Are you having a 'cheaper' Christmas this year?

thriftylass

I'll cut down this year too. I'll have xmas dinner with parents anyway, so save the money for that, but we usually have a smaller xmas dinner with friends. This year it'll be only the one and only with a duck not a goose as they shot up in price. For monetary reasons and also because I want to get a away from the comercial character of christmas a bit (buying sth, for the sake of having a present they prob won't like/use) I'll change my presents this year to a more HM selection.
I'll still buy sth nice for BF, sth I know he'll like/use.
Parents, "PIL" and close friends will get a hamper with HM candles, soap, cookies, flapjacks, chutneys and pickles etc. The jars I saved from sauces = almost free, and the ingredients I'll get on offer if posible. My parents will also get a small bought present like a unique perfum for my mum made by a friend.
I won't need to spend any money on decoration as we have a lovely artificial tree and I reuse my bought/given/HM decorations every year anyway.

Redbedhead

We are cutting back for a variety of reasons, not least that we are skint as I am coming to the end of my maternity leave.

Some of the things we have done are:
Saved up Boots points over the year and spent them on presents.
Bought presents as we have seen them on special offer to save some pennies
Have bought some of the food already (the beef and the ham, jsut turkey to get now) as it has been on special offer and frozen it.
We will have a smaller tree this year which will save money as we don't want the baby to grab it.
No new decorations either - I have only ever had basic white lights and I think they will be more than enough this year to keep the babies attention!
With my siblings have agreed only to buy presents for children this year.
H and I have agreed to a small budget for presents to and from each other.
I have already started to plan what food we will have before I get caught up in the excitement and decide we need to have 10 different types of veg:rotfl:

andrealm

Definitely cutting back on food this year,bought far too much last year and a lot went to waste so am not buying as much this year and have been buying things like Xmas pudding,packet of stuufing etc when it's been on offer.

Will dig out cards,wrapping paper and crackers which I think I have left from last year.

Have spent quite a lot on the children's presents, well mostly on my 2 year old DD,not spent much on 7 month old DD as as we can wrap up some of the baby toys we already have.

scouserwench

Steph998 wrote: »

Not just because of recession etc.....we have decided to cut back this year. (Perhaps it helps that my son has moved out and I no longer feel the idiotic need to rush around on Christmas Eve, looking for stocking fillers that will not even get a second glance come Boxing Day.)

My plan is to buy a smallish turkey crown, instead of the usual heaving, gargantuan thing I can't even fit in the cooker - even after grappling with legs and rubber bands - it only gets turned into soup no one can face. I also plan to miss out the sprouts with pine nuts that I think look lovely, glistening in butter, but always end up in the dog bowl. (Do I even have to mention the farts in the kitchen until New Years? Not to mention the agonised, yet perplexed look on the poor dogs face, and subsequent vet bill.) I shall NOT buy any new baubles, no matter how often I read that this year is 'purple and silver', and I will not end up with 100 more Christmas Cards than I actually need because Asda reduced the 'good ones' by a few pence. I will NOT elbow old ladies out of the way to get the last grinning, padded Santa I don't need for the front door, and I will not buy a present for anyone who doesn't actually deserve one.

Any one else got any tips for a thrifty Christmas?

Ive mentioned to me Hubby that I'm only buyin a Microwave Turkey Dinners , there's only Me & Hubby anyway Plus My Freezer aint really big enough for a turkey... We'll make up for it though with Alcohol and Xmassy Snacks lol

*I bought some cards from 'Birthdays' Xmas ones they were 4 for 99p! and they were discontinued or value cards, or cards from the Year before. I also got 5 rolls of Xmas paper for £1, also same place. Also couple months back bought a Pack of 12 Xmas cards on Bogof for 49p (Same place) have now ran out and decided to try and have a go at making me own and bought some more from Somerfield... 40 for £1.. Will be hunting the After Xmas sales for Cards etc etc...

discodiva123

Yes im cutting back due to lack of cash. Im actually enjoying the challenge of buying presents within a budget means im thinking more about what to get people and if things are worth the price. In previous years ive just brought whatever i fancied for presents started off with a budget but always went way over. This year im trying to keep the spending in budget and getting gifts i know people will like.

justpeyton4now

We are cutting back on our already small Christmas budget. We do a lot of our shopping in charity shops, discount shops anyway. I tend to go to the local charity shops as they seem to have better prices than Bernardo's, Heart Association etc. One of our daughters loves Scooby Doo and we found a paint your own kit, still sealed brand new for a pound. Elsewhere I've seen them at £5 and up. Our grandaughter is getting a brilliant dollhouse (heavy duty plastic type,) that we scooped up for £6 including all the figures and furniture for it. It's in great nick and it's perfect for her age as she's 2.5.

I've been shopping since early this year for everyone and am about done. I go to the pound shops and get lil goodies for stocking stuffers and the like. I also put away free makeup, skincare, shampoo samples I receive to go in the girls' stockings. We have some kidlets and a grandaughter that live in the states. This is our grandaughter's first Christmas so we're not overdoing, yet getting things age appropriate to send. Postage is expensive! For the kidlets that live there, they will get Visa gift cards that can be used anywhere and a little token type gift in the Christmas package we send.

We have Christmas dinner at our oldest daughter's home so I don't need to budget extra for special food. We did this last year and had a wonderful Christmas. It was filled with the true spirit instead of commercialism and the I've got to spend too much so they know how much I love them attitude. A well chosen inexpensive or homemade gift is always preferable to a pricey one that gets tossed in a corner in a week.