Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - it's the 2024 Christmas chatter thread!

Coxy11

Hi all,

DH managed to get all gifts for the August birthdays AND come in under budget. Maybe I am finally getting through. FIL got two books (£24), SIL a voucher for a local beauty salon (£40) and BIL some garden centre vouchers (£40) so £104 spent out of a £120 budget. We are seeing all three this coming Sunday at ILs house. Funnily enough BIL was 50 last year and we gifted him a Vineyard tour plus money to spend in the shop there. He only used it on Wednesday this week! He also messaged the whole family WhatsApp chat to thank us, and spelt my name incorrectly – has only known me 18 years…..

The next birthdays are MIL and BIL in the first week of September and a nephew who will be 17 towards the end of September. We are away mid-September for my birthday so will need to organise ourselves before we go. I also have the next leg of my JoGLE hike from 23 August to 1 September, its all go.

We have had an offer accepted on a house this week. They are (we think) moving into a bungalow with no chain so as we have a FTB buying ours it’s a relatively short chain. Still can’t quite believe we are leaving the family home we’ve been in for almost 20 years, but it’s time for a new chapter. DH has also had an interview on Teams this week and they want to see him in person next Wednesday. This is the first since he was made redundant in March. Would be lovely if that worked out – it’s a fixed term contract for a year.

Some great reductions in Argos @mandco. My loyalty points are currently:

Sainsburys £6.74

Tesco £7.50

Shoppix £15 of Amazon

Not a lot but it all helps.

Don’t worry @princesskitty29 I have plans for where the tree will go…wonder if we will be in for Christmas??!!

Spendless

Hi all.
Currently on a mini break in Belgium with DH and DS. DD was bribed to stay at home and dog sit whilst we concentrated on DS. We set off yesterday after work and it took so long to get to Dover, I asked DH if it had moved since we last travelled there. Arrived at midnight. So glad we shared one family room using husband's hotel loyalty points, rather than paying for 2 rooms that were used for 6 hours!

Anyway already I have bought one Christmas present and have ideas for others. once we got off the ferry, we went to a little place enroute that sells all different ornamental planters. I bought one in the shape of a Westie for my Dad for his garden. This is the breed of dog they had that died last year. DH has suggested getting some forget me not seed packets too. My Dad loves dogs and both parents enjoy their garden. My Dad is so difficult to buy for too, so happy he is sorted.

A few years ago i bought DD an Aveda hair care set. She used it all except the turkish towel which is still in its cellophane wrapper. DH suggested we repurpose to my Mum. We also picked up a nice reusable tote bag in the supermarket earlier with the name of the town where we were, used it to carry our shopping, but this can also become a beach bag for Mum. 

With the Belgian chocs in the shops, Im thinking for Nans 99th birthday next month to get her a box and add biscuits, flowers and a mini tipple. 

I love shopping abroad - lol. 

Coxy11

That sounds like a lovely gift for your DDad @Spendless. I'm sure your Nan will love the Belgian chocs too.

I nipped into B00ts this morning for a few bits and saw they had Champneys candles and diffusers on the clearance shelf for £3.50 and £4.50 respectively. I grabbed a diffuser for MIL for her birthday. A good saving as they are usually £18.  

Spendless

Been buying more gifts today lol. Me and DH went out for breakfast, I tried an Acai bowl for first time, was gorgeous. Left DS snoozing in bed this time last year for the day (not the date) he was getting married. 

Looked round the shops and bought some chocs like liqueur ones but instead have Belgian beer inside. That will be half of FILs Xmas present. I will leave DH to get him something to add to it.

Another shop and I found a box of Belgian chocs already wrapped in pretty paper with a ribbon, so that is Nans birthday present. Also called in a convenience store and found a nice small pack of Belgian choc biscuits. When we get home Im sure that my local shop sells the minis of spirits. Inexpensive bunch of flowers to be added at the last minute - that means her birthday is sorted.

In the same shop we bought the biscuits, there was an insulated cooler bag on promotion for €15. This is similar to mine which was also bought abroad and lays flatter than the ones Ive seen at home. I use mine for fridge/frozen items when grocery shopping. Im.going to give DS that plus some reusable bags and 2 different supermarket gift cards at xmas. 1 where he does his main shop (Aldi) the other an Asda card as thats near his workplace and to help him when he doesnt take packed lunches.

My list for the rest of the year now looks like this.

Birthdays.
Nan - add mini whisky & flowers but sorted.

DH - possibly travel related.

Christmas
Dad - planter add flower seeds.
Mum - Turkish towel and beach bag. Add something else.
DD - Concert tickets, decide about perfume subscription vs bottle of perfume using £20 love to shop voucher to reduce price cos i *think* Boots is on it
DS - practical gifts such as shopping things detailed above and hamper of toiletries. Need to wait till nearer time for anything else.
FIL - Belgian chocs with beer. Add something else. DHs problem - lol.
Nan - wait till birthday over then have a think.
DH - as above, decide what to get for birthday first. 

Im already further on than anticipated. Maybe ill have time to write my Christmas cards sooner this year - hahaha.

Siĺlyspender

Hi all
Long time lurker here, I hope you don't mind me jumping on your thread but I am in desperate need of inspiration and a sprinkle of magic this year.

