Put away your purse & become debt-averse

Blackcats

Hi Foxgloves, I abused early pay days in December too. I booked the day off as holiday in order to maximise the spending opportunities and would throw in coffees and lunch just to really get into the Christmas spirit. Arriving home exhausted was an excuse for fish and chips all round. But my oh my January was a long month.
I think that the constant barage of images of perfect Christmas festivities must put so much pressure on families. When my kids were younger and I was at the height of spending I bought clothes and presents and too much food but I don't recall the myriad of Christmas themed tableware, home accessories etc. Well actually if there had been all the homewares readily available I would have bought them. Imagine if I'd seen a festive sparkly Christmas cactus .... that would have gone straight into my basket even as recently as last year!
I've finished buying presents this year and I'm nearly done with wrapping. I hope that my gifts are thoughtful and will be well received instead of rushing around grabbing everything I could find on Christmas payday.

crazy_cat_lady

I get paid on the 20th this month. I just move it into my instant access savings until usual payday on 31st. It has been horrific in previous years though when I get it, spend it and then am beyond help in January.

Honeysucklelou2

I have warned DS1 about the possibility of an earlier pay date. I don't know if his company does or not but since it's his first working Christmas, I thought forewarned was better. So glad to know about this practice from reading the MSE forums, my employer is always the end of the month, come what may!

foxgloves

Honeysuckle - Good thinking to warn your son about the December pay trap. It definitely catches people out. As so many of us know, if we start spending the wages that are intended for us to live on in January a week early, it is very difficult to stretch them till the following payday.

CCL - I'd never have thought of that.... actually moving the money. That is a huge gap though.... 20th to 31st. Back in the Spendy Decades, I could have done huge damage to my bank account in those 11 days.

Blackcats - I do have plenty of Christmas stuff, Inc tableware, etc, because I've gathered it over the years & also have a fair amount of Mum's. But you are right, the amount of stuff in the shops now is beyond what I'd have even bought when I was spendy. Yesterday I saw light-up cushions. Very festive but of such limited use time-wise, then they'd need storing the rest of the year. I think another thing that has ballooned is the concept of Christmas Eve boxes. That should be a magical time for children anyway... the tree twinkling, Christmas stories, games, getting excited about Santa...... I don't personally see how a further box of presents has crept in, except for clever marketing. Of course kids will want it if other families are doing it. More expense. I used to love Christmas Eve..... before bed, we were allowed to choose one small present from under the tree to open & we used to spend ages deliberating which one to pick.
Advent calendars seem to have gone crazy too, underlining how Christmas has now sadly become 'Stuffmas' for so many. I have received emails promoting 'advent calenders' costing £160. It's just product. Nothing to do with Christmas or Yule, whichever you celebrate. I used to love racing downstairs to open that morning's window. I'm not a parent, but I'm hoping many children still enjoy that...... or a chocolate, rather than the extra gift each day of December which these big adult 'advent calendars' are encouraging.
I do love Christmas, so am not being bah humbug, I just think that the pressure to spend has become beyond ridiculous.
And now m'dears, I must get a wriggle on, as Mr F is fetching the tree in from the garden shortly, so I need to get my box of decorations ready.
Enjoy your Sundays,
F x

Kantankrus_Mare

"Stuffmas!"

What a great word and so apt.

People forget its just one day.:mad:

I am being made to feel Grinch like at work as I refuse to go out and buy a christmassy top for work. To wear a couple of times???? I dont think so! They are full of plastic and bad for the environment. The very youngsters who's planet we are trying to save dont seem to give a monkeys.

I will wear my Christmas earrings in the week of Christmas and anyone who has a problem with that can do one.

Rant over.......

HairyHandofDartmoor

foxgloves wrote: »

Honeysuckle - Good thinking to warn your son about the December pay trap. It definitely catches people out. As so many of us know, if we start spending the wages that are intended for us to live on in January a week early, it is very difficult to stretch them till the following payday.

CCL - I'd never have thought of that.... actually moving the money. That is a huge gap though.... 20th to 31st. Back in the Spendy Decades, I could have done huge damage to my bank account in those 11 days.

