Consumer finance expert shares his top tips for holding your own Christmas market at home to cut costs by 50%

Consumer finance expert shares his top tips for holding your own Christmas market at home to cut costs by 50%

Everybody loves a Christmas market, and if you’re lucky enough to live close to one of these elaborate festive events, then it’s likely to be one of the highlights of the holiday season. Even so, a trip to the Christmas market isn’t cheap and with such a variety of food, drink and gifts on offer, the cost can build up quickly.

To help readers enjoy the Christmas market experience on a budget, Dan Whittaker, consumer finance expert at CashLady.com, has provided his top tips on how to recreate the festive magic from the comfort of your own home, saving around £20.

“They may be a holiday staple, but if you’re planning on heading to a Christmas market this December, be prepared to spend a lot of money! For those who want to get involved in all the fun while saving their pennies in the process, holding a Christmas market at home is a great, budget-friendly alternative.”

“Taking data from Christmas market prices across the UK, we have calculated just how much you could save by foregoing an evening in the city in favour of a cosy, homemade gathering. If you shop in the right places, you can make some serious savings on the same products you would typically find at your local market stalls.”

How to hold a Christmas market at home

Make your own mulled wine

“It wouldn’t be a Christmas market without a warming, delicious glass of mulled wine, but this could set you back as much as £6 per glass at some UK markets.” (Source: Liverpool Echo)

“Making your own mulled wine at home is not only a fun way to get stuck into the festive spirit but will cost you half as much per glass compared to just one serving from a Christmas market. Whether your homemade market caters for a small family gathering or a large group of friends, sourcing your own mulled wine ingredients from your local supermarket will give you much better value for your money.”

Ingredients:

1 bottle of red wine, 750ml: £5.49 (Source: ALDI)

Plastic cups, 236ml each: £1.25 (Source: TESCO)

Cinnamon sticks: £0.70 (Source: ASDA)

Star Anise: £1.08 (Source: ASDA)

Cloves: £1.20 (Source: ASDA)

Lemons: £0.50 (Source: ALDI)

Caster sugar: £1.39 (Source: ALDI)

Costs:

Total ingredients price: £11.61

Estimated price per cup: £3.87

Savings: £2.13

Recreate a classic Christmas market meal

“Christmas market food and drink may be a great opportunity to try out a variety of delicious, traditional cuisine, but it is also notoriously harsh on your bank account. For example, a mouth-watering pulled pork roll with apple sauce and stuffing could cost as much as £8 (Source: Manchester World), whereas a shop-bought alternative can be valued at almost half of this cost while serving four times as many people.”

“Other popular items on a Christmas market menu include chips, which can cost up to £5 (Source: Yahoo!); hot chocolate, costing as much as £4.50 (Source: Liverpool Echo); donuts, at up to £5 (Source: Liverpool Echo); and churros, which can reach £7 in some places (Source: Manchester Evening News)”.

“Creating your own meal at home is perfect to satiate the appetite of your guests as they browse through all the treats and delights that your market has to offer. We predict that cooking your own versions at home will save you over half the price of the market alternative.”

Ingredients:

Pulled pork roll

4 bread rolls: £0.69 (Source: ALDI)

Slow-cooked BBQ pulled pork: £2.79 (Source: ALDI)

Apple sauce: £0.49 (Source: ALDI)

Sage and onion stuffing: £0.43 (Source: ALDI)

Chips:

Skin on fries: £1.69 (Source: ALDI)

Hot chocolate

Instant hot chocolate: £1.19 (Source: ALDI)

Cream: £1.05 (Source: ALDI)

Marshmallows: £1.05 (Source: ALDI)

4-pack of chocolate Flake bars: £1.25 (Source: ASDA)

Churros

12-pack of churros: £1.99 (Source: ALDI)

Milk chocolate bar: £0.85: (Source: ALDI)

Donuts

5 donuts: £0.90 (Source: ASDA)

Costs:

Total ingredients price: £14.37

Savings: £15.13

Start up a gift exchange

“Community is at the heart of any Christmas market, from the independent stores that sell their handmade gifts to the customers who purchase them. Hosting your own market is the ideal opportunity to encourage your friends, family and neighbours to get involved and make the most of their talents.”

“Whether it’s arts and crafts, festive bakes, or just simply exchanging any unwanted belongings, encouraging your guests to set up their own stalls with items to gift to each other and to the community is a fun, sustainable and cheap way to introduce the Christmas market experience to your home. With the potential to spend well over £50 on gifts sold at your local market, an at-home gift exchange can cost little to nothing and save you some serious money.”

