Martin Lewis says parents can reduce £800 Christmas bill 'by hundreds'

Martin Lewis urges parents to reduce Christmas bill from £800 to £0
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Martin Lewis has explained three ways to get cashback on Christmas spending worth HUNDREDS. ITV The Martin Lewis Money Show star Mr Lewis has explained how people can act to ensure the festive season is paying for itself this December.

He explained three cashback rules that each shopper should follow to earn hundreds - if not thousands of pounds. Speaking out, Martin previously said the average family spends £800 on Christmas but you can reduce it by being savvy. He said: “Christmas is coming, it’s the big high spend period of the year.

"The period before Christmas and just after Christmas is when we spend most amount of money.” He said: “This is not an excuse to spend more than you normally do." He advised that people should think “how much money do I have to spend this Christmas”.

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Then work out what’s the best possible Christmas they can have on that amount of money. He also added that now is the time to also make a "no unnecessary present pact”.

Cards

He said: “Plastic will pay you to spend on them. It can be credit cards or or debit cards.” Mr Lewis recommended the American Express every day credit card which is giving 5% of cashback on spending in the first five months of opening the card, up to a maximum of £125.

And with the American Express gold card, if you spend £3,000 in the first three months it will £115 of Amazon or M&S vouchers, plus you get other perks such as airport lounge passes. The expert said: “The most important thing when doing this, is that you don’t want to pay any interest so you must pay the card off in full every month.”

With debit cards, Martin recommended the Chase debit card which you get via the Chase app. Martin said: “It’s so easy, 1% cashback up to £180 a year.”

Cashback sites

Discussing Quidco or TopCashback, Martin said: “Some people make hundreds or thousands of pounds a year by shopping through these sites.” Martin added: “Always focus on getting the right product for you, then see if you can get cashback on top of it.”

Mobile rewards

The Airtime Rewards cashback app is a very easy way to get money off your mobile bill with O2, EE, Vodafone and others. Just link your bank account to it and it automatically tracks your spending at over 200 retailers and gives you 1% to 15% cashback at them. Better still, you can often use it alongside other cashback sites such as Topcashback and Quidco so in most cases it's a hassle-free no-brainer.

He said: “This is the icing on the cake.”