Ho, ho... oh no!
100 days till Chr******. Martin's 15 do-nows to cut cost & stress then. Early preparation, not celebration

Incl... New. £200 FREE cash | Toy sales on NOW | Money-making tips | Discount code secrets | Ban unnecessary prezzies | £500 of cashback freebies

Sorry to use the C word so early, I hate baubles and Bublé before Bonfire Night as much as the next Scrooge. Yet this isn't about early celebration; there are just 100 days (well, 99) to Christmas, and as the average family spends 30% more in December, it's a financial event that needs planning & prep.

So here's my list of key need-to-knows and need-dos now to make it easier for Christmas (many of the tips also work if, like me, you celebrate Chanukah, or owt else).

1. There's still time to spread the cost to ease the pain. Rather than shelling out the estimated typical £700 Christmas cost from December's income, if you haven't put any aside yet, try to squeeze a quarter of what's needed from your Sept, Oct and Nov income too. Plus, put it in top savings to EARN interest when you do; that's far better than getting into Christmas debt and having to PAY interest on it afterwards.

2. New. FREE £200 in time for Christmas. One way to help pay for the day is to grab a legal bribe to switch bank. A flurry of new deals have just popped out, many that are top rated.

Switching is usually easy & hassle-free... You must pass a not-too-harsh credit-check and use the banks' 7-working-day switch service, which closes your old account, moves over your balance, standing orders and Direct Debits for you, and auto-forwards any payments made to it from then on.