Gifts, meals, decorations… Beyond its festive and even magical nature for children, Christmas can be a particularly thorny period for finances. And even more so after the inflationary wave which has overwhelmed the French for two years. Not to mention the mental load associated with all the preparations. According to a recent CSA survey for Cofidis, the French will spend this year on average the tidy sum of 549 euros during the end-of-year holidays, a budget down by 19 euros compared to 2022. But don’t panic, tips and advice for lowering the bill and finding your way through the Christmas special aisles exist, and are numerous. Eight experts share their secrets at Le Figaro. Overview.
In a few days, young and old will marvel at the opening of their gifts. But if they have not yet been purchased, you should not delay. Some toys are already “almost out of stock”, warns Frédérique Tutt, in charge of the toy sector at Circana. This is particularly the case with Bitzee, these interactive hologram animals, voted best toy of the year. If the French postpone the purchase of their gifts until the last minute, the brands “will only carry out a few restockings”. “If you see a product available, it is better to insure and buy it,” advises the specialist.
Even though there is very little time left, there are a few tips to save money, starting with where to buy. “In supermarkets and hypermarkets, the offer is quite limited but the brands have every interest in doing last minute promotions to avoid stocking up and leave room for the white wine month, in January,” explains Frédérique Tutt . You will also be able to fill your “pool on your loyalty card to finance your food purchases”, adds Emily Mayer, Director of Business Insights at Circana.
Toy specialists also call for attention to promotions. “You have to be on the lookout for discounts, in stores or on the Internet, which last around two to three days,” notes Franck Mathais, spokesperson for JouéClub. The weekend of December 9-10, for example, the brand applied a 20% reduction on all Hasbro games. Franck Mathais also recommends “defining a budget” to avoid having unpleasant surprises at the checkout.
If your finances are a little tight at the end of the year, some brands are even offering to postpone collection until 2024, “after the payment of December salaries”. Kingtoy, which launched this system in 2017, wishes to “offer flexibility in the purchasing power” of their customers. The latter thus have the possibility of paying for their purchases by check and as soon as the financial organization affiliated with King Cadeau validates it, “it will not be debited until the beginning of 2024”. “It is most often the grandparents who benefit from it,” specifies the brand.
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But new toys can be very expensive, especially for a large family. “Don’t hesitate to go second hand,” recommends Emily Mayer. A practice “increasingly used on toys and which represented 4.7% of the market in 2022,” reports the consumer goods expert at Circana. Only problem, between now and December 25, delivery times are very limited. It is therefore better to go to consignment stores or go through second-hand platforms. “In terms of logistics, as deadlines are tight and delivery providers are in high demand, it is perhaps more prudent to choose hand delivery,” says Leboncoin.
Among the most popular toys are the eternal Lego, Playmobil, Kapla or Paw Patrol. As for board games, these are Skyjo, Gravitrax, Gagne ton papa, Kluster and even Tonies. Some toy specialists also offer spaces dedicated to the occasion, such as at JouéClub: “To make a little extra money, customers have the possibility of dropping off old toys at the Trocojouet service and receiving a voucher that they can use immediately in the store.”
But beware of promotions or offers that are too tempting, especially online. “Fraudsters rush into periods when there are the most requests, like Christmas,” warns Grégory Caret, director of the UFC-Que Choisir Consumer Observatory. “You should always check and compare prices before purchasing a product,” recommends the expert. He points in particular to a Samsung smartphone sold for 900 euros in January, which is now worth 500 euros. “Several sites display this price specifying that it is a promotion when that is not the case, it is the same price for everyone,” laments Grégory Caret.
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When it comes to Christmas meals, it is entirely possible to impress your guests without breaking the bank too much. First of all, to avoid running up the bill, setting a budget in advance can, here too, be a solution. Likewise, you can try to limit the number of guests or the quantities served at the table. In addition to lowering costs, this will avoid throwing away food, while the end-of-year holidays are precisely “a period when waste is greater than during the rest of the year”, underlines Emmanuel Fournet, analytics director at NielsenIQ. And why not organize a “participatory” meal, where each guest brings a component of the menu (aperitif, drinks, main course, dessert, etc.).
