There are a number of different types of shoppers at Christmas time - the early bird, last minute Larry, the scrooge, the broke student and of course the one-click wonder online buyer.

But whatever category you fall into, the key to enjoying your Christmas shopping is to plan ahead and be as organised as you can be.

The Organised Housewife blogger and mother of three, Kat Springer, said it was never too early to start planning and shopping.

“I’m a planner at heart, I like to write lists of everybody I want to buy for, make a budget for each person and the gift ideas I would like to buy them,” said Kat. “I usually write a few down in case I can’t find option number one.  

“The benefit of this is if you know what you want to buy a particular person and you see it on sale then you can purchase it at the discounted price, either saving yourself some money or use the extra change to add something else to their gift.”

Kat said with so much to do leading up to the festive season, starting your shopping early could help take the pressure off closer to Christmas when you might be making plans for travelling, getting the house ready for guests and grocery shopping to feed your tribe.

“Christmas is such a fun time of the year,” she said. “But unfortunately it can also be the most stressful. The spirit of Christmas can often get lost amongst the chaos of buying presents, organising family events, planning menus and shopping in preparation for the public holidays.”

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Kat said Christmas planners (she has developed one herself) that include checklists, planners and budgets for all different expenses during the festive period can also be very helpful.

Here are some tips to get you through the festive period without a credit hangover.

And when buying for children Kat uses these tips as a guideline

“We have taught our kids that christmas isn’t about how much money is spent on gifts, but the expressions on the faces of others as they receive our gifts, be it something handmade, or we got on sale,” said Kat.

“It’s the thought and gesture that matters most of all and spending time together.”