so fed up and worried about christmas

DigForVictory

I'm sure you are a wonderful mum & that your chidren know it & appreciate it (no matter How Well they conceal this fact.)

There is No Present In The World worth a reposession order, and if your children don't realise the depths of the financial hole you are steering past, then (within reason) you should tell them.

Decades ago a hospital "had no money for christmas decorations" & so the medical students let rip with freshly cut greenery, tinfoil on satsumas, paper snowflakes etc & the hospital was absolutely as festive & happy a place as the patients could wish. Indeed, the childrens' ward cut most of the snowflakes...

If there is a bit of money due in January, then an "IOU X which we'll spend in the sales" can still be wrapped & enjoyed.

A Christmas DVD borrowed from the library, competitive silly hats from newspaper & one square of tinfoil, singing carols together (and who says you have to stick to the traditional lyrics on the second pass?), going for a walk together, jumping on piles of leaves & into puddles - then out with playing cards & set up a poker school. Or pontoon. Or snap, depending on age... (Just use matches for chips.)

dancingfairy

How old are the children?
What can you make that's christmassy?
What do you want to buy for Christmas in terms of food, decorations and presents? Can any of it be scrapped/done cheaper? Can you resuse decorations/or make some for example?
For food, have you got any bits and pieces in your cupboard you can use up to save buying new food for a bit? and maybe use any 'spare' money for presents? Have a look on the oldstyleboard for helps for using up odds and ends and for really cheap meals.
In terms of presents you could try the grabbit board for offers. Any Tesco vouchers or boots points you can use to buy presents? Ebay/car boots/ charity shop for presents?
Anything you can sell to get a few bob for presents?
I'm sure you will think of something rather than risking not paying the mortgage.
df

Principia_2

susieanne wrote: »

Thankyou very much for all your advice I know it makes sense but its going to break my heart if the children wake up Christmas morning with no presents just a few mince pies which we baked together

I'm making my husband a stained glass window cookie for christmas because a) he loves cookies and b) he loves stained glass. I'm really excited about it because I think it will be a unique present that he'll remember forever

I'm going to use a shortbread recipe for the cookie part and just make one cookie (it's a biscuit really but I'm calling it a cookie because it's going to be huge) and then cut out shapes by hand. I'm going to fill the shapes with broken fruit sweets (like foxes glacier fruits) and then bake it. The sweets melt into the shapes of the holes in the cookie.

I got the idea from these
http://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/stained-glass-window-biscuits.html

Are you crafty? even if you are not, there are lots of ideas on the christmas part of the forum for things to make for christmas, the little ones won't mind. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=101

Do you keep an eye on the grabbit part of the board or use http://www.hotukdeals.com/all/deals/new? I use the latter to get presents through out the year for my nieces and nephews, there might be some good deals for your older children if you have even £10 to spend on them.

Do you have any tesco vouchers? - I think there's a double up going on so you may be able to get something for their presents there.

Basically if I were in your position, I would be looking at mostly home made presents and targeting any money I have at all on the teenagers, using deals/vouchers and freebies to bump up the visual appeal of the presents pile.

Is there an Aldi or Lidl near you? they are doing their £5 off £40 spend soon (I think it's £5 off £30 for Lidl) so you could do a bit of christmas shopping there for food or their strange bits and bobs. You don't have to get more in than usual, just buy something out of the ordinary for christmas lunch so you don't spend much more than your usual food budget. We can only eat so much afterall

Best wishes to you and please please don't take the mortgage money to pay for borrowed christmas. You'll only have to pay it back and from the looks of things, you'll be paying catch up for quite a while if you do

LauraLou1982

Dunroamin wrote: »

Didn't I post a couple of weeks ago on a thread of yours about university study where you said you were a lone parent?

Now you say that, I think I saw that too?

poppasmurf_bewdley

Dunroamin wrote: »

Didn't I post a couple of weeks ago on a thread of yours about university study where you said you were a lone parent?

You most certainly did:

15-11-2013, 9:15 AM

Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 434
Thanked 114 Times in 79 Posts

Thank you exactly right what both of you are saying I am a single mum and im there for the qualification and a job at the end of it . The younger girls arnt to bothered about if they get a job or not (that's what there telling me ) To me this course is every thing I suppose my last chance to improve my life . I do keep reminding myself why im doing it , its just hard sometimes when I feel I don't fit in . I suppose its early days yet ive got another 3 years .

She's been well and truly caught out by you.

Mulder00

What type of presents are your children expecting if you are seriously considering prioritising presents over a mortgage payment? And what example are you setting for your children if you are actually considering doing that?

Don't you have a Poundland near you? (And if they are old enough to care about the value of their presents, then they are old enough to have a talking to about priorities in life).

Principia_2

Dunroamin wrote: »

Didn't I post a couple of weeks ago on a thread of yours about university study where you said you were a lone parent?

I checked and you did, perhaps the OP's circumstances have changed or perhaps she hasn't been entirely honest but there some good ideas here for anyone who needs to have a slimline christmas this year.

The best advice for future christmases is to start early next year (and keep a spread sheet so you don't forget what you've bought )

LauraLou1982

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John1993_2

susieanne wrote: »

The only other option is to not pay the mortgage/direct debits in December to pay for Christmas.

It's not the only option, you also have the option of having a budget Christmas.

I understad that you'd like a "proper" one, but it sounds like you just can't afford that.

Go to the carol service, watch the Christmas films, make some crackers with your own jokes in, re-wrap things you already own to give to each other, and so on, and spend no more on food than you otherwise would, but pick things with a Christmas theme, and eat them at the table, wearing silly hats, with a small glass of bargain wine.

This is a far, far bettter choice than borrowing money that you can't afford.

Principia_2

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

She's been well and truly caught out by you.

Being fair, it is possible that she reconciled with her husband between her two posts.