Great "How to have a cheap Xmas if you've kids" Hunt

jellyhead

On the cheap christmas theme - I am buying baking things and wrapping them up - cookie cutters, rolling pin and those boxes of cake mix, I forget who makes them - where you get a mix, decorated cases, icing and some tom and jerry sugar paper decorations or whatever.

We can make christmas biscuits and cakes, and it's a present to be unwrapped but won't need house-room after christmas day :rotfl:

My youngest is very excited about a snowglobe at the moment. I bought it for 99p in home and bargain yesterday, and I got some for the grandparents too. There's a choice of snow or glitter, there were also blue or pink stars I think. You put your own photo inside, the back is clear so you add 2 photos back to back. We haven't chosen his photo yet, but his dad drew a picture of a snowman, and he loves that. He's easily pleased

The snowglobes will make very cheap presents for the relatives, but are also quite thoughtful because we will be choosing photos of the relatives children for one side, and our children for the other side. I know it's only 99p but I think some of my family will be thrilled to open a snowglobe with a photo of their own children/grandchildren inside.

Boots are selling them for £3.99 on the 342 deal, if anyone hasn't got a home and bargain.

Sue_E_L

When our kids were 8,10 and 12 (a few years ago now!) things were very tight and we sat down and explained that, in life, sometimes you have more money than at other times. This particular year we didn't have much and the only way to buy extravagant things we couldn't afford was to do so on credit (not that we were prepared to go that way.) What followed was an amazing time with them, and an agreement that we'd spend £10 on each of them (about £20 now I guess) on something they could choose. We also tried to encourage them (harder with the 8 year old!) to think more about what they were going to be giving others, rather than what they were going to get. We had a great Christmas.

A handy money-saving tip from a friend years ago was, plan and buy in good time what you need for Christmas and then make sure you don't go near the shops the week running up to Christmas. That's when we're most tempted to buy things we really don't need!

dmasih

As Christians pressies have never been the main emphasis for us. Our little son is 3 in Feb but each Christmas we have made sure we have told him the true story and meaning of Christmas and not over emphasised the pressie thing. Of course we love to give him gifts and we have great fun choosing his presents but every Christmas we have a budget for him and we all choose together what he wants within that budget. The budget was set to allow for our financial situation changing. For us the emhasis is on spending time together and doing things together so thats what we talk about. we also encourage him to give and this year we have done this through shoe box appeals etc. Even at such a young age he responds well to the idea of giving to others and he understands that he can't have EVERYTHING he wants. He knows he has chosen what he would like and if he wants anything more he has to wait and help to save up for it. At Christmas we also tend to buy toys that will last him for a good few years eg. rockig horse / drum kit etc. Also, this year we have discussed with our wider family circle and come to agreement that we will only have a very small budget for giftgiving to eachother and in some cases give only to the younger family members. As Christians we love giving gifts (and receiving too!) but this is not the most important thing to us. For us it's a time to reflect on what Christmas is truly about, a time to give thanks and to share with family and a time for giving to those less fortunate. With our son we know there will be times ahead when he is more aware of 'things' and what he wants but we hope that by instilling good Biblical principles at an early age he will have an appreciation of whats truly important and have good skills with his money regarding saving and giving to others.
BLESSINGS TO YOU ALL THIS CHRISTMAS. XX:A

ticklepenny_2

jellyhead wrote: »

My eldest in particular doesn't like quantity. He gets stressed by all the little cheap things, and there's no where to put them. He still has one large bag of presents from last year that's in front of his bookshelf and hasn't been looked at since the gifts were opened on christmas day. I reckon I could give them back to him this year and he wouldn't notice!

I think that fewer presents, and being able to find a space for what he does have will make him happier than a huge pile of gifts will. He can't think of anything to ask for anyhow!

