Be smart about Christmas shopping this year and it could end up saving you hundreds of dollars.

The smart shoppers do two things: they hunt for the best bargains and they use the smart ways to pay for them.

Scroll down for our tips on how to do both.

🎄 4 TRICKS TO FIND THE BEST CHRISTMAS BARGAINS🎄

1. Cash in your Rewards Points

Whether it’s Flybuys, Woolworths, Qantas, Virgin or others, most of us are members of a reward scheme somewhere and it usually takes months to collect enough points to buy anything. But if you’ve let it build up all year, now’s a great time to cash in! Most of us won’t be flying anywhere much for some time to come, and you might cover a couple of gifts for FREE.

2. Check if it’s Cheaper Elsewhere!

Check if the gift you’re shopping for is cheaper somewhere else, which you can now do in a matter of seconds. There are two websites that are invaluable for comparing prices at a glance:

Google Shopping – just type what you’re looking for and Google shows you the range of retailers and prices advertised: 

Getprice.com.au – A price comparison site that lists more than 3.5 million products from over 1,200 retailers nationwide and shows you the some of cheapest advertised prices online. 

3. Use Discounted Gift Cards

Voucha is a website where you can not only buy discounted gift cards but also sell unused ones. This is a way to effectively get an extra 5% to 20% off your purchases. 

4. Check the leading Online Deals Pages

Amazon’s Top Deals today: The world’s biggest shopping marketplace has “Deals of the Day” that last a day, “Lightning Deals” that last for hours and you can also search by budget “Deals under $25” and discount (“50 per cent off or more”). 

Ozbargain’s Most Popular Deals today: Australia’s biggest bargain hunters community has pages for their ‘most popular deals’ as voted by members, or categories such as fashion, technology and home & garden.

Catch Deals: has deals on their own stock and also their ‘marketplace’, which is where they sell others’ products

eBay’s Current Deals

Kogan’s Current Deals

HOW A $1000 CHRISTMAS SPEND CAN BLOW OUT TO $1680

The true cost of $1,000 in Christmas expenses could be as much as $1680 over the coming year if you pay with high-interest cards or loans.

We’ve crunched the numbers below and revealed the ‘worst case scenarios’. If a family puts three common Christmas expenses on a credit card with 20% interest and has not paid them off within a year:

• A $150 Christmas tree could cost up to $182,
• a $250 kids bike could cost up to $304,
• $600 on travel could cost up to $730.

Paying for Christmas with a credit card might seem like a good idea at the time, but the true cost might shock you when the bill arrives. So, how can you treat your family this festive season without the financial hangover? Shaun White has the answer 🎄🎁 pic.twitter.com/ktOGIqspPH— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) November 25, 2020

Include a $200 annual fee on the card and the worst case scenario for that $1000 Christmas spend adds up to $1416 after one year. Using a payday loan, the worst case scenario would be even more, totalling $1680.

Even in a ‘best case scenario’ where the $1000 is paid off by the end of February, credit cards and payday loans are still more expensive than smarter options.

PAYMENT METHOD	BEST CASE IF PAID OFF AFTER 2MTHS
Cash	$1000
Debit Card	$1000
Buy Now Pay Later	$1000
Credit Card (20%)	$1045
Payday Loan	$1280

For many Australian families, Christmas in 2020 will be financially distressing. The current recession will no doubt add pressure.

But resorting to high interest products will intensify the pressure in the new year.

Any information is general advice, it does not take into account your individual circumstances, objectives, financial situation or needs.

Check KILL BILLS for more helpful tips about saving.