❄❄ Let It Snow ❄❄ :: Christmas 2012 Chatter Thread

Snugglebunny8

pinknfluffy28 wrote: »

ok, so i have just pulled out all my xmas pressie receipts (yes, i save everyone throughout the year in a little folder, into sections for each of kids, other family, dh ect. im sad, i admit it!) and added up how much ive spent on kids. my budget was £300 each, and ive already gone over for one (by £18), and only have £41 left for other ARGH! although looking at what ive paid compared to rrp, theyve probably actually got about £450 worth each. Now, we both work very hard, and yes my kids are spoilt for xmas and birthdays, but thats why i work hard - for them. They are both good kids, they ask for nothing, and are grateful for everything, i only spend so much on them, because its my way of justifying all the long hours and crap my dh and i put in during the working week. however, having now discovered this site and especially this thread, i have already made my 2013 resolution. i am going to slash everyones budget in half, send a lot of home made gifts next year, and save enough money that we can spend new year 2014 at centreparcs or similar. just ran it past dh and he's thrilled with the idea. So although i havent quite finished this years xmas shopping, i have now started a new word document colating all the info on homemade gifts, and cheaper alternatives for xmas 2013! hows that for forward planning!!!

:rudolf:

wowzer -that's amazing! good on you! :T:beer:
I know exactly what you mean, in the past Ive probably spent far more than I should (no probably - I did! ) but I feel like you do, my kids are such good kids, they work so hard at school and they are so good about understanding the price of things and are grateful for what they have - and you do feel like that sometimes when you work so hard and maybe we were going out in the holidays but they had to stay at home cos I had to work etc - Ive really found that planning early and buying on grabbits and offers Ive saved a fortune; often by simply having the time to watch a price for a while to wait for it to drop or an offer code to appear, which you just don't have the luxury of in December I guess!

Centreparcs sound wonderful for New Year! good luck with your planning, we are all here to help! x

Snugglebunny8

kaymumof3 wrote: »

home sweet home have enjoyed catching up nothing not much has stuck tho as traveled for 12 hrs last night so no sleep kids did tho

christmas is kinda on the back burner at the mo as far as prezzie buying goes as being away for 3 weeks sorting fil funeral was not kind to our bank balance an d we have some catching up to do

im hoping argos 3 for 2 will help us out as kids bdays oct,nov and jan as well as xmas will try to not stress out as kids rember the funny lil things like santa making a mess of his mince pie or when we wrapped the living room door and not always wat they recieved that year

hope you are ok and the funeral wasnt too distressing for you all hopefully now you are back home you can get some rest and will start to feel better *hugs* xx

Crowdpleaser

Well I think I've made a good dent in the shopping. With only my girls to buy for, I'm doing ok! Big bits done I think apart from one more bigger thing for dd1s birthday. I guess it doesn't really look like tons but in previous years they've had huge piles and although most were bargains I ended up buying stuff for the sake of it. Come Xmas day they'd barely notice what they were unwrapping, theyd just rip it all open! So have gone for better quality timeless stuff this year and hope its all ok! X

savykate

Hello all! Been reading the thread for the past few days after discovering it. Must admit I'm a serious Christmas planner that starts in the January sales! I have hubby, parents, bro, SIL, grandmother, the in laws, extended family and close friends to buy for. Also, as I'm a church youth worker I also have about 40 5-16 year olds to buy for!!!

Quite impressed with myself as all the girls this year at work are getting the gorgeous owl money box from poundland as well as cute sunflower/venus flytraps in a can that were 30p each from dotcomgiftshop. 2 of the little boys at work who are dinosaur obsessed are getting disney dinosaurs books that were free from the local resource centre which I have access to for my job

As for friends and family, I spend free time doing surveys online as I work part-time. I've almost finished the shopping thanks to Amazon vouchers!

So far I've spent £108.28 on presents for 38 people excluding the kids at work. It would have been £254.36 without the vouchers, so saved £146.08!!!

DH and I set each other a budget of £100 on main presents and £20 on stocking fillers that are no more than £3 each. Bought him heaps so far! it's worth while looking at chinese/hong kong based ebay sellers if you don't mind waiting as often things you want are so much cheaper!

Look forward to seeing more of people's advice and tips!

P.s. if anyone needs any Bible-based/nativity Christmas craft ideas for kids, I do it as part of my job so feel free to ask! donkey poop made from cocoa powder and icing is a current favourite of mine!

cosmic_mum

Hi all,

A very new newbie here (please be kind!). Have been reading this thread for the past week or so, and as I officially started my Christmas shopping today I thought I'd be brave and say hello!

Have a DS who will be almost 18 months this Christmas, so my plan is to have 95% of Christmas Organised by Dec 1st so that I can spend the build up to Christmas (which I just love love love) doing lots of festive things with my LO.

Thanks for all the fab ideas on this board so far - the Better Christmas app is great! :rudolf:

Own_My_Own

Crowdpleaser wrote: »

Well I think I've made a good dent in the shopping. With only my girls to buy for, I'm doing ok! Big bits done I think apart from one more bigger thing for dd1s birthday. I guess it doesn't really look like tons but in previous years they've had huge piles and although most were bargains I ended up buying stuff for the sake of it. Come Xmas day they'd barely notice what they were unwrapping, theyd just rip it all open! So have gone for better quality timeless stuff this year and hope its all ok! X

This reminded me of the year my Best friend ( the football table one) got her boys 22 presents each.
She only did it once, she said they were all bored by present 15.:rotfl:

Mine get 7 or 8 presents at the most. One of those is always a new outfit to wear.:xmassmile

Nanamia

BBTHREE we are Stockport County supporters "real football" hope that's not put you off! Unfortunately there is a home game on November 29th did you find Lunar?

I can't remember who was talking about it (sorry) but I think the paint that we used to use for headbands which would work well on baubles was puff paint.

HTH

Found this on Pintrest thought what a lovely idea and it might help those who are missing a loved one this year. I think you could probably do the lettering with Safmat

BloomingTasty

Thanks to whoever posted re the films on yesterday.

Been up since 5.30 with a poorly DD, whos now snoring on sofa. Recorded 3 of the films a now watching Christmas Choir in relative peace and quiet

:xmastree:

Own_My_Own

Morning All,

Off to do bootsale, hoping to make some money and room for Christmas.:snow_laug

It looks like we're going to have some nice weather here :j

ELJAYCOCK hope dd is ok

Betsie2010

Wow, haven't checked in since Fri and it has taken me over an hour to catch up! Maybe that's why I woke so early!!
Started a quilting course yesterday which was fab fun and am going to be making 3 quilts for my nieces for Christmas. Bought all the fabric and I can't wait to get going!
Someone asked about a teddy for a dog - I bought 2 in £land for mine and her best friend. They had some really nice ones in there and am going to get one for my youngest ds's girlfriends hamper/box. Someone mentioned Home Bargain, is that on line only?
Thanks to someone on this thread, sorry can't remember who, got some Horrible Histories DVDs for £1 each and a triathlon book for my brother (should have been £15!)
Going into town this morning, can't believe they're not open yet! Meeting best friends and shall definitely be having hot choc to get in the mood. Have voucher for S***burys so shall use that to see what bargains they have. Already got the sweets and a panettone cake - makes the most delicious bread and butter pudding. Oh and looking in Lid* for cellophane.
Happy Shopping!