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

mandco

Spendless -  there are some cute jellycats but wow the price of some of them   why is it once they hit the late teens/early twenties the age appropriate brands come with a hefty price tag?? Plushies bags shoes clothes make up ect i so miss the days when the generic budget friendly ones were enough and no one judged or like you say you could creatively get around it and they didn’t notice. Gotta love their justification for certain items though 

princesskitty awww bless him I think as a parent it’s heartbreaking to see them squash down and hide those parts of themselves society deems inappropriate for really no other reason than gender. If he’s becoming self conscious of having them around when friends visit maybe look at getting him a nice storage box/chest that he can pop them in and put in your room when they do so they don’t get discovered by accident? 

Abbafan I only discovered the boots recycling scheme late last year but I’ve earnt loads if points from it - obviously to be mse you need to stick buying things you actually need and not just buy for the sake of it to get the bonus points but if can make it work it’s worth it. I buy a lot of things like hand wash refills, baby wipes, vitamins, sanitary towels (any plastic packets can be recycled) hand sanitizer ect that I’d be getting anyway so switch to getting the bulk of those from boots and that makes up the min spend each time.then most of the empties are all recyclable too so I return those and re buy. Ok so yes there is a little bit more effort in that I have to go instore a few times a month rather than doing my old big online shop to do it (you can only get 1 voucher per day no matter how many items you drop off) but I can easily earn £20-£30 of points a month without spending any more than normal. 
I did 2 this week as dd dropped off all the empty face/foot mask packets from her pamper night and even better ds needed new razors/shaving gel & deodorant/bodyspray so he paid.

Spendless

I bought Mother's day and bday cards today at The Card Factory. There was a long queue but there often is and I was in the city centre so didn't think too much of it then I noticed there was only one person on serving and I hadn't seen another in the store -ok it was shortly before 1 so one could have been on lunch break but still..... The queue obviously moved slowly and at one point the man behind me said 'all these tills (there were 8) and just one person  serving. I turned round and said I was thinking exactly same and wondering who  has done this rota. He replied I've just been to Primark it's exactly the same there, there were 2 on the tills (for context this is a very large Primark). Eeek that must have been hell Primani Sun lunch time and 2 serving! I'm wondering if this is the shape of things to come and businesses are cutting staff/hours due to the forthcoming rises in wages and employers NI contributions. Mr S says where he works has had £1.5m added on to their wages bill due to it.

I've possibly sussed out how to do DD's birthday by some creative thinking/accounting. Once they've all turned up I'll explain more. 

Spendless

I know it's been mentioned on the Xmas threads before about aiming for a neutral cost for presents. Just wondering if anyone on here has ever achieved it or come close?

I have (thankfully) massively reduced the true cost of daughter's bday gits due to buying on Vintd, using a loyalty points scheme to purchase a dept store giftcard that was then used to make a purchase (ok that's DH's job specific to be able to do this and not everyone can) and a subscription that I intend cancelling after receiving first item. Paid for items beyond this were from B&M or an outlet store. We did pay a (comparative)  fortune for an electrical item that DD will use abroad but DH bought it on a business trip last year and we decided to hold it back till now so the money spent  wasn't recent.  

mandco

Can’t say I’ve ever come remotely close to achieving a totally money neutral Xmas and doubt I ever will but I do try to minimise my actual cash spend.

I got my 1st money neutral gift the other day as sold some bits on vinted and used the money to purchase a jumper for dgd so aiming to do more if that this year as well as my usual saving various reward points though most of those go towards the food side of it rather than presents. Hoping to have a decent amount of boots points this year via the recycling scheme so aiming to put those towards Xmas too.
i pay a monthly subscription fee for ds displayed which give me a free plate each year - I save more than annual cost on the free postage perk alone so can I class his freebie as money neutral? Might be a stretch but technically I don’t pay anything for it 

really should start looking at doing cashback offers again but I tend to forget - used to have quidco but my account disappeared they denied it but pretty sure it got hacked as they said the details had been change and the balance withdrawn   

Spendless

Would you believe what came up on my SM feed this morning. The smaller sized eggs are now £1 in Tesco with clubcard! I could have waited!  