How about a storage solution for him and if he is arty a few paints to decorate it

LilDevil

Last year my SD2B (hovering on the believe/not believe in Santa) turned round to her dad and said, don't worry daddy, I know you can't afford to by XY&Z so Santa can get it for me instead - she had one of those looks on her face as she said it - cheeky mare :rotfl:

tori.k

just be honest with your children, i refuse to get stressed over money "if you havent got it you havent got it" this year is tight for us the kids will be getting token gifts, and filled out with clothes that they need anyway,christmas day like last will be dinner a stroll down the beach and a board game that everyone can play,with both me and my husband working and the kids in school full-time,the greatest gift we can give each other is time..... enjoy your yule x

oojamacallit

Our boys don't believe in Santa any more, they are 13 and 11, but we tend to have bigger birthdays and smaller Christmas's. They both have games consoles which were their birthday presents, and are happy to receive games, books, clothes, hair gel, Lynx and other bits and pieces for Christmas.....the quantity v quality certainly rings true in our family, and they are happy just to open lots of small presents. We have always done things this way, and they don't question it.
They understand that money is tight this year, and have even offered their savings to help which was very sweet of them.
I think the family aspect is more important than anything else, and we will have a lovely day with a home reared turkey and lots of Buck's Fizz and Baileys (well, pretend Baileys).
Christmas needn't be expensive, several years as a single mum taught me that!
Lidl and Aldi have fantastic and unusual food, snacks and drink at Christmas at the fraction of the price of the other supermarkets, and you can also find presents for not a lot of money. Iceland do great party food for not much, or you could ask all your guests to bring something to eat or drink. Spending on the close relatives is capped at £15, and nobody else gets a present, just a card. The kids make most of their presents for us and cards too, which is lovely.

suzanandboys

my boys are 3 and 7. The 3 year year old still doesnt understand whats its all about and the older one knows that mummy and daddy send money to santa to buy his presents, and that's why others seem to get more than him and some get nothing and thats why we have to make up shoe boxes to send . He only chooses one toy for is list and says santa surprises me with the rest. Hes more about qualtity than quality! so hes quite hapy with figures etc bought on ebay, and i but in sales throughout the year. Fortunately he still seems oblivious to games consoles .

bestpud

kprice580 wrote: »

This chrimbo will defo be about cutting back, My DH wage has droped by more than half! Trying to tell my 5 year old that we dont have enough money to buy what she would like breaks my heart.
I have two children DD 5 & DS 2, they have everything any anything! this year it was going to be TV/DVD combo for the playroom but we just can't afford it. As another post says buy lots from the pound shop, I think this we will have to do.
I'm fine with buying from charity shop & second hand but my DH on the other hand isn't. I grew up in a family with not much, my DH a single family, so he knows what it's like not to have things. Since we got together & had children of our own he has said whatever they want they can have! Each year we have had a room full of presents for them both, spending around £300+ on each of them.
But now we just cannot do it anymore.

My DD is very bright but does not have any understanding of money or the value!
How do I tell her we cannot afford christmas like we used to have??

Katy x x

I can only give you my experience of this but I hope it is helpful:

As children, me and my sister has everything we wanted, materially at least. At xmas we had 2/3 big sacks of presents each and what we asked for, we had.

My OH on the other hand comes from a bigger family and they had a few bits in a stocking and one toy each, plus maybe a board game between the five of them. He has an aversion to second hand things as he recalls the shame of having someone elses name in his underpants!

When we had children, I would buy them loads as I felt they would be disappointed and I wanted them to see all the presents etc. DH has always said they don't need loads and it is not worth spending more than we have. And, you know, as time has gone on (eldest is 18 now), I've come to realise they don't remember the gifts at all, and neither do I remember the gifts I had as a child.

I remember having no adult to play the new games with, and no adult to help us open the boxes, and get things working etc. And DH mostly remembers the disappointment about the supposed fun time (that didn't happen in his house either). So, you see, the number of gifts is not the issue?

In a very long winded way, I guess I am saying the gifts are a small part of the whole xmas experience and your children will remember what you did with them, and not what you bought them.

Plus, when you have everything you want as a child, you don't grow up to appreciate money, hence why DH has the debit/credit cards in this house and I stick with cash cards - I'm 37 and I still struggle with waiting for things! You are setting your children up for the same fate!

I used to think DH was miserable and yet, now I think he is the one with the right idea and I had it all wrong. Mine get less now and we try to do things with them - take them places and the like as that is what their memories will be made of.

Your children will get over it (they are too young to have these habits set in stone). The problem with not having money is more about you than them, and the upset is more yours than theirs. Make up for it with fun times and they will not know the difference, or any 'protests' will be merely habit (brought on by being spoilt) and will soon be forgotten!

kprice580

Bestpud,

Thank you so much.
What you wrote means alot and your are right!
I think it will me be my uspet rather then theirs.

Thank you x x x