What's the biggest Christmas waste of money?

savingwannabe

I am supposed to be marking but you guys are making me laugh. Biggest waste is all the excess present buying. It is so expensive. I wish we could set a limit of £20 per person but then i would have no friends or family left!!!

Brie

Sprouts.  Or if someone has already mentioned it....more sprouts.  GAG!

The only advent calendar I've liked is the Lindor chocolate one.  And the one I didn't buy but wanted to was the one at Lidl a couple of years back where each day you got a drill bit or accessory and the final door revealed the actual cordless power drill.  I really wanted it but have no use for a drill so it would have been a waste.  

Also - Secret Santa gifts - rarely anything useful or wanted.  Postage for gifts sent to distant friends or relations - almost always more than the actual gift and half the time they need to pay import and postage fees their end too. 

REAL CHRISTMAS TREES!  Come on people!!  Climate change!!! Why are we chopping down trees??!  (caveat - ok if you then chop it up for your wood burner but I'm not sure they're very eco friendly either.) 

And Christmas cards!!!  The only reason I send them for my aged MiL is to make sure that none of her equally aged friends that she hasn't seen for 70 years haven't died.  Otherwise a waste of paper and postage and time!

Brie

savingwannabe said:

I am supposed to be marking but you guys are making me laugh. Biggest waste is all the excess present buying. It is so expensive. I wish we could set a limit of £20 per person but then i would have no friends or family left!!!

@savingwannabe
and would that be a bad thing if they are that greedy?????

74jax

Biggest waste of money at Christmas is probably the same all year round. Something no one gets use out of?

Food , gifts, time off work, spent with family, alone.... Its completely different for everyone.

I don't have anything at all I think is a waste of money, but others may see something I do as a total waste for them. 

badmemory

One secret santa gift has to be a lot better than if you don't have a secret santa as that leads to a whole pile of pointless gifts.  It isn't just the waste of money but the waste of effort trying to think of something that is even remotely suitable.  Usually for people that you don't really know that well.  I have now reached an age where the effort waste is a lot more tedious than the money waste.

maisie_cat

MSE_Kelvin said:

MSE_Rhiannon said:

MSE_Kelvin said:

Dates. Date farmers probably don't even like dates, really.

WHAT I eat dates every day. If we weren't wfh I'd challenge you to a duel in the office 

I've tried to like them, I really have - but they have the texture of greasy sand and my face goes weird when having to chew them.

That made me laugh!

maisie_cat

Christmas presents of the tat variety, crackers of the paper hat variety and advent calendars of the waste of space variety. The food is fine as long as it's eaten, I love dates and we eat sprouts all year.

MalMonroe

Food, I would say. It's so easy to overestimate how much will be needed over the holiday period. I try to get things that will freeze easily to avoid waste but even then, I'm not very organised. And I've never been very good at portion control, if there is such a thing! Always think people will eat more than they are able to, even me. So yes, definitely food. 

MalMonroe

Brie said:

Sprouts.  Or if someone has already mentioned it....more sprouts.  GAG!

The only advent calendar I've liked is the Lindor chocolate one.  And the one I didn't buy but wanted to was the one at Lidl a couple of years back where each day you got a drill bit or accessory and the final door revealed the actual cordless power drill.  I really wanted it but have no use for a drill so it would have been a waste.  

Also - Secret Santa gifts - rarely anything useful or wanted.  Postage for gifts sent to distant friends or relations - almost always more than the actual gift and half the time they need to pay import and postage fees their end too. 

REAL CHRISTMAS TREES!  Come on people!!  Climate change!!! Why are we chopping down trees??!  (caveat - ok if you then chop it up for your wood burner but I'm not sure they're very eco friendly either.) 

And Christmas cards!!!  The only reason I send them for my aged MiL is to make sure that none of her equally aged friends that she hasn't seen for 70 years haven't died.  Otherwise a waste of paper and postage and time!

Oh dear, bah humbug or what?

Sprouts are wonderful, when cooked properly and served with sliced almonds and lashings of butter. 

Advent calendars are fabulous without mouldy chocolate bits.

Secret santa - you can get some lovely things for a fiver - notebook or pen or some small item.

Postage for gifts? Minimal!

Real Christmas trees - yes I agree - they are full of bugs and creatures, I saw that programme on the BBC. Put me off for life.

Christmas cards??? Love them!! I love hearing from people I've not see for years. And I love trying to find somewhere to display them. 

And also, tinsel. Love it!!

Brie

@MalMonroe
Not sure where you are posting gifts but mine need to go out of the UK.  A friend of mine in France loves Cadbury's chocolate buttons so I always buy her some.  3 bags costs £3.  And another £12 to post.  Still cheaper than ordering them from a French website but still a bit silly.