Published: 19 November 2024
In the 1870s when Leeds Building Society was founded, families around the UK were just beginning to adopt the Christmas traditions that have since become well known. Santa and his reindeer, printed Christmas cards, crackers and enjoying the traditional Christmas Day feast all became popular here around this time.
Fast forward 150 years and Christmas traditions are changing every year. We've seen the recent additions of Christmas Eve boxes, matching family pyjamas and visiting Christmas-themed illuminations or events - all of which can add a lot to the festive budget.
We've uncovered the UK's top 20 Christmas traditions and how much they cost, and have come up with some ways to save for them for next year. Does your family favourite make the list?
The top 20 Christmas traditions
We asked over 1,000 people about their favourite Christmas traditions*. Here's what they told us were the most popular things to do every festive season.
A trip to a Christmas market tops the chart at No.1, with respondents enjoying the festive atmosphere of a market, complete with perhaps a tasty bratwurst and hot chocolate.
The classic Christmas party with work colleagues or friends and family comes in at No.2 as another non-negotiable for getting into the Christmas spirit.
At No.3, advent calendars continue to be popular, with 28% of respondents saying they're planning to gift their loved ones multiple types - ranging from edible treats to beauty products, coffee beans to Lego, and everything in between.
At the other end of the chart, despite our social media feeds being swamped with images of the Elf of the Shelf and his increasingly inventive escapades, only 9% of our respondents welcome him into their homes. And it seems like the old favourite of roasting chestnuts is falling out of favour, with this being the least popular of the 20 traditions.
| Rank | Christmas tradition | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visiting Christmas markets | 44% |
| 2 | Attending Christmas parties | 33% |
| 3 | Buying multiple advent calendars for loved ones | 28% |
| 4 | Indulging in a supermarket festive sandwich | 26% |
| 5 | Gifting a Christmas Eve box to family | 25% |
| 6 | Attending local Christmas illuminations | 24% |
| 7 | Buying a novelty Christmas jumper | 22% |
| 8 | Buying matching Christmas pyjamas for the family | 21% |
| 9 | Making a charitable donation | 21% |
| 10 | Making a Christmas pudding or cake | 20% |
| 11 | Going to visit Santa | 16% |
| 12 | Going OTT with your Christmas decorations | 14% |
| 13 | Buying tickets for a pantomime | 13% |
| 14 | Building a gingerbread house | 12% |
| 15 | Going Christmas carolling | 11% |
| 16 | Booking a festive family photoshoot for personalised Christmas cards | 11% |
| 17 | Taking your family ice skating | 9% |
| 18 | Coming up with inventive escapades for Elf on the Shelf | 9% |
| 19 | Making a wreath | 8% |
| 20 | Roasting chestnuts | 7% |
How much do the top 20 festive traditions cost?
The average household usually enjoys four traditions in the countdown to making Christmas magical. Our research found that on average this can add an extra £125 in outgoings over the festive period, on top of the usual gifts and food.
According to our survey, the most expensive is buying a ticket for a pantomime, with respondents planning to spend an average of £45.69. Next on the list is buying those matching family PJs - with an average cost of £44.38. The most popular tradition of visiting Christmas markets costs our respondents on average, £43.62,and a Christmas Eve box costs them £41.56 on average.
To help you plan ahead for Christmas, we've created a Christmas traditions checklist to help you keep track of how much money you might spend on your favourite festive traditions.
Our top 3 tips for Christmas saving
Why not create a new festive tradition of your own and start putting money aside to help make Christmas 2025 magical? Catherine Wray, our Senior Manager for Savings shares her top 3 tips on how to do this.
- Start early: "If you're able to, the earlier you start saving, the less stressful it can make next year's festivities. It could take the pressure off and make it easier to help families enjoy the festive magic together."
- Save little and often: "It pays to get into a good savings habit and putting away whatever you can afford to save each month will help go towards covering the cost of Christmas next year. The trick is regularly putting whatever you can into a savings pot. It means you could look forward to next year's festive traditions knowing that you've saved to make them happen."
- Choose an account that's right for you: "There's lots of different savings accounts to choose from, but if you're saving specifically for next Christmas, accounts that offer more flexibility on withdrawals are worth thinking about. Although if you're saving for a big festive celebration in a couple of years' time, you'll have more options."
Our Regular Saver could be one option to think about.
Discover more about the Regular Saver
So, if you're out enjoying the Christmas markets or a pantomime this year, it's worth thinking if you could put money aside now for next year's seasonal spending.
And who knows, maybe saving could be something that tops the festive traditions chart next year…
*Online interviewing of over 1000 (1008) people from across the UK was carried out by Leeds Building Society in November 2024 using Purespectrum.
This article is not advice and you should seek independent financial or legal advice if needed.