A quick intro, myself, DH, dd1 (23) and dd2 (16) have had a rough 12 months. Lost my dad early December last year so Christmas was pretty much non existent. FIL has just been fast tracked on end of life after a short but horrible battle with terminal cancer, we are fully expecting to loose him before the end of this month too.

So I am determined to make this Christmas as special as possible. It'll just be the 4 of us, and I want to make it as traditional and magical as I can. I know there will be tears but hoping to mix in happy memories.

Thank you again for having me

Auti

Good to see you - I am also a lurker Sorry life has been horrid and I really think making Christmas special and reflecting on happy memories will be lovely - in being determined don’t go overboard in planning as often the magical can be found in simple things like a favourite walk, watching a film etc. 

Please stay and post everyone is friendly here and have good ideas

Siĺlyspender

Auti said:

Good to see you - I am also a lurker Sorry life has been horrid and I really think making Christmas special and reflecting on happy memories will be lovely - in being determined don’t go overboard in planning as often the magical can be found in simple things like a favourite walk, watching a film etc. 

Please stay and post everyone is friendly here and have good ideas

Thank you for the welcome
Lost fil 5.30am this morning, what timing!
Scrolling back through these posts is keeping me sane. I totally get what you mean  about not over planning though, a favourite walk followed by trivial pursuit (last game we played with fil) sounds perfect for Xmas day evening xx

Auti

I am so sorry and a virtual hug to you and yours I give to you.

On a totally different point - how do you do the third letter in your name - is it Dutch or German keyboard - I could not work out how to do it. Sorry if that seems an insensitive question it was not meant to be disrespectful

You are very welcome and I am pleased you posted again  

Take care and remember to look after yourself too xx

Coxy11

Welcome @Siĺlyspender - so sorry to hear about the loss of your DDad and now FIL. You must be all over the place atm. Please do come back as and when you can - the thread tends to start ramping up from September with lots of ideas and offers being shared x

It's BIL's birthday today so I've just texted him. Niece in Dublin is tomorrow. They are not coming over again until Christmas but their sister is coming next week, so the card and Euros will go home with her.

Spendless

Welcome from de lurking to you both. Sorry about your FIL sillyspender. I have no idea how to do different characters on keyboards either. 

For me I enjoy gathering presents during the year. This is something I've done since 1997 when I had almost 12 months notice that it was likely I'd lose my job at the end of the year (I did!). I was on my own with a mortgage. A larger gift list than I even have nowadays and no idea how I would manage, so I bought throughout the year instead. Have continued ever since and it's saved me sooo many times. That includes when we went into lockdown2 the shops closed and I'd already bought everything. I don't buy for everyone too far in advance, it really depends on who it is and what I see, as I love the Christmas merchandise to come out, but I like buying before they run out of something and don't restock and shopping with crowds in December doesn't appeal to me at all.

I've thought of what to put with my Mum's bits of Turkish towel and beach bag. Mum had skin cancer a couple of years ago. She's now developed 2 moles behind one of her ears, one of which the Dr says she needs to keep an eye on. How?? She can't see  due to their location, Dad has had 2 cataract ops so eyesight isn't the best and I'm not going to remember from one visit to another. I tried taking a pic on my phone but I don't think quality is great enough for me to notice slight changes! Anyway whilst away I read in a mag about suncream and that the factor isn't enough you also need to look at the UVA rating. I've seen a set of suncream/sunblock etc  in Boots that comes in a nice clear holdall. I think if I show the mag article to Mum and then get  her the suncream set to go with her other stuff, she'll appreciate it.

As it's Mum's 80th birthday in Jan last night I also bought her a ticket to come with me and DD to watch the play Ballet Shoes in London. This is the first time there's been a stage adaption. It's been adapted by someone who wrote another play, that had in it  a monologue from DD auditioned to get into drama school, so really looking forward to this. I will include the book too as unsure if Mum has ever read it. They'll be about 3 weeks from Mum's bday to watching so hopefully time for her to read it in advance if she wishes too. This is what I've booked.  https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/ballet-shoes/

As we unpacked from our trip, I came across a couple of other bits I'd bought and not mentioned. On the ferry over I showed DS some vodka in a skull shaped bottle. He liked it but thought it expensive. In the French supermarket we went to on arrival I found a skull shaped glass instead. I can give him that but with a cheaper bottle of vodka. Not seen them before but they also had  towel wash glove mitts. Might be for DD's stocking  if I don't keep for myself. I also bought 2 long Nightshirts which were only E6 each. I'm having one and the other is for DD's xmas eve hamper. I am still frustrated with this because after age 17 I stoped it announcing my intention to do so, at 18 DD wished she still had it, so I resurrected it the following year when she was 19 only for her to ignore it and last year at 20 she was ill, so only bothered with the PJs. So this year I think I'm going to do it again but make as cheap as possible, hopefully coming in at around the £10 mark.  I've seen a bodyshop bathbomb for £1.50, will add one of the facemasks I got earlier in the year which was under £1 and add some choc and an energy drink rather than something alcoholic which invariably doesn't get drunk and count the nightshirt as costing £5. Going for a nightshirt instead of PJs this time, as DD showed me a TikTok video where someone did what to pack  for an impromptu sleepover (which happens at Uni) and suggested a nightshirt as they take up less room in a tote bag.