list ideas based on interests and budget, saving you hours of browsing. Plus, tools like AI-driven browser extensions or shopping apps can track item prices and notify you when they drop.
4. Ask for help – make sure you’re not the only one doing the heavy duty parts of Christmas. Even smaller tasks allocated out can take some of the load off. Ask a guest to bring dessert, and task somebody to ensure you’re stocked up on practical essentials (like batteries), or to be in charge of drinks.
5. Gift less, not more – looking for affordable Christmas gifts? Going in on joint gifts with friends or siblings, or doing a Secret Santa are simple ways to save time and money. Or, why not try making presents rather than going out to buy something?
6. Find the perfect present – get thinking early about what to buy those on your list. Keep a note during the year if a friend comments on a nice jumper or mentions they need a new notebook. Then, when it comes to the festive season, voilà – you’ll get them something they want.
7. Consider sustainable gifting – this could be refurbished or thrifted presents, experience gifts which use zero shipping and wrapping, or locally-made items. They all can be more personal and better for the planet, too.
8. Create a smart budget – it’s important to know how to keep Christmas costs down to avoid stretching yourself financially. Set a spending limit for the whole of the season – then allocate dynamic budgets for different areas like food, decorations and gifts. Ensure you stick to these by loading a prepaid credit card, so you can only spend what you intend to.
9. Shop when prices are low – decide what you want to buy in advance, then purchase during sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
10. Make your money work harder – stack up the ways you can save money. For example, shop with a cashback credit card, take advantage of rewards and discounts offered through loyalty programmes or during shopping weekends or when you sign up to mailing lists, and make use of discount gift cards.

How many shopping days to Christmas 2025?

As of now (mid-end of November), there are about 21 shopping days left until 25th December.

What can I prepare in advance for Christmas?

There are plenty of things you can do ahead of time:

• Stock up on supplies in the January sales and save them for next Christmas
• Write your gifting lists and buy them throughout the year
• Plan your menus and write out shopping lists
• Buy long-lasting food or drink throughout the year when it’s on offer
• Make or buy food ahead of time and freeze it
• Schedule any travel before prices rise
• Do a pre-holiday declutter of clothes and toys, and take them to a charity shop to be re-gifted
• Write your Christmas cards whenever you have time during the year

What to do two weeks before Christmas?

If you want to feel organised, finish buying and wrapping your presents in early December. Then the two weeks leading up to the big day can be spent decorating and finishing off your grocery shopping – plus enjoying some downtime. Check off these important things two weeks before
Christmas day:

• Double-check you have something for everyone on your list
• Prepare backup gifts (like chocolates, candles, wine) for unexpected visitors
• Prepare and freeze food
• Give your house a good clean
• If anyone is bringing food, drink or games, remind them
• Locate any gift receipts
• Double-check any bookings – confirm hair appointments, deliveries and pet care
• Choose your outfits for events like work parties, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and New Year’s Eve
• Post the last of your Christmas cards
• Schedule in some time for yourself to unwind. Enjoy some downtime, get out and exercise, or get a festive manicure or relaxing treatment

Christmas Gift Ideas 2025

The more you know about this year’s shopping and gifting trends, the easier you’ll find it to navigate them. So, what’s new for Christmas 2025? This year, many of us are likely to be even more digitally savvy and budget-conscious due to ongoing economic uncertainties and a continued focus on sustainable consumption. Think eco-friendly gifts, sustainable wrapping, smart home light displays, personalised gifting, a preference for experiences over material presents and minimalist natural themes.

How does Christmas fall in 2025?

This year, Christmas Day falls on a Thursday, and Boxing Day is on a Friday. This means that New Year’s Eve will be a Wednesday, and New Year's Day is a Thursday. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are always exactly a week apart. So, whatever day Christmas falls on, New Year’s Day will also be on that same day, precisely a week later.

What day should Christmas decorations come down in 2025?

Traditionally decorations are supposed to be taken down on the ‘Twelve Night’ after Christmas. This is on 6th January.