xmas 2006 - what have you learnt? what will be different next year?

pavlovs_dog

a tip ive picked up from organizedchristmas is that to avoid repeating the same mistakes time and again, it is important to evaluate what went well, and what didnt go so well, so you know what to do to make the next christmas even better.

christmas for us was something of a disaster this year, as we all came down with that horrible sickness bug, and none of us felt in the least bit festive we *did* stick to last years promise of buying less food this year, but even a lot of that has been thrown away because no one has been well enough to eat it.

at the moment i am wrestling with my conscience as to whether it is too early to tear town the decorations and put them all away. in one way, i feel like a right scrooge for even considering it, but on the other, i dont want to be reminded of the whole sorry affair that this year became.

on the present front, i received a lot of token gifts. smellies, i wouldnt have minded so much, but it was mostly chocolates - something which i was trying to cut down on :rolleyes: this has made me consider the type of gifts i give to others, especially those that we give 'token' gifts to. its made me more determined to make sure they are thoughtful and more useful than the customary box of chocs and bottle of wine which has been my failsafe in recent years.

budgetwise, shopping in the sales paid off, and i am hoping to pick up more bargains this year (yet to find many, will try again in the new years sales). i have also decided to make a more concentrated effort on pigsback, yougov etc to earn the money to help pay for christmas. i will also buy one to two stocking fillers for OH each month - its scary how much the little things cost :eek:

on the preparation front, this christmas was relatively unstressful (until we all fell ill :eek: ) because i had been planning and shopping in advance. i aim to continue this for 2007, by making sure a hold a 'rudolph' day once a month to plan for the coming christmas festivities



well those are my main resolutions for christmas 2007..what are yours?

Roz_V

To let OH deal with it all :rotfl:

But just in case that doesn't happen, I have already planned the kinds of gifts I wish to give next year, and as I plan not to spend anything on presents in 2007, I am keeping my eyes peeled for bargains!!

Also I am planning to make it really thrifty as I graduate in the summer and have absolutely no idea as to what my job/money situation will be in 12 months time :eek:

WELSH-DRAGON_2

Like you OP I will religiously click thru on pigsback to get Boots vouchers etc and I will also be buying one or two presents a month rather than just over several weeks.

I have far too much Christmas clutter, lights, decorations etc - now I am debating what to do with them, do I try to car boot them ? or bin them ? OH reckons the latter but I want to get enough money together to buy something that I have fancied for ages but never seem to get around to it. So I am pondering that one.

On Christmas Day after this year's disaster visiting my parents - we have jointly decided as a family to stay in and dine in our new kitchen (which should be built by then). We are going to put our family first and instead of rushing around visiting relatives they can come to us.

More organisation and planning (although I bought some presents and cards yesterday in the sales).

Lastly, My Nan died on 3rd January last year and this Christmas was quite sad and emotional for me as I really miss her - but I knew that going up a few days before Christmas and not on Christmas Eve to the cemetery was the right thing to do. Many of my relatives went on Christmas Eve but I found going alone was the right thing to do whilst putting my wreath up there and reflecting on lots of special memories.

Welshy x

lilac_lady

Next year I'll use my £2 coin stash for Christmas instead of spending it in October. I've started saving them again and hope NOT to cheat and spend them before November 2007 when I'll use them for Christmas presents.

Spendless

The main thing for me is that next year DH will be saving holidays to use between xmas and new year:p so he doesn't slink back off to work on 27th leaving me with 2 hyper kids and a house full of clutter to sort :rolleyes: .

Also the house needs to be far more organised and tidy than it was prior to xmas day, to make putting pressies away far more easier.

I need to buy and send cards earlier than I did

Fodd I think I got right :T just about to eat the last of the turkey in a sweet and sour sauce

pavlovs_dog

Spendless wrote:

I need to buy and send cards earlier than I did

another good idea - bought them and wrote them early enough, just didnt get around to giving them out early enough

jillie1974

definitely going to save more every month!! not worry bout it as much. use my piggy points and try and buy on line to get better offers and cash back1
stick to a budget per person. and going to get my OH something really good as this year we were a bit stingy with our gifts to each other.

Lucie_2

Next year we will be leaving the country for a week over Christmas! We normally go away, but this year for one reason & another, were forced to stay at home. It's much less hassle.

Next year I will be rather more forceful in my demands to family not to buy us any useless tat. I tried telling them this year, but I obviously didn't get my point across, because we still ended up with a load of stuff that won't get used.

pavlovs_dog

WELSH-DRAGON wrote:

Lastly, My Nan died on 3rd January last year and this Christmas was quite sad and emotional for me as I really miss her - but I knew that going up a few days before Christmas and not on Christmas Eve to the cemetery was the right thing to do. Many of my relatives went on Christmas Eve but I found going alone was the right thing to do whilst putting my wreath up there and reflecting on lots of special memories.

welshy - have you thought about buying a special ornament to commerate her? a nice candle in a special holder would be quite fitting - something to help you remember the good times? or perhaps you could adopt some of her christmas traditions?

hope the extension is going well xx

WELSH-DRAGON_2

Thanks Pavlovs - I have a special Christmas bauble which has a picture of her on it and is on our Christmas tree.

I think one of the reasons our Christmas Day lunch didn't go very well because it was the first Christmas she wasn't sat at the table with us - she was a very special lady.

The extension isn't going as fast as planned builders worked approx one hour today but promised to return tomorrow and do some more !! maybe at least 62 minutes tomorrow LOL

Welshy x

morganb

This year my parents and brother spent Christmas day with us; as I have two small children (4 and 2) I was NOT going to be spending all day in the kitchen so Mum brought the turkey, veg and bread sauce and all I had to do was the gravy / cranberry sauce / spuds / pudding / sparkling wine and it all worked very well indeed. Mum and Dad are quite particular about their turkeys so I didn't have to worry about buying a free-range organic bronze feathered creation from M&S, and they didn't have to worry about my two running around their considerably smaller home. Definitely going to do this again next year, except I will get my brother to bring the wine ...