Credit Crunch Christmas Part 1: Decorations

Part 2: Cards and Gifts >>

The Which? website has lots of good advice on picking your tree. Some highlights include:

• If the tree is to be displayed in front of a large window, all four sides should look as good as possible. For trees displayed against a wall or a corner, three good sides would be adequate.
• Ask the retailer whether their Christmas trees are delivered once at the beginning of the selling season, or at different times during the season – the latter means trees will be fresher.
• A fresh Christmas tree will have few browning needles. Needles should be flexible and not fall off if you run a branch through your hand.
• Raise the tree a few inches off the ground and drop it on the butt end. Very few green needles should drop off the tree, but it's normal for a few inner brown needles to drop off.

It's all good advice, but bear in mind that beggers can't be choosers, and we're looking to score a tree for under £10. 

Remember: your tree doesn't have to be a towering six-footer and you can make do with something more modest.

Our top tip is to go to a local market with a tree dealership at closing time. The seller will be anxious to get rid of his stock so he doesn't have to lug it all home - so take advantage and haggle. You should easily be able to land a tree for less than £10, especially as Christmas is now looming fast.  

If you want to be super cheap though, there's nothing wrong with sticking a few lights on a potted plant.

Now we need something to put on our tree. You can spend a fortune of decorations (the average spend in the UK is usually around £16 according to toy manufacturer Tomy), but you save a ton of money by making your own.

Unless you're a pretty handy with the electrics, you will have to bite the bullet on some fairy lights (you can get some cheapy ones for £2 or so). Don't worry if they don't flash or play horrendous versions of popular carols - they'll only annoy you after half an hour anyway.

Nice and easy this one. Grab a bag of oranges (99p or so) and some cloves (roughly 80p) and stick the cloves in the skin of the orange. Not only does it make the room smell wonderfully festive, it also acts as a handy de-odoriser. Hang 'em up on the tree with a bit of string.

If you want a bit of sparkle on your tree, you could also try spraying a few onions with silver paint.

Never underestimate the difference a few paper chains can make. If you use glossy magazine's they'll look nice and shiny, but we're just using strips from a newspaper. Start by cutting your paper or magazine into lots of long strips.

Now stick a bit of glue on the end of one of the strips and fold and stick the strip in a loop. Yes, it's really that easy.

Now get another strip, and place it halfway through the loop you just made. Glue the end of the second strip and form a second loop. Now just keep repeating until you have a lovely long chain. Or until you just get fed up. Whichever happens first.

Part 2: Cards and Gifts >>