Money-Saving Mum Shares Genius Trick For Creating FREE Christmas Cards
- Jessica Jarrett, 28, recycles old Christmas cards to create new ones
- The craft project doesn’t just save money but also makes a fun family project
- Jessica also recommends setting limits on how much to spend at Christmas
On top of buying Christmas presents, decorations and food, cards are yet another expense.
But one mum has come up with a genius way to create free Christmas cards that doesn’t just save money, but helps the environment too.
Jessica Jarrett, 28, a mum of two and night care assistant from North Wales, recycles the cards she is given, which is a lovely family project, saves money on buying new cards and prevents old cards from ending up in the recycling bin.
Jessica is competing to be crowned Latest Deals Saver Of The Year. Members of the two million strong money-saving community are revealing their top saving tips and tricks.
Jessica told LatestDeals.co.uk: "Being a mum of two, everything costs double the price. I like to save pennies where I can all year round and especially at Christmas.
"We have a big family with lots of nieces and nephews so costs can be quite high. As a family, we all agreed on a limit of how much we spend, which for us is £10 for each niece and nephew.
"This is my first tip as it enables us all to keep to a budget which is comfortable for everyone and there any no added pressures of buying expensive gifts!
"My second tip triples up as recycling, money-saving and a little Christmas activity.
"My daughter is eight, and every year since being in school has come home with lots of lovely little Christmas cards from all her friends.
"I too end up having a few Christmas cards from work colleagues and my residents that I care for in the home I work.
"For the first couple of years I threw them in the recycling but I thought that surely they must have a better use.
“My daughter and I enjoy doing lots of crafts so I decided to start keeping the cards we had at Christmas and packed them away after the festivities with all our other decorations.
"Fast forward a year, and I start to cut away at the Christmas cards.
"Cutting around each printed design I realised they would make a lovely gift tag!
"I also find with the shop-bought gift tags I don't get much space to write all our names to say who the gift is from. Cutting my own, I could make them quite large giving me enough space so it doesn't look squeezed into a tiny box!
“It doesn't cost a penny, even if it is saving a pound, and you can even get the children involved (obviously safety first with scissors!).
“It’s also a nice way to spend an hour or so listening to Christmas songs in the background.
"I also recommend to everyone who is eligible for a Blue Light Card to go and get yourself one!
"It's full of discounts for top high street brands, food outlets and more and is definitely worth the small fee you have to pay.
"Always shop around and price compare on different websites, and it only takes two minutes to check the internet for a discount code before you commit to a purchase. Nine times out of ten I normally find one for free delivery or a discount code.
"By doing these things, I have saved money and it also gets us into the festive spirit creating the gift tags and a nice family activity which is, personally to me, what Christmas is all about: enjoying the time spent with family!”
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “We launched the Latest Deals Saver of the Year competition to find the most inspiring savers in our community.
“Whether they are saving tens or thousands of pounds, every little helps.
“Making small everyday changes such as Jessica’s brilliant idea is what can help families to save lots more money every month.
“Christmas is such an expensive time of year, so small tweaks like recycling cards can really make a huge difference!"
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