TRANSFORMING your home into a festive wonderland is all part of the magic of Christmas – but it can be difficult to do it on a budget.
The shops are now chock-a-block filled with decorations, so we’ve scoured the shelves to find the best value and must-have items to adorn your tree and your home this winter.
Everyone has their own traditions and ceremonies around putting up the tree and Christmas decorations.
But one thing that’s true for everyone is that this is an expensive time of the year, so saving cash where you can is a must.
Sign up to loyalty schemes at stores to bag points or any special offers and discounts.
If you are looking for specific items, find the best value by using a shopping comparison site such as pricerunner.
And don’t forget about cashback, you can get money back if you go through online sites such as topcashback.co.uk or Quidco.
Here’s some of the best decorations available in the big-name high street stores…
ARGOS
Baubles are the bread and butter of decorating any Christmas tree, so thankfully a pack of 24 gold or red baubles comes in at £5, or a pack of 49 for £10, in both cases working working out at just under 21p each per bauble.
There are also loads of sweet individual felt tree decorations from Habitat through Argos for around £4 or £5 each.
B&M Bargains
You can get a 20-pack of baubles for £4, working out at 20p each, or a more basic pack of 40 is £5, working out at around 12.5p a decoration.
Individual decorations start at around £1.50 and go up to £3.
POUNDLAND
You can get four glittery baubles for £1 from Poundland, and other individual tree decorations start from £1 each.
Ceramic trees that will look perfect on a mantelpiece or as part of a table centrepiece are between £2 and £3 from Poundland and match well with similar style Christmas tree candles.
Poundland is currently running a “12 Days of Christmas” event with heavily discounted items in store changing from week to week, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for special deals over the coming weeks.
MARKS AND SPENCER
Individual and quirky decorations are a great way to personalise your tree, and the hanging decorations at M&S are fab for this.
There’s currently no special offers on decorations and with the majority at £5, you’ll probably just want to choose one or two to give your tree some character.
Choose from a glittering champagne bottle, felt sausage dog, elf, polar bear and lots of other characters.
If you love the store’s Christmas ad, you can also bag your very own
Christmas Fairy Cloche Bauble, £6.
A light-up bauble garland, £20, is another star of the store’s decorations and perfect for lining stair banisters or mantelpieces.
Oversized baubles work really well on larger trees and a pack of 10 is £10 from the store.
Light-up snow globes, £25, are a magical touch for mantelpieces or other sides that you are decorating.
FLYING TIGER
If you want quirky decorations, Flying Tiger is another great option and with most coming in at £2 or £3, it’s a bit of a cheaper option than M&S.
Choose from festive broccoli, croissants, popcorn machines, gin bottles, aubergines, as well as more traditional Christmas figures including gingerbread men, candy canes and santas.
You can also get a good value gold star tree topper for £3.50 from the store.
There’s a range of different string lights to choose from, including golden leaves, red berries and stars with prices starting from £4.50.
TESCO
Head to the supermarket to pick up some really affordable decorations, with prices for individual pieces starting from 50p,
Or you can get a 20-pack of basic baubles for £1.75 at Tesco – one of the cheapest options we could find with each bauble working out at just under 9p each.
And you can get a whopping 50-pack of decorations including a star tree topper for £8.
There are no special offers or Clubcard prices available at the moment, but it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled for loyalty discounts in the coming weeks.
WILKO
There are currently some discounts available on a range of Christmas decorations at Wilko.
A pack of 36 gold or silver baubles is down from £10.50 to £7 working out at just under 20 per decoration.
You can also get a four-pack of stitched Christmas characters for £8 down from £10.50.
LIGHT UP
Twinkling lights are a big part of Christmas decorating and most stores offer the festive must-have.
You can get 480 LED lights for £25 at Argos.
Until Wednesday, Poundland shoppers can get 40 LED lights for half price down from £1.50 to 75p and an eight LED mini light chain is 75p instead of its usual price of £1.25
Homebase is running a promotion from November 14 to December 8 where you can get 25% off all lights.
How to save money on Christmas shopping
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save money on your Christmas shopping.
Limit the amount of presents – buying presents for all your family and friends can cost a bomb.
Instead, why not organise a Secret Santa between your inner circles so you’re not having to buy multiple presents.
Plan ahead – if you’ve got the stamina and budget, it’s worth buying your Christmas presents for the following year in the January sales.
Make sure you shop around for the best deals by using price comparison sites so you’re not forking out more than you should though.
Buy in Boxing Day sales – some retailers start their main Christmas sales early so you can actually snap up a bargain before December 25.
Delivery may cost you a bit more, but it can be worth it if the savings are decent.
Shop via outlet stores – you can save loads of money shopping via outlet stores like Amazon Warehouse or Office Offcuts.
They work by selling returned or slightly damaged products at a discounted rate, but usually any wear and tear is minor.