Frosty the Snowman - it's the 2025 Christmas thread!

Coxy11

Hi everyone,

Nice to see some new posters - welcome!! We made the forum front page too whoop!

I messaged my DSis yesterday and said would it be okay to stop buying for each other, my DH and BIL, and instead go for a meal. The men's birthdays are a week apart in March so can combine a pub lunch or similar. She said yes, so that's a breakthrough. So I now have the M&S Wellness box going spare.... might have my name on it lol.

PennysIntoPounds

Welcome @Debtfree2026

Great news but what a pity about the M&S box @Coxy11 😂
Though there may still be some gifts/stocking fillers in there if there are any bits you don't fancy!
On a separate note I started reading your signature as past 'read' not future 'read' and thought blimey, 25 already, I must up my game 😁

I'd forgotten I'd got a nice soap at reduced price so that's a stocking filler for my mum ready

princesskitty29

I bought DS2 a small puzzle in a box from a charity shop the other day for £2, it’s made of small wooden blocks you put together to create a figure, it looks very similar to a Minecraft figure so I think he’ll like it. I’m undecided whether to give it for his birthday or keep as a stocking filler. He always enjoys puzzles even if he’s not so into Minecraft by then so it’ll be ok to keep.

I received a nice pink shower puff for Christmas but I don’t really use them as my skin is sensitive so I’m going to get a nice shower gel to go with it and gift it to my friend for her birthday along with the reduced Cath Kidston bag I bought in the sale and some chocolate.

It’s another beautiful day here, I hope the sun is shining where you are and that you get to enjoy it!

@Debtfree2026 hello and welcome! It really is so useful to have a Christmas savings pot, it makes all the difference when the time comes. Last year I put a lot of the money I made on Vinted and from doing the odd survey into a Christmas savings pot and it soon added up and I had a nice sum come Christmas time, around £150. I believe some others on here also save via the supermarket Christmas savings schemes. Good luck on your debt free journey, it sounds like you’re already on your way to smashing it.

@Coxy11 woohoo we love being on the front page! Great idea re going for a meal for everyone’s birthdays, I’m glad it was well received and it will take the pressure off a bit. Enjoy the M&S box! 

@PenniesIntoPounds ha I’d be very impressed if Coxy had read 25 books already!   

Coxy11

Hahaha glad my reading prowess has got you wondering!!! I'm almost finished my latest book - only read a couple of chapters a day before bed, so it's slow going. I have secured a PT role which will see me getting the train 3 days a week. Only a 20 minute journey each way, but will use that time to read also. Just waiting for a start date.

DH and I received a £75 voucher for a local pub at Christmas so I might suggest to DSis and BIL that we go there. That will hopefully be most of ours taken care of - thoughts? Does that sound tight and should I take it off the whole amount and then split the rest? WWYD?

Spendless

Yesterday was my eldest's 25th bday. I picked him up from work and we went to my parents for a mini buffet, followed by pancakes with it also being Shrove Tuesday. Id also bought him.a Colin the Caterpillar cake (his fav since childhood).

We gave him a new rucksack, as it recently came to light he only has one he uses daily for work which is a few years old and needed an alternative, a power bank.ɓ some cash and a supermarket giftcard. He works close to one of the supermarkets so can use this to pay for his lunches. On behalf of his sister he also received a tin of chocs with different American presidents on them. I picked this up at the airport last year but forgot to give him for Xmas. My parents got him an air fryer and associated cookery book. Nan gave cash. 

Coxy - Giftcard. Ive always shared any vouchers Ive had but theyve been discount ones (eg bogof or % off)  rather than  an actual giftcard. If your relative had given you £75 cash instead then youd just use it without considering if you should share. If you think it might be awkward though Id prob not use it at all and save it for another time when its either just you n husband or when you are footing the entire bill yourselves. 

PennysIntoPounds

@coxy11 If you have the money available to pay your share without using the voucher then I would negate any anxiety or awkwardness by having another nice time out with the voucher for just you and DH.
If it will make a real impact on your budget I would maybe suggest the location and add 'would be good for us as we have a voucher for mine and DH's mains, but we'll get the desserts in for all!' or something similar? So you're still saving money but managing awkwardness/expectations by treating for dessert? I suppose it depends on the prices there and how much you'll struggle if you were just going to do it without voucher... 

mandco

Welcome debtfree2026. Good luck with your debtfree journey 
 A Xmas savings pot is a great way to start even a small regular saving throughout the year makes a difference in December. Last year I saved most of my supermarket reward points along side a Asda Xmas savings card which I top up by a few pounds via direct debit each week and that covered most of my food shopping without really missing it though out the year. I also do automatic round up via the bank into a savings pot. 

