As the festive season approaches, families are feeling the pinch with the need to budget for Christmas food shopping.

The cost of sweet treats and chocolate boxes for the kids can make a significant dent in the Christmas grocery budget, particularly when purchased all at once.

However, a TikTok user has come up with a clever strategy to cut costs without skimping on the holiday cheer.

In her ‘realistic vlog’, Meg (@megleab) shares a brilliant shopping hack that has been hailed as ‘genius’ by those around her.

Her approach is straightforward – buy an extra long-life item with each weekly shop in the run-up to Christmas, spreading out the expense and avoiding the last-minute rush for festive goodies.

Meg explains: “I do this every year before Christmas. From the first of September until Christmas Day, on every single weekly shop, I buy one small long-life item for Christmas.

“It basically means that when I get to Christmas I have all of my long-life snacks and condiments already bought so it eases the financial difficulties round Christmas.

“When it’s just a couple of pounds coming out of your weekly shop you don’t really notice it that much as opposed to going out and spending £100 on random snacks nearer the time.”

Even though November is already upon us, adopting this method now could still alleviate some of the stress associated with the impending ‘big’ Christmas shop, reports The Mirror. 

Her 6000-plus social media followers were quick to praise the mum’s determination and strategy in managing festive treats.

@CDK endorsed the approach saying: “That’s how to do it especially if you got kids”, while @shazza39 concurred, stating: “I’ve done this every year for years.”

Yet, some expressed scepticism about their ability to resist temptation, with one follower, Gem, commenting: “How do I hide these from myself? Did this last year and ended up spending more [because] I ate everything.”

@Hayljc echoed the sentiment: “I’ve got 2 things so far, already fighting for my life to not eat them.”

Finally, @becky.98 suggested: “You should write a list of what you usually get to help others this is a genius idea.”