Credit Crunch Christmas - how are you cutting down this year?

maryg111

My OH has been made redundant and it has been a pretty stressful year so we want it to be a special (but cheap) christmas!

I bought all my christmas cards in the Card Factory sale (they were practically giving them away!) and i everyone loves cakes so I am making mini christmas cakes to give to everyone - i make up a batch of cake mix and make the mini cakes in the large sweetcorn tins - decorate them nicely and wrap them in some christmassy celophane and you instantly have a delicious, thoughtful present!

my mum has bought OH's little girl a bike for chritmas - £15 from a boot sale - good as new and one happy 9 year old!

also, instead of presents, we are donating to our holiday fund - knowing we can have a cheap haoliday next year to escape all the stresses will keep us both sane!

at the end of the day, if you are happy and get time to spend together as a family then any presents are just a bonus - we are going for pub grub on christmas day and just going to enjoy all the good cheer that christmas brings - rather than be worrying about still paying it off this time next year!

northernlass_2

My sister used to buy gimmicky presents that meant nothing to anybody and were of no use what so ever and so it was money wasted. we were chatting one year and i dropped into the conversation that i believe a present should be meaningful or it is a waste of money, you dont just give someone something because its christmas you give it because the pesron is special to you (i make her gifts every year and alot of thought goes into them), she took the hint last year and although she bought me a bath smelly set, she removed it from the box put it in a wide vase added some shredded tissue and some confetti, wrapped it in beautiful pearlescent plastic with a ribbon then the traditional wrapping paper, it was lovely and it was loved more because of the thought that went into it.
i make gifts every year for older family members, they can be made so cheaply but the recipient will never know.
i am going to cut right back on food this year also and am not buying any new decs i will make do with last years, im also gonna spend more time with the children on winter walks and free days out making them as interesting as i possibly can so they are not asking to go swimming, or to the fun shack which costs money that i dont have.

vikkigenie

I want to make up a hamper for my parents (both 70) as it has now become so difficult to buy for them. They have everything! Does anyone have any ideas of what to put in a hamper and cheaply?

LogJam_3

Frankly, this thread puzzles me. Now, there are some people here who have posted that they or someone in their family have been made redundant, but for everyone else what has changed since last year? As far as I can make out in the forest of disinformation and rumour (otherwise known as the media) most of the financial "crisis" that we are seeing is about consumer confidence and isn't all this talk of how we're going to cut back at best a symptom and at worst the cause of this lack of confidence?

Mrs_Ihenetu

I'm going to do handmade gifts for family members this year in order to save money.

I will also be doing handmade christmas cards (it's my sons first christmas so i'm gonna dress him up in a santa suit, print copies of the pictures and stick it to the front of a piece of folded card).

My mum is giving me some christmas decorations and i brought some christmas crackers for £1 from a charity shop.

I think the main expense will be christmas dinner (which i buy all frozen from iceland).


:xmassmile :snow_laug :rudolf:

Rachie_B

Mrs_Ihenetu wrote: »

I think the main expense will be christmas dinner (which i buy all frozen from iceland).


:xmassmile :snow_laug :rudolf:

is fresh not cheaper ?! and not that much more effort if you prep the night before

silvercarmel

Hi All ,
What a stress for a coupleof days eh? Wen used to spend a lot on sweeties, this year I am getting Thorntons misfits from home and bargain ( 69p for a bag) and putting those in nice bowls.

silvercarmel

vikkigenie wrote: »

I want to make up a hamper for my parents (both 70) as it has now become so difficult to buy for them. They have everything! Does anyone have any ideas of what to put in a hamper and cheaply?

I made my dad a hamper last year, putting in posh glasses(charity shop) filled with paper and misshaped thorntons chocs(69p home and bargain) .I also put in lots of nibbley types of food in small trysize jars and packets that shops have on offer.You could also tape some relaxing music or look for a cheap cd in a charity shop.
Hope this helps

Carmel

henrietta

When I planned christmas last year I made a spreadsheet with all the food I intended to buy.
After christmas I went back and updated the list with comments like, 'this did not get eaten', 'only needed one pack of these' etc. I opened it back up again this week and thought if I hadn't done that I would have overspent again on things people won't eat. So this year I know where I can cut back.
I also do all my grocery shopping on line which really helps when you get to the checkout and have spent more than you wanted, it is easy to swap things out and stick to the budget. There is always a voucher on here to save a bit too.

roothie

This year I am cutting back on presents and groceries.

Our 3 girls will be having one main present each, and a stocking filled with smaller more inexpensive presents. I wanted to budget £100 each, but our eldest will probably have more spent on her as the things she likes are more expensive! (she is 10, our two youngest are 3 [4 on the 27th Dec tho!!]).

I absolutely am not buying the whole of Asda in the week before Christmas 'just incase'. I'm sticking to my normal shop, with the addition of a bit of alcohol, a few nibbles, a turkey, and a jar of sweeties. Everything else (like mince pies etc) I will bake myself out of the storecupboard. As long as we are all together on Christmas day and can enjoy a nice meal we'll be happy.

I liked Alikay's idea of buying from local traders rather than doing the supermarket thing. If we all did that more of us would have a happy Christmas, and some new ideas rather than the 10 tubes of Pringles and super-size bag of dry-roasted.