best old style money saving christmas hints and tips

skintmumof3

hi
i thought with christmas just around the corner it would be handy to have some os christmas money saving hints and tips thread.
especially as most of us are having to pull in the belt this year......

well here is one of my favourites.
i love making the clove oranges to hang either on the tree or place around the house.
just get one orange and wrap a ribbon cross ways around it. then just place some cloves to cover the orange. very simple and effective and they smell lovely.
hth
skint
x

Muppet81

Use simple brown paper and parcel tags to wrap pressies. If you have a Christmas stamp and a gold ink pad use this to make it pretty or cut angels out of doilies and stick onto parcel. If delivering on the big day itself, just decorate with a sprig of holly.
Inexspensive and has a nice old fashioned feel.

ubamother

My two hints:

1. be careful when getting caught up in the home-made is cheaper idea - it may be lovely, individual, thoughtful, taste/look better etc. but it may well be more expensive. Card-making is one example where people can end up spending loads more money than they realise.

2. Do a Christmas Menu plan - including all the things you only cook at Christmas, the extra cakes etc. and actually sit down with the recipes and write your shopping list. Several years ago I assumed what I would need following years of doing Christmases and ended up with four pints of double cream and six bars of dark chocolate leftover because I'd changed my mind about a few puddings but hadn't made a list! Made a heck of a fondue though!

Apricot

Homemade decorations can be really lovely and cost very little. Traditional things like coloured paper chains are really nice hung up in place of tinsel. Very attractive tree decorations are small match boxes wrapped up like presents with paper glued on to look like ribbons and a thread attatched for hanging. Cookies on ribbons are lovely - if you want to eat them better make them a bit last minute! Use a drinking straw to make a small hole near the top prior to baking for the ribbons. For a very natural look to the tree slice oranges thinly, skins and all, into round slices and dry them out on your oven's lowest setting for a few hours - then thread them on ribbon or string. Gather pine cones in the woods, dry them near a radiator for a while (days, weeks) - dot them with glue and sprinkle with glitter - garden centres charge a lot for these! They look lovely piled round the bottom of the tree.

Mum_on_a_mission_2

Cards and how many you can end up sending seems a place to look at from an OS point of view. The cards cost, and so does the postage.

Places were you might usually send cards to several people - make one fab one and hang addressed to all. I usually make a small donation in lieu of the saved cost but that bit is not compulsory!

Are actual physical cards necessary - would an e-card be better? There are some lovely free sites, and children seem to love the process of "building" an e-card. Or a nice long newsy letter instead?

We're getting to grips with skype, and trying to introduce it to friends and family. We can then share our wishes "face to face" however far apart we are and maybe so many cards will not be as necessary for us anymore.

But there will always be people to whom a card means a lot - perhaps relatives & friends who are alone, a first Christmas in a different way to usual. Those cards will always be needed but sometimes we just get into I always send a card to - maybe time to reflect first and redo the card list?

just a small thought,

Moam

maman

Various ideas use ribbon: tags, decorations etc I always save the hanging 'loops' from inside jumpers etc, useful and stops them poking out and annoying me!

Jevvers

Last year for a table decoration I got all the satsumas/ clementines which we had bought anyway (all on a two for one) and put them in the bottom of a clear tank vase then I put holly sprigs above them. Looked v stylish and cost pence AND we could still eat the oranges when we dismantled it after the meal

InfamyInfamy

I always try to make a new decoration for the tree each year...like a little stocking embroidered with one of our pets names etc. It is also a nice reminder when the pet is no longer with you.

SallyForth_2

I think one of the best way's is not to be 'woo'd' by what the Supermarkets think we need to have in for Christmas Day! lets face it, we need something nice for brekkie, the items for the Chrismas Dinner, maybe something for a light supper in the evening (Everyone in our house is too full for much else). A few chocs, some drinks and that about it. The stuff the shops have you believe you should buy in, is staggering really.

scrimpingbadger

Got this one out of a Cath Kidston catalogue (I never buy anything - just copy the ideas!): slice up an orange and dry in the oven on low. Thread a ribbon through them and voila, a tree dec wot smells nice.
Me and the rug rat might try that one..

_Layla_

I'm making my own Christmas crackers this year, similar to ones I made in school many, many moons ago! They don't 'bang' but they look great. .

Toilet roll tubes
Crepe paper
Ribbons/Glitter/Glue/Cotton wool for snow etc
A little sweetie treat inside each one.

Put a treat inside the toilet roll tube, roll the tube up in crepe paper (allowing enough on either side to twist) tie twists with ribbon, and decorate as you wish.

Simples (And much better than paying stupid money for them!)