Once you have all this in mind, it’s time to go shopping. And there’s no need to necessarily go for the star products, such as champagne, foie gras or smoked salmon, to please your guests. “One strategy, already popular with the French, is to turn to less premium or substitute products,” observes Emmanuel Fournet. Think for example of smoked trout rather than salmon, pâtés rather than foie gras or even turkey or chicken rather than capon. “We should not hesitate to change the codes and move towards quality poultry, free-range or Label Rouge, like a good chicken,” notes Patricia Chairopoulos, journalist with 60 million consumers. The Monoprix brand recommends “favoring Ain chicken or Ain guinea fowl”, respectively at 18.90 euros for two kilos and 13.99 euros for 1.6 kilos.
Large retail groups are playing the game of a low-cost Christmas, like Carrefour which offers an “Earth” menu
“No one has written in any text that you have to eat foie gras, oysters and turkey at Christmas,” cries star chef Thierry Marx, calling to “stop focusing only on these products.” Especially since “people who, for example, cannot afford to buy super salmon will go for very low-end products, which will not be nutritionally interesting”. The one who also chairs the main employers’ union in the hotel and catering industry, Umih, therefore calls on the French to think outside the box. And details an idea for an inexpensive but very delicious menu. He thus offers a starter composed of a Paris mushroom velouté. Then, as a main course, roasted chicken thighs, deglazed in white wine, accompanied by potatoes browned in poultry juice. Finally, for dessert, a rolled biscuit or a traditional log. And all this, for “a small ticket of 35 to 40 euros for a Christmas Eve party for eight people,” says the chef.
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Buying private label products – “on average 35% cheaper than their big brand equivalents,” says Emily Mayer of Circana – can also be a way to save money. As well as comparing prices according to brands or different markets near you, to get the best prices. Even depending on the rays. “For example, foie gras sold in the grocery section will be sold less expensively per kilo than in the fresh section,” points out Emily Mayer.
Furthermore, if you are not afraid of doing it at the last moment, procrastinating can be a good solution for your wallet. “There may be last minute promotions, because brands have an interest in selling festive products before Christmas,” points out Emmanuel Fournet. But you have to be on the lookout, because “these can be very one-off operations, without necessarily a communication campaign around them,” warns the consumer goods specialist. In addition, “as the Christmas shopping season was slow to start in mass retail, it is possible that promotions will be more aggressive than in previous years,” adds Emily Mayer.
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While this can be tedious, it is important to carefully read the labels and composition of the products you buy. For example, “you have to check the prices per kilo carefully, and not necessarily go for large batches,” advises Grégory Caret. “Packaging can sometimes be misleading,” he adds. Like every year, the NGO Foodwatch recently pinpointed several scams on the label of Christmas products, for example a packet of Labeyrie smoked salmon whose weight decreased by 10 grams, “while its price per kilo increased by 19 %”, a Ciro brand panettone with palm oil, or Ferrero Rocher chocolate eggs, of which “the bag is 52% empty”.
As a general rule, “you have to be wary of holiday marketing,” warns Audrey Morice, campaigns manager at Foodwatch. “The heads of the gondolas and the special holiday sections are an opportunity to sell products with inflated prices,” she emphasizes, taking the example of “a lemon juice sold two to three times more expensive than it is placed next to the salmon. Likewise, “you have to be careful with chic, gourmet products, with lobster, truffle, morels, and ensure that they contain a sufficient percentage,” warns Audrey Morice.
Once in the kitchen, “homemade is always the best way to save money,” assures Grégory Caret, of UFC-Que Choisir. “You shouldn’t hesitate to make a little preparation effort at home, rather than serving ready-made products. Less processed products often cost less,” corroborates Emmanuel Fournet. Now all that remains is to enjoy your guests and have a Merry Christmas.