Last year Mr S on 2 separate occasions was given an M&S giftcard both with £20 (I think, might have been £10) from his employer . I had difficulty using one of them in TX Maxx so used the other but brought both the unused and used card home to check, threw in a drawer and forgot about till last night when I asked DH to check the balance. Both were zero. One because I'd spent on it, the other because has has been given a dud in error! Too long ago now to do anything about it but lesson learned, he receives anymore and we check straight away. Slightly disappointed because I'd suddenly thought about needing a cake for this weekend for DD's bday so googled son's beloved Caterpillar cake and discovered that there is a Connie version at min. Has to be aimed at the mother's day market as it says 'Queen for the day' Thought it apt for DD -lol. I intended using the unused giftcard to buy it - hey ho!

It's an interesting concept and how you measure it - can anyone make their gift cost list a neutral cost. Think that'll depend very much on those you buy for their age range and how many on it as to whether you can find suitable items within the stores you've built enough loyalty points/rewards up. The experiences I tend to favour for my parents require cash so would have to come from a passive income stream. Wonder if there's any bloggers/influencers ever covered this. I might look.

Anyway back in the real world, I bought my Mum a paperback book for Mother's Day. I took her to see Ballet Shoes for her 80th, this is a book by the same author that I also enjoyed as a kid and is based on the author's life. I have put it in a hamper and added caramel treats, biscuits, choc bars, chocs, marshmallows. My Mum loves Caramel but Dad either dislikes or isn't keen. Mum told me a story about how Dad saw some biscuits on offer in HB, put them in the trolley then noticed they were caramel and not the ones he wanted so put them back on the shelf. Meanwhile Mum was thinking but I like them but wouldn't speak up. I do find that the older generation can be different that way in what they find acceptable in a relationship. I'd have had no qualms telling Mr S to put them back in the trolley. Remembering this story it is why I've given  Mum  caramel treats that are just for her and not Dad, cos it's her day. I know some of you weren't keen on the concept of mother's day but this provides me the perfect opportunity to gift Mum something that is just for herself in a way that would be too pointed if I was to just turn up with caramel goodies for Mum.

mandco

Spendless thanks for the heads up re the small eggs frustrating you’ve already brought something else but sometime you just have to go with what available at the tine as offers are so hit & miss.
annoying the gift card was a dud it’s so easy to just assume it’s loaded and not check until it’s too late - the Connie caterpillar sound perfect hopefully they have it in stock.
 Have you seen the highland cow one they are going to be doing for Easter? Its in a twin pack with Colin.

it would definitely be interesting to see how close & how they managed it that people can get to a money neutral Xmas- I have a similar issue to you in that some gifts are more money based so the only way I could make those money neutral would be to sell things or earn cashback thoughout the year to cover it but I’d definitely struggle to cover the amounts I’d need.

I know Mother’s Day get a lot of flack as another over hyped merchandise grab but I do think it’s a valid point to show your appreciation to the person who birthed & raised you if you have a good relationship - It’s doesn’t have to be about expensive gifts something meaningful means just as much if not more. I’m sure she’ll appreciate that you actually took notice of what she said and got her treats that she really likes but won’t get herself.

Im trying to save any money I make with vinted towards Xmas bits this year but ended buying some new tees for taz - that said they were a bargain £6ish inc p&p for 2 bnwt branded tees that rrp at £25 each  - the asking price would have more and tbh I’d probably have paid it but the seller was a bit pushy and kept messaging me so I thought I’d be cheeky and offer a lower price which they accepted - it’s pays to ask.  It is way too easy to spend more than you make on there as there though are some great bargains to be had at times.

fionaandphil

@Spendless if the gift cards are M&S ones it is worth getting in touch with their customer services, they are usually very good and can check for you and put the money back on if they can see it hasn't been spent.  Your gift for your mum sounds lovely and I am sure she will appreciate it.

I try and save some of the survey money to buy gift vouchers to help with being money neutral for presents at Christmas.  It doesn't cover everything but does help with some of the purchases from mainstream brands.

Spendless

@fionaandphil - Thank you. They are love to shop ones not M&S, my mistake they could just be used there, and I binned them  last night after discovering both had a zero balance. I think its too late to prove anything now.

I went to M&S but they didnt have that cake but did have another Connie one and it was reduced by a few £s because it was short dated and has a crack in the choc, which Im pretty sure I can disguise with a strategically placed candle. 

fionaandphil

Love 2 shop quite often run out - if you don't spend them quickly there is an admin charge which really annoys me! You'll know for next time.

Great news about the cake!

Spendless

It said expiry 2026 on them both on the card That was the first thing I checked? Unless it meant you couldnt load the card after that date and it has expired? I did try using it initially around December but DH had been given it a few months previously.