Bought my first packet of Thomas The Tank Engine Christmas chocolate buttons in Mothercare over the weekend, I now officially dispise queing systems that plant product at every twist and turn. I also conceed that I have broken the unwritten rule of uttering the word Christmas in September! Yes, yes I did! In my job (head of marketing at Get The Label) Christmas is always on the brain but that doesn’t mean that I don’t make an audible gasp when I start to see Christmas cards and decorations in shops at this time of the year, not to mention Boots starting to display their ‘3-4-2 on Christmas gifts’ stuff already.

However, when I got my regular Money Magpie newsletter with a feature about saving for Christmas, I realised this probably is a good time to start forward planning - something I am usually rubbish at. So here are some tops tips I’ve collected, and some of my own knowledge, for making the countdown to Christmas a bit easier!

from sillydog.org

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