Don’t forget the Christmas music!

“Nothing says Christmas like a playlist of all your favourite holiday tunes. If you’re already subscribed to streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify, then they both offer a variety of curated Christmas playlists to get everyone in the festive mood. For those looking to save their pennies, Spotify offers a free version of their service – just be mindful of the ads. YouTube is also a great place to search for free Christmas music, with endless options at your fingertips.”

CashLady.com have released these comments to provide a cheaper alternative to the Christmas markets for Brits looking to save money this Christmas.

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Typically thought of as being an easy to clean area of the home, hard floors have risen in popularity in recent decades. Globally, hard floors are the most common floor type,2 and research released today by Dyson has uncovered poor cleaning habits that mean hard floors are likely to be harbouring an array of hidden nasties. This comes as 32% of Brits – equating to 21.6 million people in the UK – will use the same dirty mop head for six months or more before replacing it. What’s more, one in 20 also admit to keeping the same mop for a year or longer, and one in 10 think it is acceptable to use the same mop 100 times, spreading dirt around their floors every time they use it. Cross contamination is a primary issue for most common and traditional mopping methods with germs and bacteria further being unknowingly spread around homes as Brits use dirty water to clean floors.3 45% only change the water to new water between rooms, whereas 41% wait even longer until it looks dirty. This could mean that floors are being washed with dirty water, adding more dirt rather than taking it away. Surprisingly, almost one in 10 (9%) even admit to not changing the dirty water at all when mopping. Over a quarter (28%) admit to mopping their floors once a fortnight or less while over half (53%) admit they don’t regularly clean behind appliances and leave dirt to build up for as long as six months at a time. image002.jpg On how to achieve a perfect barefoot clean feel after mopping, Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert offers their top tips for eliminating dirt around the home: 1. Create a cleaning schedule to stay on top of dirt build-up. In the last year, there has been a 15% global reduction in the number of people who maintain regular cleaning schedules. 47% of the British public admitted to only being motivated to clean when they spot visible dirt or dust.4 Regular floor cleaning with a wet hard floor cleaner like the Dyson WashG1™ removes more stubborn dirt than vacuuming alone. It is important to have a debris free surface, clear any clutter from the floor or other surfaces. Choose the right machine: Different vacuums are designed for different floor types and home sizes. Some machines will be engineered with hard floors in mind and will struggle on thick pile carpets, for example. Choosing the right machine for your home will make a big difference to the ease and speed with which you’re able to clean your home. Clean your floors ‘little and often’. Washing your floors frequently in areas that receive more foot fall will help to stop dirt building up and getting trodden into your floor. Using a dedicated wet floor cleaner on hard flooring such as the Dyson WashG1 is helpful for this, as the versatile format means it vacuums and washes the floor simultaneously. Cleaning schedules have also become less regimented. In recent years only 41% of people claim to have a regular cleaning schedule, and 60% admit to cleaning reactively; being motivated to clean only when there is visible dirt or dust5. It’s perhaps not surprising, that a fifth of people are still concerned their floors are dirty after they’ve mopped them (22%) and one in four6 feel extremely worried about indoor dust at home. Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert reveals why it is important to change the way we mop: “Cleaning your hard floors properly and regularly is important for maintaining a healthy environment around your home. Without a proper cleaning routine, dirt may unknowingly build up and spread around your home. It is evident from our research that current mopping habits mean British households aren’t cleaning their floors as effectively as they should. “From ignoring problem areas where dust and debris build up, cross contamination with dirty water to not replacing mop heads or inconsistent cleaning, current mopping behaviours may be making floors dirtier as opposed to cleaner. Moving away from traditional methods, wet floor cleaners like the Dyson WashG1 simplify the floor cleaning experience and provide a modern efficient and hygienic solution” To help take the guesswork out of mopping, the brand new WashG1 is Dyson’s first dedicated wet floor cleaner that tackles wet and dry debris in one go. Engineered for hygienic cleaning and maintenance, the WashG1 is revolutionising wet floor cleaning, removing the need for multi-products and multi-steps to achieve a barefoot clean feel around the home. To put the product to the test, Dyson have cleaned one of London’s most iconic landmarks The Victoria and Albert Museum. From cleaning the grand marble floors housing the most prestigious exhibits, to cleaning up leftover food in the Gamble Room Cafe, the WashG1 had a dirt busting tour of the museum leaving it spotless. Images can be found here. The WashG1 introduces Dyson’s engineering expertise to cleaning hard floors. With a 1 litre clean-water tank to cover flooring up to 290m2, the Dyson WashG1 uses a combination of hydration, absorption, and extraction technologies to remove wet and dry spills and stains simultaneously. The Dyson WashG1 is available to purchase now from Dyson.co.uk, retailing at £599.99.

