Money-saving hack shows how many baubles a Christmas tree needs

How many baubles do you need on your Christmas tree? (Image: Getty)With Halloween out of the way, many would say the next big festive occassion is the annual buying and decorating of the Christmas tree.But with the cost of living situation threatening to cast a shadow over the coming weeks, people will want to trim the costs of this as much as possible.And that’s not just about finding the cheapest tree.It’s also worth making sure that, in getting that perfectly balanced display of decorations, you don’t end up paying over the odds.Writing for the Manchester Evening News, reporter Bethan Shufflebotham says she has already pulled the tree out of the loft ready to be put up one free weekend – likely after Remembrance Sunday on November 13, which gives her a little over a week to plan a theme, and buy some baubles.This year, to save both time and money, she has used an online hack that has worked out the precise number of baubles her tree will need so she won’t frustratingly buy too few or, worse, too many.Created by Christmas Tree World, the free-to-use calculator works out exactly how many baubles your Christmas tree will need this year – saving you the time-consuming task of working out the maths.Christmas Tree World commented: “Whether you wait until the first of December or are straight out of the blocks as soon as Halloween is over, decorating your Christmas tree is one of the most exciting times of the year.”There’s no right or wrong way to go about it, but to help make things a little bit easier, we’ve created the following calculator to estimate the minimum number of baubles and lights you need to make your tree sparkle this Christmas.”Everyone has their own preferences on how they like their tree to look, whether it’s a sleek, minimalist theme, or an all-out Christmas extravaganza. The calculator works out the number of lights and baubles your tree will need based on the height and shape of the conifer, the bauble size you want and how full you would like your tree to appear. As Bethan wrote: “For my six foot tree, I wanted medium sized baubles with an ‘in between’ finish – not too full or too sparse. Our tree is fairly slim, so I was able to input all of this information to work out that I would need around 600 LEDs and a minimum of 128 baubles for my desired finish. “At Christmas Tree World, I can pick up 600 lights for £29.99, while Wilko’s are £28 and Dunelm are selling a pack for £22. Or, if coloured lights are more your thing, Amazon are selling these vibrant fairy lights for just £19.99.”Of course, then you have to think about baubles, and the options are endless, but for those decorating on a budget, I’ve picked out some fab finds that won’t break the bank.”Christmas Tree world offers packs of 50 baubles for £29.99 , so I’d need three of these to ensure I had enough to cover the tree. I’d be able to use the remainder on crafts and in wrapping, but it’s still almost £60 for decs. However, you can pick up a 130 piece assorted haul from Amazon for less than £40, which is a great way to add variety to your tree without splashing the cash.”Cheaper still is this 100 piece assortment from Argos, coming in at £12, or £24 for 200. This would easily cover my tree and leave some spare for breakages, projects and other decorations around the house. I particularly like to fill vases with baubles and have them dotted around the house.”If you want to save time and money decorating your own tree this year, you can find the bauble calculator here.