I’m currently having a clear out and listing bits on vinted - this year trying to do more money neutral shopping so planning on using any money from sales towards buying bits off vinted and will cash out anything left in December.
another thing that I started last year is the boots recycling scheme - you recycle 5 or more selected items and get £5 worth of points back when you spend £10 though it really only works if you stick to buying things you really need as otherwise it’s creating unnecessary spending. Works for me as I just swapped my online monthly big shop to several smaller ones in store so it’s not costing me any extra - last year I earnt enough points to pay a bottle of oh favourite fragrance for Xmas.

princesskitty bargain on the puzzle they can be so expensive- Minecraft stands the test of time even if it’s not the thing thet are into most at any given time my boys have recently just gotten back into playing it with their mates and they are in their teens.

coxy agreeing to a joint birthday meal is a step in right directing towards cutting unnecessary spends. I’m sure the m&s box will find a use maybe treat yourself for a change 

Personally we always split meals by everyone paying for their own share - I got sick of subsidising others way more expensive choices. As such I have no issue using the voucher for our share of the meal and did similar for oh birthday as we had a free birthday meal voucher. depending on who we eat out with and where we go we’ll either order separately, request separate bills or one person will pay and the others send them the money. The main thing is to discuss it upfront so everyone knows where they stand and can order within their budget.
Good luck with the new job

spendless must be a generation thing as dd & her friends who are similar ages all love Colin the caterpillar cakes too

re birthday freebies is always worth signing up even if you don't end up using them as some do have short use by dates 
this year on top of the free M&S blueberries I had 
costa /Krispy Kreme /Greggs /subway/lidl  - free sweet treat/donut/cookie
pizza express free dessert with £10 spend was able to combine this with the free side offer - took taz for lunch he had a kids meal I got a hot choc to make up the min spend and got free halloumi bites & choc fudge cake - total spend £12.
zizzi free meal with meal purchased
chopstix free single topping box worth £7.49 - was able to combine this with the 5 free spring rolls for getting the app 
hotel chocolat - free £5 voucher min £5.50 spend which is sneakily just over the 4 pack price - put that towards a vegan choc bunny gift set for taz for Easter  meaning I only paid £3.95.
Claire’s £5 voucher - min £5 spend 
boots double points all month
superdrug 4x points offer
25% off Nike full price items
adidas £10 off £60 spend - didn’t use that one
lindt free box of chocolates but thats now subject to a min spend of £10 so will probably not bother 
didn’t get a hobbycraft offer this year which was a bit disappointing 

Spendless

To add to the bday freebies. I have the
following 2.
Body shop £5 voucher, no min spend.
Rituals will send you an email with a reveal to see your treat. Last year mine was a handwash that retailed for around £13-£14.

I would say with both you need to be able to either get into store or are claiming them as part of a larger order youre making as otherwise del charges can wipe the value of the freebie out.
I have a bodyshop discount store not that far away which has reduced items anyway so makes it worthwhile. Theres no Rituals where I live, nearest is about 30 miles away but my bday is towards the end of the year so last time I made a gift order up for family in order to claim my gift. As DHs bday is only a week.after mine, I think this year Ill sign him.up too then we can make a special trip and get both items (you get about a month to claim)

@mandco - I never get the Boots double points in my bday month, despite having had a card for donkeys years that I use regularly?? I wonder why?

mandco

Spendless have you checked your birthday is actually registered on your account as sometimes it doesn’t saved & also that you have agreed to marketing permission?  I know declining marketing is one the main reasons you don’t get sent offers with a lot of sites.

No bodyshop or rituals near me so haven’t bothered signing up to those as like you say the spend required outweighs the benefit especially as they are not places I regularly shop anyway but sounds like it works well for you. Definitely sign dh up to all the sites with freebies too as long as you do it at least 1 month before you should get the offers.

princesskitty29

I’ve been enjoying the beautiful sunshine this last week, it’s a shame it’s cloudy and cold again but it’ll make us appreciate the sun more when it comes back out! I had a lovely day on Saturday meeting two friends in Hampstead (London is the easiest place to meet due to where we all live) and we went to the Everyman Cinema to watch Bridget Jones. Gosh it wasn’t a light-hearted Bridget Jones film like the previous three, it was very emotional but I did enjoy it. It helped that the cinema is lovely with sofa’s and armchairs and you get served in your seat! DH bought me an Everyman voucher for Christmas so I’m really looking to going back again with him at some point.

I’m disappointed as I’d collected five TKMaxx treasure keys before Christmas but as everything was so manic I forgot to redeem them and now I’ve lost them. It’s disappointing because I’m not a regular shopper in TKMaxx so it takes me a while to get to five. Still, I got one the other day so I’m on track again!

@Coxy11 I agree with the others, if you think it will be awkward then perhaps use the voucher another time just with DH. I personally would not be offended if someone paid for their share with a gift card as it’s theirs to use, but not everybody is the same.

@mandco thanks for the list of birthday freebies, it’s my birthday at the end of next month so I’ll have to get signing up!

@Spendless thanks also for the birthday freebies heads up. How is your son doing now after the break up?