Year after year hundreds of thousands of people tear out their hair and go crazy vacuuming up Christmas tree needles and swear never again will they get a real tree. But then Christmas comes around again the following year and all the fallen needles are forgotten as you rush out to buy another tree.

There are also all the problems with actually buying a real tree too. If you buy it too early it will start to look a little bare by Christmas Day, if you wait too long all the good trees could be gone, then if you find the perfect tree after hours of looking it could be too big or too small for your room.

When it comes to Christmas Trees, real ones are so 20th century, modern artificial Christmas trees not only look like the real thing now but there is such a huge range you can find something that perfectly suits your room.

Some people say that there is no magic to an artificial tree; the kids don’t get excited when you head to some parking lot to choose a tree, there is no tree ‘smell’ and that an artificial tree can never look as good as the real thing. To anyone that says that then I say they haven’t seriously looked at the latest artificial trees that are available today.

First off, I know my kids get hugely excited when we say it’s time to bring down the Christmas decorations from the loft, it’s no less exciting than walking around a parking lot fighting with other families over the perfect tree. And that real ‘tree’ smell? You can get the same effect by buying some pine cones or lightly scented candles – all the ambiance, none of the needles.

One of the sticking points when taking the plunge on buying an artificial tree is of course the price. With a real tree costing an average of thirty dollars, spending up to ten times that much can be difficult to swallow, but the savings are not just in money alone – think how much time you spend vacuuming up the needles, going to different tree lots to find the perfect one and disposing of the tree after Christmas.

Artificial Christmas trees tend to start at around $50 and can go up to thousands of dollars, but a decent tree which looks very real and comes pre-lit with its own integrated light system can cost about $300. Once Christmas is over, there are no headaches on how to dispose of the tree and no attempting to wrap it up to stop the needles falling all over the house as you remove it, simply pack it away in the box and use it again year after year.