What are you spending more (or less) on this Christmas?

Flicka001

That sounds great I will try £2 per day fingers crossed 🤞 

DenOfFlowers

It's hard to tell because the costs stretch over a few weeks and there are little bits here and there, but it's maybe £800-£1000 if I was adding up all presents, travel, food, decorations, tree etc. I think/hope this year will be less. We save £40 a month during the year for Christmas.

Mnoee

I'm a fan of small Christmas gifts and big birthdays, so niblings get things like pyjamas or a lamp and grown ups get nowt, unless I make festive fudge or other nibbles. My partner and I do consumables only - treats and snacks. Knowing there's a glut waiting for me on Christmas day helps to cut down on the buying before! 

I do like a Christmas pudding and have a few individual ones during winter, there's usually a tub of chocolates on the go, but that's not so different to having ice creams or ice pops knocking about in summer. 

We use the same plastic tree and decorations year on year, and have fabric wrapping for gifts staying at home, so our overall Christmas spend is quite low. 

Dizzycap

I set myself a FREE Christmas Challenge for this year and I have spent nothing but have everything needed:-)

I gift swap - I put all the non-perisable gifts I receive in a box with a list of who gave me what. At the beginning of december I then rewrap the gifts with left over free wrapping paper and gift them all at ZERO cost.

I received a number of Lidl Scratch Cards on the Lidl app after buying an item or two. I won 2 large packs of crisps, 2 packs of mini cheddars & a £10 off voucher which I used for chocs, nuts etc up to the value of the free £10 voucher. So all nibbles are FREE this Christmas.

I won a 1 KG Cadburys 400 Years Celebration Bar of Chocolate - so that's the VITAL part of Christmas sorted

I won a Tesco Delux Christmas Pudding in September which has been wrapped in black plastic and stored in the fridge ready to use - FREE.

I have used all my Nectar points to purchase 3 joints of meat which are presently in the freezer and the remaining points I used to stock up on fresh veg & frozen roast potatoes & brussles -  So the Food is FREE.

I was given 2 bottles of non-alchoholic wine for my birthday which I've saved for Christmas Day & Boxing day - So FREE. My neighbour makes me a small Christmas Cake & a dozen mince pies as a Christmas gift - So FREE traditionals for anyone visiting.

I always recycle my Christmas Tree & make my own decorations, if needed, along with a natural door wreath from foraged items such as holly, berries, wood etc. Decorations - FREE.

End of Christmas at a total cost of NOWT!

A Very Happy Christmas To You All

Pollycat

Dizzycap said:

I set myself a FREE Christmas Challenge for this year and I have spent nothing but have everything needed:-)

I gift swap - I put all the non-perisable gifts I receive in a box with a list of who gave me what. At the beginning of december I then rewrap the gifts with left over free wrapping paper and gift them all at ZERO cost.

I received a number of Lidl Scratch Cards on the Lidl app after buying an item or two. I won 2 large packs of crisps, 2 packs of mini cheddars & a £10 off voucher which I used for chocs, nuts etc up to the value of the free £10 voucher. So all nibbles are FREE this Christmas.

I won a 1 KG Cadburys 400 Years Celebration Bar of Chocolate - so that's the VITAL part of Christmas sorted

I won a Tesco Delux Christmas Pudding in September which has been wrapped in black plastic and stored in the fridge ready to use - FREE.

I have used all my Nectar points to purchase 3 joints of meat which are presently in the freezer and the remaining points I used to stock up on fresh veg & frozen roast potatoes & brussles -  So the Food is FREE.

I was given 2 bottles of non-alchoholic wine for my birthday which I've saved for Christmas Day & Boxing day - So FREE. My neighbour makes me a small Christmas Cake & a dozen mince pies as a Christmas gift - So FREE traditionals for anyone visiting.

I always recycle my Christmas Tree & make my own decorations, if needed, along with a natural door wreath from foraged items such as holly, berries, wood etc. Decorations - FREE.

End of Christmas at a total cost of NOWT!

A Very Happy Christmas To You All

Lots of good ideas here but I do wonder about the bit in bold.
Just curious if you re-gift ALL gifts you receive or just those that are not to your liking.
If it's all, maybe it's time to talk to the people who give you gifts and suggest you stop altogether.
If it's just the ones you don't like, maybe tell the gifters that you only drink white wine or eat dark chocolate.
I only buy for people that I know really well so know if a gift will be well received.

We put a stop to reciprocal gifting when it got to the point of swapping bottles of wine or chocolates.

I save all gift bags and recycle.
There's one really lovely one that goes between me and my friend every year.
It's like meeting an old friend.