Ten Pound Christmas

Bossyboots

We spend £10 per person as well and on my side of the family we will club together if someone wants something more expensive. On my OH's side we do a version of secret santa. The only differences are the gift doesn't have to be secret and we know who is getting whose. That way, everyone gets a good present without too much being spent. It was suggested by one of the family as some of them cannot afford a great deal and this helps them out and keeps them in budget.

bobble_hat

This is a great idea, we struggled last year as a family, so decided just to buy for the children. I think this idea is much more appealing and is a great challenge. I'm moving away this year so it would be nice to buy a little something for everyone.
:snow_laug

I have a friend who has a very large family, they do a secret Santa, so they each pick a name from a hat and buy one significant present. This seems to work really well too, although, again this needs agreement from everyone.

Amongst my close friends, one of whom lives in Scotland, we spend the money on travel instead of presents so we get to see each other, which is much better than a gift, we dedicate a weekend to just us girls.
:xmastree:

Thefunkygibbons

Christmas would work fine for me if people would take me at my word that I really do not need presents.. at all

I just love family, and all the extra church services etc

But everyone is trapped on the pressie merry go round

Quackers

Wait until Boots do their 3 for 2 gift sets.

Then you can buy 3 £15 gift sets for £30 making your 3 £10 pressies nicer

Am I making sense - lol

I buy lots of my pressies now for christmas in the final clearance sales. As a previous poster said you get a lot more for your money.

Its the only organised thing I do - maybe its because I love christmas so much. I've got a little notebook in my bag with my xmas list on so if I see a bargain I have a look at who i've got left to buy for & see if it'll be suitable for anyone on my list.

skintchick

I spend £20 on family and best mates, a tenner on most, and a fiver on others.

I already have most of my gifts bought.

To those who say they expect money spend on them cos they like to be pampered - do you judge love by cash? Is that a value you want to teach your children? Personally, I spend hardly anything on pressies but people always love them because I put lots of thought into them, which is far harder than just chucking money at things.

And if your family would object - are you sure? Do you announce how much you spent?

And to Funky - I just get people to buy me all my posh toiletries ect so I have enough for the rest of the year, as I too don;t really need any stuff!

David_B_2

My family has been trying to do it for the last few years. Works well with the exception of my mum who still gets carried away and ends up buying lots of little things that end up costing more overall than she used to spend anyway.

Works for me and it's certainly worth a try for all those who haven't yet.

MascaraMinx

What about xmas cards? I stopped doing those years ago - the only exceptions are people I'm not likely to see in the next few months, so relatives who live far away or friends who've moved abroad etc.

I think they are a complete waste of money!

DontDoDebtKids

My girlfriend has already converted me to the idea of not spending so much on presents for christmas.

I used to go round in the week before Christmas and buy presents that I thought people would like, whatever the cost. Now I realise that most people don't really appreciate how expensive their present was anyway, so it's better to get them something they like rather than something expensive.

Also, she buys things throughout the year for people too, which helps spread the costs!

The thing that I am still bad at is sending far too many Christmas Cards. At work we talked about this last year and decided that there was absolutely no point sending cards to each other at work - we see each other almost every (working) day!!! So no more work Christmas Cards from me.

Also, having talked with my girlfriend last year, we don't think we'll be sending any Christmas Cards to people we are actually going to SEE at Christmas - only people we won't be able to meet up with and wish a Merry Christmas in person!

It wastes money, wastes trees, wastes postage and people just chuck them in the bin (NOT the recycling, I bet) within a month anyway.

Trying_really_hard

This is a brilliant idea. I was looking for something to sto me spending silly amounts on the OH. Yay for such a good idea!! :j :j

He'll be disappointed though as he's already been dropping hints about computer games (£40 that is now £30 over budget). Hehe. I feel quite evil. :rolleyes:

melancholly

how about homemade gifts? inexpensive, personal and CHEAP!!
lots of ideas on foody gifts on the OS board atm..... that's what i'll be doing anyway!