OF all the Christmas guessing games, it's the most nerve-wracking: which of the presents I'm buying is going to be price-massacred in the New Year sales?

It's a brave shopper indeed who can turn over the ''reduced'' label to see how much could have been saved had they been able to hang on just those few days longer.

Responding to this annual angst is a new price protection policy that positively encourages you to check out reductions - refunding any difference up

to #1000.

Launched by the

Co-operative Bank, the guarantee lasts 60 days on each purchase made. Buyers' Advantage also provides

90-days' protection against accidental damage when goods are bought with a

Co-op bank card, and

tacks on an extra year's warranty, free of charge.

For details of the scheme, which costs around #35 a year, phone 0800 414717.

DEAR me! Here we are plummeting towards economic oblivion and being told to tighten belts as never before - yet Tesco is touting venison loin joints to Scots at #15.99 a kilo. And apparently we just can't get enough of it.

Predicted demand, according to the supermarket chain, is so huge that farmers all over Britain are being recruited to start up deer herds.

''So far we have established enough to keep local stores supplied solely with venison reared in Scotland,'' says spokesman Melodie Schuster. ''The trend now sweeping the country,'' harks back to Henry VIII, she says.

Four centuries of the rich flavours prevalent throughout Tudor times are wafting through the Scottish heather and high street - and all you need is a king's ransom to buy the

princely cuts - although off-the-shoulder bits weigh in at a mere #4 for 340g, which are ideal

for pensioners.

The new-found lust for the upper crust delicacy will undoubtedly come as a relief for the common-or-garden turkey which, according to animal rights charity Viva!, is weighed down - literally - by chemical and genetic manipulation by the time its neck is wrung.

Says director Juliet Gellatley: ''Not only does this lead to leg and skeletal deformities, with bones breaking beneath the burgeoning weight, but many suffer heart attacks, too.''

So gnashing on venison instead could make you feel compassionate. The only problem for parents may be explaining to kids that the ''dark, rich, smoky'' portion rubbing shoulders with the Christmas brussels pulled Santa's sleigh before, like Henry's wives, it got the chop.

ONE Hogmanay hangover you can well do without is cleaning up after first-footers who bring mud and grit in with the traditional lump

of coal.

Now carpets can be protected all year round with the ingenious Mudbuster. Made from a hi-tech plastic and rubber compound, its tray-shaped mat bristles with hundreds of small plastic spikes. Users add a small quantity of water and do a soft shoe shuffle for a few seconds in their muddy wellies, boots, trainers or shoes to remove dirt from the sides, soles, and awkward treads. A scraper bar gets rid of stubborn deposits.

Ideal for gardeners, Mudbuster will fascinate kids, encouraging them to wipe their feet without (usually ignored) parental pleas.

It costs #14 at B&Q, Savacentre, and Lakeland stores and garden centres.

Or phone 01653 698820 for other stockists.

WHATEVER became of those slick stickers that exhorted us to ''Watchout - there's a Christmas thief about''? Possibly they were nicked by those who would rather we were lulled into a false sense of security as homes bulge with easy pickings.

According to insurance experts at Alliance & Leicester, the average value of items stolen last December was #1200 - with seasonal swag often temptingly

displayed in full view beneath the Christmas tree.

A police-endorsed security checklist that has been issued today recommends:

n Have a BS-approved alarm installed - by a professional. Badly fitted alarms could cop a #2000 fine if they self-start and ring for more than 20 minutes.

n Mark valuables with a permanent etching or ultra-violet pen, and photograph jewellery and other valuables to help recovery.

n Don't attach your address to holiday luggage - thieves lurk around airports and stations

looking for clues to unoccupied properties.

n When you're away, use random time switches to make the home look occupied.

A new Home Control unit will not only keep intruders at bay, but promises a warm, well-lit house - with even your favourite CD playing - when you come home from work. The plug-in system - already popular

with millions of Americans - uses the domestic electrical

circuit to programme and

control lamps, and appliances, and can be linked to a computer. For details of starter kits from #90 phone Home Control on 0845 6021238.

STOCKING fillers: Christmas lights for cars, powered from the cigar lighter, are #2.99 at Waterstons, George Street, Edinburgh . . . Nambarrie 80 and 160 Christmas teabag packs come with free Cadbury's Roses chocolates . . . Among distinguished gifts that will appreciate in value - Edinburgh's Royal jewellers Hamilton & Inches offer a Victorian gold, diamond and seed pearl bangle at #865; a hard stone dirk brooch #325; a nineteenth century gold and gem set bracelet #3950 and a Victorian citrine pendant #260. Phone 0131 225 4898

for details.