Trying to keep costs low at Christmas can seem like an impossible task, especially if you have young children who you want to buy plenty of presents for so they have things to unwrap on the big day.
But one savvy mum has said there's one way you can make your money go further and still give your kids loads to open - by simply making them think they have more presents than they really do.
Vicky Smith, 38, said she follows a "three gift rule" for her children that sees her buy something they want, something they need, and something they can read, but she makes her gifts go further by splitting them up into smaller items and wrapping them all up individually.
The mum, who is a blogger at More Than A Mummy, explained that if you're thinking of getting your child a pencil case and stationary as the item they "need", then you can wrap every item individually instead of putting it all inside the pencil case - as this will give your kids even more to open on Christmas Day.
She told The Sun : "I find much of the excitement regarding Christmas is in the presentation - say for example you've kitted your child out with everything they need to fill their pencil case for school next term. I don't put everything in the pencil case and then wrap the pencil case, I take everything out and wrap it individually.
"That way they have loads of things to open rather than one big thing."
Vicky also said the trick works if you buy some small chocolates as stocking fillers, as wrapping each one individually will give your kids the joy of opening more presents.
She added: "You can also make the act of opening the gift more exciting by wrapping up a few mini chocolate bars or bags of sweets to go in their stockings. These are cheap, but the kids will love to open them and count up how many they have."
The mum began her Christmas shopping in September and usually aims to have it finished by November, when she takes advantage of the Black Friday sales to keep her costs as low as possible.
She explained she always keeps a notebook with her gift ideas for each year written in it, so she can easily stick to her budget and not buy things on a whim that she hasn't planned for.
And to save money, Vicky also looks for bargains on places such as eBay or Facebook Marketplace, as they're often full of people selling unwanted toys and gifts that could be perfect for her kids.
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