Looking for a cheaper Christmas

wannabee_in_credit

Hello all...
I'm a bit of a regular on the dfw boards but spend a lot of time lurking on here. I had my true lbm just about this time last year, but had already spent a load on Christmas by then. Since then I saved up quite a bit of cash, but I got married 5 weeks ago and most of my savings went on that...

Since then I've struggled to get on the mse bandwagon again and am worried that with Christmas looming things aren't going to be as good as I hope. I know it's not all materialistic stuff, but I have young kids and want to make it special for them.
I really want to get a second hand laptop or notebook for my son, but as I know nothing about technology I'm worried about getting the wrong thing. I've spent time trawling the pawn shops/charity shops for presents as well.

I just wondered if anyone could direct me to any threads, or offer me any advice about getting the best Christmas presents out of a tight budget.

So far I have
started making blackberry vodka
made some ruffle scarves
homemade baileys
stuff for snowman soup
set a very tight budget

I have a few close family members to buy for, obviously my kids (aged 8 and 4) take priority, plus a present for my daughter's male teacher. My husband and I have decided on a maximum spend of £20 on each other, and I want to get the best I can for him with that.

Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks

carlamarie_2

family presents;
baking things for your family may go down well; biscuits, buns or even sweets. you could even make them into hampers with a shoe box covered in xmas paper, a selection of homemade goodies, a cheap cup and some individiually wrapped teabags, coffee portions or a tub of hot choc.

decs;
a selection of papers, scissors, glitter etc etc and get the kids to be creative. paper snowflakes, garlands/bunting and paper chains are all easy crafts.
also salt dough and paper mache for 3d decs.

food;
if possibly eat out on xmas day :rotfl:
or failing that, ask your family if they really need all of the extras. personally i do at least 5 different vegs with our xmas dinner, to be honest i dont think anyone would notice if i stopped serving a couple of them.
what meat do you eat? can it be substituted, ie chicken is cheaper than turkey etc.
treats wise, again baking your own is cheaper, often healthier and tastier when its homemade. get the kids helping you and youve filled a day of their holidays.

entertaining the kids;
crafting
baking
collecting pine cones (which could be rolled in glitter and hung from ribbons for your tree)
go foraging for supplies for making a wreath
making ^^above^^ wreath
christmas movie marathon (presumming youve already got xmas films)
making pinatas

presents for kids;
you mentioned charity shops already but also try the cheap shops in your town/city as you can often get some really big savings!

would teh teacher appriciate the vodka your making??
if you put a list on of the gifts you need to make, including ages and genders, we could be more specific for you.

wannabee_in_credit

Thankyou for getting back to me - much appreciated, and some brilliant ideas.
Here are the people on my Christmas list.
My hubby (34)
My mum and stepdad (both late fifties)
My stepdad's mum (age 85)
My dad (60)
My son (4) and daughter (8)
My sister and her hubby (late twenties)
Male teacher (about my age apparently (35))
My son's nursery teacher (about 25, female)
My sister and I have decided that we're going to get each others kids edible treats and have set a maximum budget of £10 per child (age 7 and 9)
My niece who will be 1 two days before Christmas (she'd never get through £10 of sweets and chocolate).
My daughter's best friend (age 7)
My son's best friend (age 4)
My best friend (female 32)

I have a good friend who is a butcher, so the meat for Christmas will be excellent and good value. I think that I'm just cooking for the four of us at home this year (me, hubby and our kids).

Thanks for the advice so far
x

kingfisherblue

Places like Home Bargains are great, but you need to go in regularly as their stock changes frequently. This week I bought a bottle opener for the kids to give to their dad - it has his name on and cost 39p. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up beer mats with funny sayings on them (89p), and my daughter will add some bottles of beer to amke a reasonable but cheap present from her and her brothers.

Adult ladies - how about a purse? Peacocks have some quite nice ones for £6. Or a pamper hamper? HB have handcream for 89p (I think it is branded Creightons - red tube and lovely on your hands. I use it and I'm really fussy on handcreams). Shower gel or bubble bath - lots of places selling brand names for 99p at the moment. Add a flannel, mini soap, pumice (foot shaped one for 29p, HB), etc and you can keep the prices down. You can always keep to a colour theme.

You could make peppermint creams - your son's nursery teacher may appreciate the time you spend with your son doing this, and so will grandparents.

Look out for photo calendar offers and use for family and friends.

Set of children's book for baby niece - try the Book People.

madvixen

wannabee_in_credit wrote: »

Thankyou for getting back to me - much appreciated, and some brilliant ideas.
Here are the people on my Christmas list.
My hubby (34)
My mum and stepdad (both late fifties)
My stepdad's mum (age 85)
My dad (60)
My son (4) and daughter (8)
My sister and her hubby (late twenties)
Male teacher (about my age apparently (35))
My son's nursery teacher (about 25, female)
My sister and I have decided that we're going to get each others kids edible treats and have set a maximum budget of £10 per child (age 7 and 9)
My niece who will be 1 two days before Christmas (she'd never get through £10 of sweets and chocolate).
My daughter's best friend (age 7)
My son's best friend (age 4)
My best friend (female 32)

I have a good friend who is a butcher, so the meat for Christmas will be excellent and good value. I think that I'm just cooking for the four of us at home this year (me, hubby and our kids).

Thanks for the advice so far
x

Call me a sadist but my favourite part of Christmas is making my meagre budget stretch as far as possible. I love seeing peoples faces when they open their pressies and I get a little glow inside when I know how little it cost me

What's your budget per person? Do you have a Nectar card at all?

Firsttimemum_2

If you have a b&m they're great for cheap branded baby toys, dd teacher a four pack of lager would go down well I know they always do at our school or a homemade gift maybe snowman soup for a cold day after play duty(or gloves) tins/ tubs of haribo £5 in Tesco at the moment, there selection boxes are £1.50 too.

ragz_2

If you really want to buy a computer for a 4 year old I would suggest a PC rather than a laptop as they are a lot less breakable, easier to upgrade and they have a proper mouse - I think a 4 year old would struggle with the touchpad on a laptop. Second hand PCs are cheap and you wouldn't need high spec on it.

I too love getting it all done as early as possilbe and as cheap as possible, aim to have all presents bought and wrapped by December (at this rate will be by November) so I can spend Advent focusing on my family and doing some of the christmas baking and crafts I never actually get around to!

wannabee_in_credit

I appreciate that a computer for a 4 year old seems like an unusual present, and he is very young. However, he regularly uses a computer at nursery, and we use a website called Busy Things at home, which I still want him to be able to use. He's lost interest in his little vtech computer, and spends time on my laptop. It's not intended to be there to replace time that he spends with his family etc - just he enjoys a little bit of time on that site each day. He may not get it at all yet... I'm still undecided as I'm quite torn myself with how young he is.

I'm trying to keep budgets small (for me and compared to what I have previously spent).
£20 for hubby from me
£10 for hubby from kids
£10 each child for sibling
£10 for my nieces and nephews
£10 for my mum
£10 for my dad
£10 for my sister
Then between £5-£8 for everyone else (teacher, friends, stepdad etc).

I'm lucky in that I have BM and Home Bargains close by and get in there regularly. I think that hampers are a good idea and I'll enjoy looking for little bits and bobs to put in them.

We're doing quite a few home made gifts so I'd been thinking cookies etc for teachers.
And I too am quite looking forward to the challenge of how far I can make my money stretch. I love wandering charity shops etc but there don't seem to be too many bargains as yet. Last year I got my daughter a Pokemon cuddly toy for 50p which was by far her very favourite thing.

Thanks again. I'm keeping record of all suggestions. :T