Typically thought of as being an easy to clean area of the home, hard floors have risen in popularity in recent decades. Globally, hard floors are the most common floor type,2 and research released today by Dyson has uncovered poor cleaning habits that mean hard floors are likely to be harbouring an array of hidden nasties. This comes as 32% of Brits – equating to 21.6 million people in the UK – will use the same dirty mop head for six months or more before replacing it. What’s more, one in 20 also admit to keeping the same mop for a year or longer, and one in 10 think it is acceptable to use the same mop 100 times, spreading dirt around their floors every time they use it. Cross contamination is a primary issue for most common and traditional mopping methods with germs and bacteria further being unknowingly spread around homes as Brits use dirty water to clean floors.3 45% only change the water to new water between rooms, whereas 41% wait even longer until it looks dirty. This could mean that floors are being washed with dirty water, adding more dirt rather than taking it away. Surprisingly, almost one in 10 (9%) even admit to not changing the dirty water at all when mopping. Over a quarter (28%) admit to mopping their floors once a fortnight or less while over half (53%) admit they don’t regularly clean behind appliances and leave dirt to build up for as long as six months at a time. image002.jpg On how to achieve a perfect barefoot clean feel after mopping, Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert offers their top tips for eliminating dirt around the home: 1. Create a cleaning schedule to stay on top of dirt build-up. In the last year, there has been a 15% global reduction in the number of people who maintain regular cleaning schedules. 47% of the British public admitted to only being motivated to clean when they spot visible dirt or dust.4 Regular floor cleaning with a wet hard floor cleaner like the Dyson WashG1™ removes more stubborn dirt than vacuuming alone. It is important to have a debris free surface, clear any clutter from the floor or other surfaces. Choose the right machine: Different vacuums are designed for different floor types and home sizes. Some machines will be engineered with hard floors in mind and will struggle on thick pile carpets, for example. Choosing the right machine for your home will make a big difference to the ease and speed with which you’re able to clean your home. Clean your floors ‘little and often’. Washing your floors frequently in areas that receive more foot fall will help to stop dirt building up and getting trodden into your floor. Using a dedicated wet floor cleaner on hard flooring such as the Dyson WashG1 is helpful for this, as the versatile format means it vacuums and washes the floor simultaneously. Cleaning schedules have also become less regimented. In recent years only 41% of people claim to have a regular cleaning schedule, and 60% admit to cleaning reactively; being motivated to clean only when there is visible dirt or dust5. It’s perhaps not surprising, that a fifth of people are still concerned their floors are dirty after they’ve mopped them (22%) and one in four6 feel extremely worried about indoor dust at home. Geli Lee, Dyson Engineer and Home Cleaning Expert reveals why it is important to change the way we mop: “Cleaning your hard floors properly and regularly is important for maintaining a healthy environment around your home. Without a proper cleaning routine, dirt may unknowingly build up and spread around your home. It is evident from our research that current mopping habits mean British households aren’t cleaning their floors as effectively as they should. “From ignoring problem areas where dust and debris build up, cross contamination with dirty water to not replacing mop heads or inconsistent cleaning, current mopping behaviours may be making floors dirtier as opposed to cleaner. Moving away from traditional methods, wet floor cleaners like the Dyson WashG1 simplify the floor cleaning experience and provide a modern efficient and hygienic solution” To help take the guesswork out of mopping, the brand new WashG1 is Dyson’s first dedicated wet floor cleaner that tackles wet and dry debris in one go. Engineered for hygienic cleaning and maintenance, the WashG1 is revolutionising wet floor cleaning, removing the need for multi-products and multi-steps to achieve a barefoot clean feel around the home. To put the product to the test, Dyson have cleaned one of London’s most iconic landmarks The Victoria and Albert Museum. From cleaning the grand marble floors housing the most prestigious exhibits, to cleaning up leftover food in the Gamble Room Cafe, the WashG1 had a dirt busting tour of the museum leaving it spotless. Images can be found here. The WashG1 introduces Dyson’s engineering expertise to cleaning hard floors. With a 1 litre clean-water tank to cover flooring up to 290m2, the Dyson WashG1 uses a combination of hydration, absorption, and extraction technologies to remove wet and dry spills and stains simultaneously. The Dyson WashG1 is available to purchase now from Dyson.co.uk, retailing at £599.99.

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