MSE News: One in seven worry about money 'every day' during the run-up to Christmas

EssexHebridean

Absolutely unsurprised that it's become such an issue. TV has played a part in my opinion - we now have a culture where nobody thinks it unusual to see ads in September promoting "get a new Sofa in time for Christmas" and more running from October onwards suggesting to our kids all the things that are "must haves" - often items at a ludicrous cost for the average family. Add to that the problem that budgeting as a skill has been largely lost and is rarely taught to children at home any more, and that credit is so readily available and socially acceptable, and you have a recipe for disaster.

MrEH and I no longer do birthday or Christmas cards for each other as it seems pointless. Within my family we have also for years adopted a "Christmas list" approach where the items on the list are often "needs" not wants - the idea being that this then frees up the receiver's personal spending money to treat themselves to "wants" as they arise and are decided on. Sometimes it also means that people get a better version of something than they would be able to justify for themselves - for example I love Clinique mascara but always ask for it as a present as lovely as it is I'm not going to spend that money on it myself. This works well.

We also save an amount each month to cover christmas spending and then everything spent comes from this sum - this saves the panic of December being an expensive month.