When it comes to shopping for Christmas, some people are still buying gifts right up until Christmas Eve splashing far too much cash at the last moment, while others do all theirs months before in the January sales.
One savvy mum has shared how she's recently managed to slash the cost of her daughter's Christmas gift haul by more than half months ahead of December 25.
Ivet Blancafort did so by keeping an eye on upcoming toy sales and opting for yellow sticker items.
The nursery teacher from Milton Keynes spotted that Tesco Extra in Bletchley was having a toy sale on July 16 and she asked her husband Isaac Martinez to keep an eye out for bargains for their baby girl, Martina.
Isaac managed to scoop up nine toys with yellow sticker prices, paying £27.75 in total instead of the original £75 full price - a saving of almost £50.
This worked out on average £3 per toy for items such as a baby doll, a toy guitar and a pull-along trolley.
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Ivet admits she's not normally quite so organised with her Christmas shopping, but this year she wanted to get started early in a bid to beat the cost-of-living crisis.
The mum said: "We saved £47.25 overall - the total was £75 and we paid £27.75.
"I didn't have anything planned, I just saw online that Tesco were having this massive toy sale.
"I was in Spain but my husband, Isaac, was at home at the time. So I said 'could you just go and take a look and see if there's anything interesting?'
"We have a baby and with prices going up for everything and Christmas coming, I wanted Isaac to take a look.
"He called me back and told me he picked up all that stuff for £27, which is very good. The toys he found were really good.
"Martina's only 15 months so she won't be asking for anything specifically for Christmas. She will love the toys we got."
The mum-of-one says early shopping is now something she'd recommend to other parents.
She continued: "We're not usually this prepared when it comes to Christmas shopping, I could be shopping right up until the week before Christmas.
"I wanted to be on top of the Christmas shopping this year because of the cost-of-living crisis. But it wasn't like I'd planned it out, I just saw that Tesco were doing this sale.
"We like doing yellow sticker shopping, though obviously, it depends on the quality of the food. It's a good way to save money.
"I'd recommend all parents do this. Afterwards, I was texting all of my friends like 'Look! Look what we got for Martina!'
"I shared it to Facebook and had a lot of people asking about where we'd gone to get all of it.
"We got about nine presents overall. It's definitely something I'll try to do next year - I'll keep an eye out.
"These won't be the only presents Martina will be receiving - the rest of the family will be getting her presents. She'll have lots of toys."
Martina's yellow sticker Christmas gifts
Go Play Feed Timing Emmi (Originally £14, bought at £3.50, £10.50 saved)
Go Play My First Guitar (Originally £10, bought at £5, £5 saved)
Baby Shark Splash And Spray Bath Buddy (Originally £10, bought at £5, £5 saved)
Go Play Emmi Accessory Pack (Originally £3, bought at 75p, £2.25 saved)
Go Play Fuelling Station Playset (Originally £15, bought at £3.75, £11.25 saved)
Two Go Play Picture Puzzle (Originally £2 each, bought for £1 each, £2 saved)
Go Play Bathtime Playset (Originally £7, bought for £1.75, £5.25 saved)
Go Play Pull Along Trolley (Originally £12, bought for £6, £6 saved)
TOTAL RRP = £75
TOTAL PAID = £27.75
TOTAL SAVING = £47.25
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