This Xmas wont be the same!!

POSITIVE_AND_FOCUSED

At my LBM when I looked ahead at how I would cope at Xmas, I really started to dread it, but then I discovered my love of home baking and cooking with trying to keep food shopping costs down, have started to bake extra bits and bobs for friends who like me work f/t but don't necessarily make the time to cook for their family the treats like fairy cakes, home made scones etc etc. So, when I got a fab reaction from them saying it was a lovely surprise to have a nice h/m treat, my mind was made up. With my 6 yr old dd, friends and family are going to get a h/m hamper of goodies, enabling money to be avail for Father Xmas, and my nieces and nephews. I am just so excited about it, my dd loves baking in the kitchen with me and we have such fun and it is so rewarding. So, Xmas will be v different, but I think a lot more happier too.

dancingfairy

My favourite thing about Christmas is seeing the lights - most towns have a evening where some 'celebrity' turns on the lights and on another evening have a drive around the neighbourhood looking at all the fab. lights.
Oh and decorating the christmas tree and putting up decorations is always fun.
Decorating the cake , making paperchains, opening an advert calender every day - even if it's an old one without chocolate (yes really without chocolate) that's what I love about christmas.
Watching the showjunmping on the television etc etc.
There are so many fun things you can do without spending a fortune.
df

jellyhead

Last year we went for a walk around a village who go overboard with lights on houses and big garden displays, for charity. It was lovely and the children really enjoyed it.

primowino

Now my kids are big I cant do this without being ridiculed, but I have made lots of presents in the past, good ones are dressing up clothes, and a puppet theatre which I copied from an expensive one from Habitat, its a door sized piece of material hung from hooks at the top of the doorframe, and in the middle is a hole for the puppets, and curtains to cover the hole. I got all the puppets really cheap at charity shops and NCT sales.

Also NCT sales are great for toys and clothes, just Google to see if you have a branch locally.

Just don't buy too much for little ones, my daughter got a shape sorter for her first Christmas, and I bought her a towel as well as I felt so guilty - but she was only 4 months old!

clairelg88

jellyhead wrote: »

I've had a studio catalogue through the door today with lots of reduced stuff. Postage is free if you spend £20 if you use the code. You might want to have a look around the sale toys.

I wish I had a daughter to buy this for - a dolls house with figures for £34!
http://homeshopping.24studio.co.uk/iteminfo.asp?s0=toys-games&b=Xmas_Box_09&p=6&o=1&s=6&r=http://homeshopping.24studio.co.uk/searchresult/2

My youngest will be excited about pyjamas with his name on.

Thanks so much for this link, my daughter is going to love this!

alisong_2

For my son's 1st Christmas he had mainly toys from car boots and nct sales. We washed them all before wrapping and you'd never have known they weren't new apart from not having the original boxes! He loved them and it was a pleasure to see him so happy with them but also knowing we'd not got into debt through buying them.

gilligansyle

I think one of the important things here is not how much you spend but the very fact that people are planning the budget. The OP did not intend to go mad, but just wanted to be able to spend £1k.
I have never spent anything like that amount, make stuff etc. but get really stressed with wanting everything to be perfect; food, house etc. This year will probably be 'Christmas neutral' hopefully, as have already got survey money and cashback due, have got some smashing offers off the Grabbit board etc. It will be nice to look back on Boxing Day and realise I have money left out of my budget, not see Januarys credit card bill!