Here at M&B we want to know how you and your family make the most of the holiday season while remaining within your budget. Post below your top tips for saving money on Christmas presents, meals and celebrations.

shopping throughout the year makes it cheaper rather than leave it to the last few weeks. Also things like hampers really cut down the cost if you can plan ahead that far, it makes a huge difference to the budget

I've got a few different things I try and do:-

* If you don't like the idea of hamper companies such as Chrisco, Hamper King etc, simply buy a gift voucher from your choice of supermarket (eg Woolies or Coles) each shopping trip (or when the budget allows) and save until you need to buy your Christmas day lunch and goodies. Whether it's $10, $20, $50, $100 it all adds up really quickly and makes it easier come Christmas time! You can also look at the Coles Myer or Wish Gift cards that can be used at the Department stores, supermarkets and fuel stores so you're not limiting yourself to where you shop!

* Make the most of the Christmas toy sales in July. Plan you gift list and budget and stick to it! Paying the purchases off over 5 months is so much easier on the budget!

* Only kids get presents in the extended family - each of the nieces/nephews get one present (like a Secret Santa) - that way we can spend more to buy 1 decent gift. ie I have 3 children, so will be buying for 3 of the nieces/nephews rather than all of them.

* Stock up on post Christmas sales for things like Christmas paper, cards, ribbon etc so you're not paying full price next year.

* If having Christmas lunch with family/friends all bring a dish, that way not just one person/family is blowing their budget to cater for everyone. This may involve a family meeting beforehand to work out the menu and working out who brings what.

Make gifts where you can. The first year Caitlin was born I had no money so I made hampers for family members. I used small cardboard boxes which I covered in sparkly gold paper and then made a xmas cake, mince pies, shortbread and chocolate truffles for everyone and presented them nicely in the box. I spent less on ingredients for 5 people than I would have spent on a present for 1 person.

when you buy a birthday present for someone get them a Christmas one too and wrap it and put it away

These are things we do which work for us and keep our budget from blowing out.

* Firstly we set a limit of how much we plan on spending on each child and we stick to it. If we see something that goes over the budget but is too good of a bargain to leave at the shops we get it and store it for the next birthday.

* We buy paper and cards from Reject shop - it is usually cheaper and honestly no one can tell the difference between the cheap paper and the $6 a roll stuff and cards often get chucked out anyway. We buy cards that you can put photo's in of the kids so relatives that we don't buy for get an updated santa photo, so sort of a gift - they are $3 for a pack of 10 so reasonably priced.

* We buy throughout the year when things are on special or on clearance. We got a 4 swing swing set for $40 brand new and a rolly slide for $20 brand new on clearance.

* We bought all our decorations for the tree at the end of Christmas sales and stored them with the tree until this year. We also bought bon bon's the ones with the trinkets in them so cheap at the sales so we have that luxury without the cost.

* My then 2yr old made decorations for all the relatives last year for their trees and I put little tags on saying he made them and the year. Saves heaps of money buying for adults and most people have trees to put them on. We also got him to make cards for everyone the past 2 years.

* I look on line at my DH's football teams store and buy him special bits from that when they are on sale and store them till I need them.

* For lunch on Christmas day this year I plan on doing a slow cooker roast with vegies all in one pot and putting it on the night before so I have no preparation or cooking on the day. For the kids it will be simple things like sausage rolls and oven chips so there will be no arguing about not wanting to eat vegies or not liking something. Dessert will be a cake that I found in my Recipes + magazine that I kow everyone will eat. Don't go to heaps of trouble or expense make it simple and stress free.

* For nibblies we will buy one thing each week in the shopping when it is on special so we have a few yummy things on the day. Same for soft drinks. We don't drink so that is an expense we don't have.

* For Christmas stockings we don't buy the premade ones that are like $6 for about 3 chocolates, we got cheap felt ones from Reject shop and we buy the multi pack bags of different chocolates and we fill the stockings with those -that way you get more variety but also what you actually like to eat and it is a quater of the price, as well as been reusable each year.

* We don't over cater with the food because otherwise it ends up thrown out. Cater for 2 meals on the actual day. Plan the menu and shop accordingly - don't get sucked into all the pretty packaged "Christmas foods". Buy yummy but good food that will get eaten. Don't buy things that you know only one person will eat on the day.

* If you have a family thing at your place tell people to bring their own drinks - drinks are so expensive. We provide the nibblies and meat and others provide the salads and desserts if we have it at our house.

* Stock up on lastic plates, knives, forks, cups - a bit of expense but worth it to give you more time out of the kitchen. You can also get these cheaply at the end of sales.

* Don't think you need to give your kids hundreds of presents costing hundreds of dollars - the more you give the more you feel you have to give the next year and the more they expect.

* We do not put anything on the credit card - a big trap that leaves you in debt for such a long time. We lay by or we save or we add things to our weekly grocery shop or we buy a small gift or roll of wrapping paper each week from the middle of October till the week before.

* We don't buy for adults in our family. We used to buy for both the god parents but now just buy for one of them. We don't buy for older nephews and nieces only the ones under 16 and we have a set limit - usually $10 - $15 at the most.

* Christmas is not about expense or stress it should be fun for everyone. The less stressful the more enjoyable.

We do Secret Santa to the value of $50 for adults in our family, have a $5 silly present for each adult, and buy a gift for each child. Adults write a list of a few things to the value of $50 and where to purchase them from. We then put the lists in envelopes and draw them out of a hat! The silly presents are just to provide a bit of light entertainment on the day and we usually have lots of laughter!

DH and I have put a limit of $20 on each child, so all up, our budget is $110 for adults and $20 for each child. This way we're not spending a large amount of money on each adult or getting them anything that they might not use.

We also pool food resources for lunch/tea. We work out who's bringing what so one family is not providing everything.

have your extended family gatherings after xmas and then buy all you need (food, table decorations, wrapping, cards, GIFTS) on sale

also, we resolved with Sassy not to bombard her with gifts. with larger extended families each, we'd both seen the children of the family just inundated with gifts all coming on one day, and most of the gifts are merely opened and discarded without a second thought on the day, and barely played with afterwards. we focus on buying a couple of good (not necessarily expensive) gifts and that's enough!

We make our own wrapping paper by just using rolls of brown paper which the kids do christmas stamping on, they love it and it keeps them busy for a while .

Everyone used to put in $10 and then the nieces and nephews would get 1 gift to the value of $100 worked a treat until i felt like a banker ringing everybody up asking where the money was .

* Shop throughout the year and keep an eye on the toy sales and no deposit laybys.

* Figure out a fornightly/weekly budget to pay off layby(s). Smallest amounts are the best. They get paid off without you even noticing!

* Keep a list of what you have actually brought, as not to double up on an item or go overboard! (It's easy to do.)

* Buy your Next Year's Christmas wrapping paper and decorations after Boxing Day. They're at their cheapest.