Blackcats - I do have plenty of Christmas stuff, Inc tableware, etc, because I've gathered it over the years & also have a fair amount of Mum's. But you are right, the amount of stuff in the shops now is beyond what I'd have even bought when I was spendy. Yesterday I saw light-up cushions. Very festive but of such limited use time-wise, then they'd need storing the rest of the year. I think another thing that has ballooned is the concept of Christmas Eve boxes. That should be a magical time for children anyway... the tree twinkling, Christmas stories, games, getting excited about Santa...... I don't personally see how a further box of presents has crept in, except for clever marketing. Of course kids will want it if other families are doing it. More expense. I used to love Christmas Eve..... before bed, we were allowed to choose one small present from under the tree to open & we used to spend ages deliberating which one to pick.
Advent calendars seem to have gone crazy too, underlining how Christmas has now sadly become 'Stuffmas' for so many. I have received emails promoting 'advent calenders' costing £160. It's just product. Nothing to do with Christmas or Yule, whichever you celebrate. I used to love racing downstairs to open that morning's window. I'm not a parent, but I'm hoping many children still enjoy that...... or a chocolate, rather than the extra gift each day of December which these big adult 'advent calendars' are encouraging.
I do love Christmas, so am not being bah humbug, I just think that the pressure to spend has become beyond ridiculous.
And now m'dears, I must get a wriggle on, as Mr F is fetching the tree in from the garden shortly, so I need to get my box of decorations ready.
Enjoy your Sundays,
F x

I totally agree about Stuffmas! It's lovely for the retailers of course, but not so good for hard working families who spend more than they can afford on toys, etc.

My children had a chocolate advent calendar, an old fashioned one with pictures that are revealed and a fabric Christmas tree version where you stick on a fabric decoration each day (I bought the fabric one at Past Times, remember them? I loved the fact that it was reusable every year). Then they used to take it in turns and rotate who did which calendar. Expensive advent calendars with toys in did not exist but trust me I wouldn't have bought one anyway. I never wanted my children to be spoilt, but also too many toys does not benefit the child. They have too much choice and don't know what to play with, plus tidy up time at bedtime becomes a nightmare for children and parents :eek:.

I'm very thankful that Christmas eve boxes and elf on a shelf didn't exist when my children were little. I definitely wouldn't have bought the Christmas eve boxes as we wouldn't have been able to afford it anyway, but also I didn't want to ruin the glorious anticipation of Christmas morning by pre empting it, or spoil my children with yet more toys they didn't need.

Dottles1

when my children were little their xmas eve treat was new pyjamas and sometimes slippers. Always needed and stopped when they got to the age where it was expensive.

foxgloves

I think it's nice to have family traditions. We used to play loads of games. You know, thinking back, one of our favourites was the ultimate frugal game - Tear the fish. We used an old Radio Times for making the fish & nothing else was required except nimble fingers & a small prize.... can remember this was sometimes being allowed to have first pick out of a newly opened box of chocs or something equally small but desirable. We played board games, lots of card games (for pennies) & did lots of drawing with Grandad as he was very arty.
F

foxgloves

Kantankrus - Yes, Christmas jumpers are usually acrylic, so basically millions of plastic fibres. Mr F's team are having a Christmas jumper day but he didn't want to buy one as knew he wouldn't find anything he'd actually want to wear. So I bought him a nice cotton t-shirt with 'Wassail' on it & a yuletide design (were old pagans in this house, lol). As it isn't as Christmassy as most of the jumpers, he thought he'd be able to wear it from Nov into January. It looks nice on & as it will be worn just for a short window of time, it should last a good few years.
F

1LuckyLady

Love the word "stuffmas"!

The xmas eve tradition we started with our kids is pj's, a bag of chocolate coins and a dvd which we all eat/watch together on the night. (They're 14 & 11 now so this years dvd is a 2nd hand dvd from cex of a comedian were all going to see later in the year which is also part of their xmas gift)

We play lots of games now too, trivial pursuit (they love this as there is a set of Harry Potter questions) charades and card games.