how do you pay for christmas?

fizz1987

I start my christmas shopping on boxing day....
Buy cards,. gift wrap,.tags,. cellotape all for afractions of the price...
I buy pjs for neices just next size up...
gift sets...make up sets xmas socks etc then just spend £10 on an extra pressie what they ask for...
even christmas tree decorations... i usually pay about 20p for a £3 bauble.. so i tend to change colour scheme each year..peoplethink i spend a fortune on it... theyd be surprised if they knew how much i really paid....
food savings I use the bogofs...1 for cupboard and 1 for xmas..cost cut my 3/4 because bulk of food is free...
and i use vouchers when ever i can for anything i need..
my local tescos call me coupon lady....
;)

natnhay

I save x amount every month and save any ebay sales and TCB money. I always shop for a good offer, and have saved on most items that i have purchased.

Almost finished my christmas shopping and still have funds left in the pot to start again next year.

Everything is purchased on credit card but is always paid in full evey month.

rosalie-lavender

Another thing you could do if you have facebook is see if there is a local facebook bargains board. There have been some really good bargains on our local board recently including a lot of children's bits. A lot of the stuff has been new.

I am another one who buys presents and cards and wrappings in the sales and through the year. When my children were younger money was very tight so a lot of their presents were second hand. They were happy because they got more that way. At one point they were offered the choice less new presents or more second hand. Second hand got a unanimous vote.

I wouldn't have got in debt for Christmas, even for a few months in case unexpected illness, job loss etc left me unable to clear the debt. The first year of planning/buying ahead is the hardest but once you have got ahead it saves a lot of money because you pick things up cheaper.

I tend to buy my three teenagers/young adults stocking fillers early and set aside some money for anything bigger to be bought nearer Christmas.

Sambucus_Nigra

emweaver wrote: »

Maybe she has a big family or a few children, a family with 3 children can easily spend that on their children alone

Anyway I don't think anyone has to justify why they spend so much.

No, nobody has to justify why they spend so much. But jumping for joy for going into debt for 4 months just for one day's joyousness, makes me think that they must be highly religious for wanting to spend so much on the day.

Christmas is a religious festival; so by all means celebrate it if it means that much to you. If you aren't actually religious, you really do need to ask yourself why you are spending such a huge amount of money to celebrate something that really, is nonsense.

This country needs a reality check when it comes to Christmas. So many people get themselves into so much debt and for what exactly? Just so that they can keep up with the next person by buying the best console to babysit their kids?

It's all about posturing, not about religion.

JKJ

We have always saved for our camping holiday between january and August, then switch the saving to Christmas from September to December. We don't spend a fortune (no laptops or tv type gifts) and I always make a lot of gifts myself.

One thing we have always done is only bought small inexpensive gifts from Father Christmas for our kids, anything else we buy them they know comes from us. That way we have avoided the problem of kids wondering why Father Christmas was more generous to some children than others.

Sambucus Nigra I respect your right to make the stance of "telling it like it is", but you know people post on here for many reasons...help, advice, companionship, to name just a few. I doubt many of these posters are looking for judgemental waspishness, which beams out from every post I have ever read from you on any thread you post in on these forums. Be nice. It's Christmas

themull1

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

No, nobody has to justify why they spend so much. But jumping for joy for going into debt for 4 months just for one day's joyousness, makes me think that they must be highly religious for wanting to spend so much on the day.

Christmas is a religious festival; so by all means celebrate it if it means that much to you. If you aren't actually religious, you really do need to ask yourself why you are spending such a huge amount of money to celebrate something that really, is nonsense.

This country needs a reality check when it comes to Christmas. So many people get themselves into so much debt and for what exactly? Just so that they can keep up with the next person by buying the best console to babysit their kids?

It's all about posturing, not about religion.

##



I'm not religious at all, i celebrate the Pagan festival that was here before the Christians stole it. This year i worked loads of overtime to pay for Christmas, but if someone wants to pay for Christmas on a card, then pay it off over a few months then thats fine, i'm sick of all these holier than thou people spouting on about getting into debt for just one day! so what, its called having a life. If you can manage how you pay for Christmas, then thats fine.

moomoomama27

I used to buy inthe sales, but as my children are getting older it's more difficult to be sure they'll want those things in 12 months time! I buy family gifts in the sales though.

What I did this year in January was compile a list with everyone's names on and put a price next to each one, plus any items we'll need for christmas like decorations, food, panto tickets, Lego advent calendars etc, total it up and then split the cost evenly over the 12 months that waits all paid for, no credit, no debt for 1 day a year!

MERFE

I do buy a bit in the sales and throughout the year and put it away. I also save my nectar points for sainsburys half price toy sale, boots points for some nice clothes for the kids, and topcashback payout. Sell bits on Ebay in the run up and make sure I do more overtime and OH does a bit more overtime too.

Meadows

missindecisive wrote: »

I mean...in our house I left it far too late by starting to save in October. I am now in debt to the tune of £520 on a credit card which I have used to pay for presents. I reckon I will spend more on it yet, and it will take until the end of Feb to pay it off.
What do others do / do you save all year...do you go into debt?

I buy throughout the year when I see suitable items and bargains, you need to put a few £'s by each month (after you have paid the card off), that way you are not paying interest on items you can buy with good offers, codes and glitches when they occur.

ellieo

im pretty much the same as everyone else, buy paper and cards in the january sales
i also do the xmas saver at tesco, so i try to top that up every week, if im a bit short of cash even a £1 helps and adds up over the year.
learnt a hard lesson about 20 years ago and got into debt for christmas and it seemed to take forever to pay it of,
a bit of forward planning is the key !