Im stressed about the cost of xmas

hardpressed

Keep visiting the charity shops in your area, you can often pick up gifts, toys and books that are new.

Doom_and_Gloom

I know I'm going to sound VERY cheap here. Last year I got items from £1, 99p stores and charity shops mostly . I had just lost my job so couldn't afford much more. I managed to get my dad a really good cafettier (sp?) from a charity shop for £4 which he loved :T . One friend wanted car dice and I found the perfect ones in the £1 store.

This year I have already bought 2 books from the £1 store for a friend of mine that i know will love them :rotfl: and I have a job again now . No point spending loads of money on loads of different things the person isn't overly keen on when you can find things that are cheap(ish) that they will love surely .

You never know what charity shops will have in them and some things have never been used (are new) :eek: .

lilly81

I dont have a credit or debit card and more, so dont think I can do the pay back sites. When my son is back at school I will go on a charity shop mission!

moanymoany

There have been some really good ideas on here. I often see unopened 'gifty' things at boot sales and often they are cheap. I think books are good pressies for kids as they keep them amused for ages. Colouring books, crayons, pencils and stationary are generally loved by kids.

I think the mug idea is a gem. At Christmas you often see bogofs on wrapped chocolates. Old fashioned sweets in a mug for an older person could be a smile - and the mug is there after. Tesco do some funky mugs. I would keep scents and sweets apart though after a mixed present given to me!

I think that if you say to your family only token gifts, you will have taken control and you will be able to enjoy the next five months! It is such a shame that many people feel dread at the approach of Christmas because they feel the pressure to get into more debt is overwhelming.

Also, start buying a few things each week - 50p colouring books here, bogof nice shower stuff there, your box of bits for Christmas will soon be full.

cookiedough38

I tend to add a few things to my food shopping, that way I dont notice the cost of it.

mary43

I did all my christmas and birthday pressie shopping from charity shops this year in Jan and Feb getting other peoples 'unwanted'........still always loads to be found even at this time of the year so worth a look.
I'm topping up a few boxes of bits and pieces with some craft stuff -has to be dead easy as I'm not that good but there's loads of ideas on the 'crafts for christmas' thread -worth looking on there.
Good luck. Christmas can be a trying time and you can feel the pressures on but its the thought that counts, not the cost.

jane130

I have lots of neices and nephews to buy for it usually costs me an armand a leg but last year I made them gift baskets picked up cheap bits as i saw them throughout the year and put them in baskets wrapped them in cellophane and they went down a treat - and because i started early there was no big outlay.

my sisters and I ( there are 4 of us) decided a while ago to stop buying for each other to keep costs down

sophie131

Do you have any spare time you could be at the computer for?
I know you said you aren't working at the moment, but maybe something such as dooyoo (get paid 50p a review) or slice the pie ( a small amount per track you review) would suit you?
Obviously depends on your circumstances though.

Chell

I've been doing the surveys from the Valued Opinions site, any vouchers I get paid can be saved for Christmas present. Same with Pigsback, I've been doing the click throughs on there.

Can you start shopping now? At Christmas my children will be five and a half, almost four and all being well my baby (due this week) will be five months old. I am already looking out for presents in the sales. A few weeks go I got Playmobil reduced from Woolworths, ordered online to be delivered to the store so no P&P charge and I got Quidco cashback.

ELC have a sale on just now, I got a few crafty bits half price for stocking fillers on Saturday.

Asda have a rack of nice paperback story books for £1 just now. Peel off the price label on the front and you'll have the more expensive price printed on the back! You can't go wrong with books in my opinion for children.

Sainsburys and Tesco have outdoor toys reduced, again some good bargains to be had.

Edit: we don't buy for brothers, sister, inlaws. etc. DH bought for his whole family when we met, once we had children it had to stop. SIL wasn't too impressed at first but I wasn't getting into debt for the sake of buying these gifts.

SugarSpun

You're welcome to join the Money Neutral Christmas challenge - basically the plan is to make back whatever you spend on gifts by selling things on ebay, or using clickthrough sites like pigsback.co.uk or cashback on Quidco. I don't have time for review or survey sites, but they seem to be a good way to get money back.

I tend to haunt the Grabbit and Freebies boards as well - for Father's Day I gave my dad tickets to Silverstone (free) and sent his name to the moon (free), He was overjoyed with it and it cost nothing!

How old are the kids? Small kids don't need a lot spent on them - if you find the biggest box you can and fill it with balloons most kids will be delighted, or you could make a dress up box with your old clothes and a few bits.