Christmas creeps up on us so quickly, it's easy to find you don't have enough money to pay for things like presents and extra food. This is why so many of us get into debt at Christmas time.

A good way of avoiding this is to put a bit of cash away each week, so by the time next Christmas comes, you'll have enough to buy what you need. There are lots of easy savings and voucher schemes that help you do just that.

• Read Save Xmas – a quick guide to paying for Christmas, the Office of Fair Trading's simple guide to the different savings and voucher schemes available.
• Visit the Paying for Christmas page on the Consumer Direct site, which includes a simple guide to the different options
• It's often cheaper to pay bills by direct debit, and can be a cost effective option too. Online using a debit card. You can now apply for a basic bank account even if you haven’t been able to get one in the past.
• There's no need to resort to loan sharks or doorstep lenders. You can now get an affordable, low-interest loan.