Leeds Building Society has revealed the top 20 Christmas traditions with some surprising findings. Despite our social media feeds being swamped with images of the Elf of the Shelf and his increasingly inventive escapades, shockingly only 9% of Brits welcome him into their homes.

However festive outings like Christmas markets (44%) and seasonal parties (33%) are topping the charts as survey respondents selected these as their non-negotiables for getting into the Christmas spirit.

Advent calendars continue to be popular, with 28% of respondents saying they are planning to gift their loved ones with multiple varieties, ranging from edible treats to beauty products, coffee beans to Lego, and everything in between.

The full festive top 20 is available here.

With most households planning to take on four activities in the countdown to Christmas, the average spend on making magical memories over the festive period is £125. And that is on top of the cost of gifts and food.

To help families adopt a new tradition of getting into a good savings habit for Christmas, Leeds Building Society has created a downloadable checklist to help families uncover how much money they need to set aside for the festive season.

Catherine Wray, Leeds Building Society’s Senior Manager for Savings said:

“How we handle our holiday season spending can set the tone for how much we can relax and enjoy the festive magic with our loved ones. So, starting a new Christmas tradition of saving will help take the pressure off families and get ahead for Christmas 2025.

“It can be tempting to show our family and friends how much they mean to us by spending money on making memories, and it pays to take time out to plan your budget. Our Christmas spending checklist will allow families to work out how much they will need to ringfence to cover the cost of their seasonal spending.

“Starting a new habit of saving little and often will mean that by the time we get to next Christmas, families will reap the benefits of their savings.”

The activity hitting festive budgets hardest is buying tickets for a pantomime, for which respondents are budgeting £46 each, while on the other hand, the cost of building a gingerbread house with the family is expected to add just £13 to the total seasonal spend, proving that there are options to suit every budget at whatever stage they are at in their savings journey.

Catherine’s top tips for Christmas savings can be found here.