Great 'Biggest Christmas waste of money?' Hunt

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  • LameWolf wrote: »
    I'm afraid I regard the whole Xmas shenannigans as an overpriced, over-commercialised con.

    I'm not a Christian and I don't have kids, so I have no reason to bother with it; my husband was out of work a few years ago, for a whole 11 months, and at that time we ceased doing any presents, and we've carefully not started again.

    We do celebrate Yule, the Winter Solstice, but we all we do is that Mr LW takes a day's leave from work (I'm retired on medical grounds), we watch the sun rise on the patio with (last year) a Sea Breeze each - this year it'll be hot tea because we have errands to do in town afterwards, we have a nice but not overdone lunch - HM nut loaf, roast root veg, chestnut stuffing and Marmite gravy planned for this year, followed by HM Xmas pud, and we just chill for the rest of the day.

    No rellies we can't stand, no muss, no fuss!:D

    sounds like heaven :beer:
    Started my own business and loving being my own boss
    march gc 144/230
  • I'm a bit surprised at the anti - gift - tag views above - I don't buy gift tags but save last years cards and make tags each year. It's a good way to use up old Christmas cards and gives me an opportunity to look back over the messages from the previous year.

    Lots of ways to waste money at Christmas, but I don't think gift tags are one of them.....
  • Logie143 wrote: »

    One big waste is always the turkey so we have started buying the butterfly instead

    Now that really is moneysaving - and there's 6 legs to share! :rotfl:
  • mystra
    mystra Posts: 295
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    stumpycat wrote: »
    Now that really is moneysaving - and there's 6 legs to share! :rotfl:

    hahah!! :rotfl:
  • I am another Christmas lover but I do agree with allot of you guys some gifts are pointless, no thought has been put into it and i would rather they didnt bother. I have lots of gift sets which are unopened from last year and the year before so am running out of space and patience for them.

    Me and OH tend to spoil each other. We agree to buy for our own families and we tend to spend about £20 on each parent and £10 each for brother/sister and their partners. I always ask people what they would like, as i like to give useful presents which I know they would appreciated no matter how silly. My brother is moving into a new house so I have put together a box of things like tea towels, ice cube tray, salt and pepper pots (and several small things, the kinda things you tend to forget)

    We bought our tree and decks when Woolies closed down couple of years ago and we are very happy with them so doubt we will be changing them for a while.

    We dont have any children, but we have the pleasure of a nephew this year he is not very old and wont understand but it is nice to be with the family and spend his first christmas together. The family time is what i am most looking forward to, i am very fortunate that my family is close and I am close with the out-laws too so its not stressful just lots of yummy food and booze!! :)
  • mystra
    mystra Posts: 295
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    my first Christmas away from home now for both me and my boyfriend... so hard to comment seeing as this is the first year i've had to pay for xmas beyond getting cards and gifts


    I think my main gripe about Chrimbo... i love it but there is too much waste!

    Wrapping paper... in the bin
    Cards ... in the bin (although when i was little i used to cut them up and make pictures so people with kids that do that get good use out of them!)
    Too much food.... in the bin
    Snobs who want different decorations every year... in the bin

    but my number 1 pet hate.... GIFT SETS!!!!!

    My family is pretty good with pressies, i only ever got pressies from my mum and dad, a few gifts from my nan and grandad, and selection box from uncles and aunties (who then stop buying once your 18 - also luckily only 3 in my generation and none of us have made any kids lol) and now i'm a proper grown up i just get from my mum and her boyfriend, and a token gift from my Nan (she likes everyone to have something 'under the tree' and she always finds something we want or like)

    However... my boyfriends mum drives me mad with her kindness...and this sounds awful but pretty much 90% of what she buys us is random gift sets and things we don't like want or need :( most of it goes to the charity shop or if we're lucky regifted. Smellies... toiletries.. weird sweets .. that old enemy the overprices sachet of hot chocolate in a mug with stale marshmallows.... pyjama sets when i dont like wearing PJs....numerous pink items because i'm a girl and should adore pink fluffy spangly items ... it's a nightmare.

    i hate feeling spoiled, and whats worse i'm spoiled with things i don't want! i would feel bad if i got a really good expensive gift from my parents as a kid (being only child always felt like all the focus was on me and i felt selfish and wanted someone to share it with!). His mum adores Christmas i just wish she could see sense that she doesn't need to buy us all this junk, i just like her company and to enjoy the yummy food she'll be making on Boxing Day when we go up. We're adults...we don't need this much! she holds down two jobs and is always working, i want her to spend her pennies on herself, she truly deserves it!

    But the rest of the Christmassy stuff i love...although ask me again when i do my shopping on Friday afternoon! :rotfl:Not very organised this year lol
  • wow there's a LOT of scrooges out there!!
    September £5 a day challenge £65.41/£125 :)
  • toontron
    toontron Posts: 2,116 Forumite
    I hate Christmas cards - giving and receiving the stupid things, I also object to the cost of posting them!! I can get another present for the kids for the price of sending the cards!
    January GC: £64.81/£80.00
    February GC: £24.60£80.00
  • jimmyay
    jimmyay Posts: 117 Forumite
    edited 15 December 2010 at 11:49PM
    Sharky54 wrote: »
    Totally agree with all your comments. We've been going abroad for years now. It's all over in a day in Europe and the States! No fuss, no bother. Simple family celebrations.

    HAVE TO agree with this! So , so true. It is only in the UK that people go crackers and think Christmas lasts from Dec 1 - Jan 5, TV full of "special" programmes for weeks, jingles everwhere for day after day.

    NOWHERE else in the world do they do this - it's madness.

    I will be jetting off on Xmas Eve for a few days, somewhere a bit warmer, no fuss, no bother, just family together.

    Don't believe the hype - Christmas isnt about what many think it is and you don't have to do what "everyone" does.

    There's so much pressure to conform (in incredible detail) to an "idealised" Christmas in the UK, its a form of national mental illness, totally anally retentive and over the top.

    I can't get away fast enough when Chritmas comes around - its time to chill, not stress over pointless details.

    Also, i don't bother with a Christmas Tree any more, minimal decorations.
    :j
  • temporary1
    temporary1 Posts: 37 Forumite
    edited 16 December 2010 at 9:26AM
    wow there's a LOT of scrooges out there!!
    If you mean the number of contented, creative, sensible, considerate, eco-friendly, un-blinkered, corporate-hype aware, and financially savvy people out there, then yes.
    And every year, a few more people awake from the matrix.
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