Nine essentials for hosting Christmas on a budget

First things first – you can’t host Christmas if you don’t have a tree to stick all the presents under, so grab yourself one of these Ansio Artificial Christmas Trees. It’s relatively affordable, makes way less mess than a real tree and will survive a year in storage until the next festive season. They range from four to seven feet tall, are fire retardant and come with a sturdy metal base that has plastic caps to protect your floor. Once assembled, take your time opening out all the branches to get a truly bushy looking tree.

Price: £45.97 (1.8M tree)

Kill two birds with one stone with these Snow Globe Gin Liqueur Christmas Crackers from M&S. Firstly, they provide the obligatory festivities of cracker pulling, paper hat wearing and bad joke telling at the dinner table. Secondly, they replace the traditional rubbish gift (we’re looking at you pencil sharpener and mini magic rings) with a stocking filler-esque treat – for grown-ups anyway. Along with the usual, each of the four crackers contains a snow globe bauble of gin liqueur and a tiny tin of tonic water. The flavours featured are clementine and sugar plum.

Price: £32 (was £40)

Christmas is anything but drab, so start glittering up the place stat! We’d recommend starting with this Holly Berry Tinsel. It’s satisfyingly shiny and not only is it red and green, but adorned with foil holly leaves and berries. You can’t get more on theme than that. The pack includes three strands that measure out at two meters each, which, unless you’re attempting to deck Buckingham Palace, should cover a living room or a hallway nicely. Try entwining them with some fairy lights to really make them sparkle.

Price: £4.99 (was £6.99)

Speaking of lights, these cute Snowflake Fairy Lights would make a pretty addition to any festive home. There are 40 LED snowflakes on each six-meter string and you get two per pack. Conveniently, these little twinklers are waterproof, so you can use them both indoors and out – just make sure if you hang them outdoors that you cover the battery pack. You will need three AA batteries to power each string of lights and, once in place, you can set them to flash on and off or have them on constantly. Et voilà, instant cheer!

Price: £9.99 (was £12.79)

The holidays may be a time to get merry, but with merriness comes much messiness, so nab some paper napkins to deal with the unavoidable debris. These Country Walk Stag Print Napkins from Sainsbury’s are £1.50 for a pack of 20 at the moment. We particularly like them because they look festive, with their fauna and flora in dusky, classy colours, but there’s no obvious Christmas theme, so any leftovers can be used for other occasions. Although, if you’d rather something on the nose, then there are plenty of prints to choose from, including candy canes, Christmas puddings and robins.

Price: £1.50 (was £2)

Before you run out of food at Christmas – which, let’s face it, rarely happens because us Brits like to buy for an army – you run out of receptacles. So, save yourself the washing up conveyor belt and invest in some (incredibly cheap) paper cups to see you through the festive season. If you liked those Sainsbury’s napkins, you’ll be pleased to know you can get plates, straws and cups to match. Like the napkins, this six-pack of Candy Cane Print Paper Cups is also recyclable, so you know you’ll be doing your bit for the planet while celebrating to excess.

Price: £0.75 (was £1)

Ah the age-old problem of where to seat everyone over the festive period. Our living rooms aren’t really made for fitting in the kids, parents, grandparents and distant cousins, yet we try every year anyway. Make life a little easier (and comfier) by plonking a Bean Bag Bazaar Recliner Chair in front of the telly this Christmas. Kids love a bean bag – and who wouldn’t, you can practically dive into position on these – and this one is big enough for adults, so anyone can flump down in this pillowy cloud after stuffing themselves silly.

Price: £39.99 (was £52.99)

Got any extra little ’uns that’ll need somewhere to sleep while you’re on holiday hosting duties this year? Say hello to the Junior ReadyBed. This is an airbed and sleeping bag in one. Suitable for ages three and up, this mini mattress is brightly coloured and covered in polka dots, the cover zips off and can be thrown in the washing machine, and it rolls up conveniently small and fits in a carry case. There’s a hand/foot pump included too, but it’s not the quickest to pump it up this way, so if you have more than one to blow up, we’d suggest getting an electric pump too.

Price: £20 (was £25)

Last but by no means least: booze. There’s nothing better than a little tipple with the fam over the holidays, to cheers each other and wash down a hearty lunch. Freixenet Prosecco is a mild, sweet bubbly that should please most guests and it comes in pretty bottles that, quite frankly, look darn festive. The cut-glass bottle twinkles in the light and it’s topped with silver foil. Plus, it’s on offer at Sainsbury’s right now and not only is each bottle £8.50 (that’s 50p less than Tesco Clubcard price), but if you buy six or more you’ll get and extra 25 percent off.

Price: £8.50 (was £12) – plus 25 percent off if you buy six or more.