OS Christmas Support thread & timetable

tasha38

hi

might not be the place to post but here goes...i thought id start a thread re christmas as its only round the corner.. i personally dont have huge expenses at christmas, generally because i refuse to bow to the huge money making scam at this time of year. however i do know people that cripple themselves with debt and expense, and then wonder why there always stressed. a few useful tips ive picked up over the years...

home-made presents--- a favourite cake, biscuits, any baked goods. crafted goods-- you dont have to be an expert at crafts. a friend one year gave her hubby a bag of his fav fruit with a bow on it-- he loved them!

favours as presents--- offer to babysit for a friend, do the gardening, wash the dishes for a month!

christmas decs made out of choc wrappers, shiny foli wrapping etc

paper snow flakes-- i used to make tonnes when the kids were small.

think about the food at christmas-- one year a colleague told me she was making turkey, pork and beef joint for the four of them! i was gob smacked-- theres no way they finished all of that. do we really need insane amounts of food? and do we need to stock up with huge amounts of essentials and non essentials when the shops only close for 2 or 3 days now over that period?

if theres anyone you know that will be alone for christmas ask them to join you, perhaps they can bring some food--will help lower the food bill and isnt christmas about sharing and giving etc.

make your own crackers......get the kids to join in...they'll have more fun with their own creations at xmas... use sweets as fillers... and theres cracking joke sites on web

any more suggestions....????

tasha38

Rikki

I make home made marmalade, cross stich christmas cards that can then be put into frames for next year.

katyk_2

I made some lovely homemade 'Tia Maria' last year using a recipe found on here. Very popular with all. Now I have gone and lost the recipe - I remember most of the ingredients (cheap white rum, instant coffee, water, vanilla essence, brown sugar) but cannot remember quantities. If person who did it still has recipe I would love to have it again.

juno

This year, I'm doing joint presents from me and my fiance. We both pay half, but because bigger presents look more exoensive we don't have to spend as much.

Pink.

katyk wrote:

I made some lovely homemade 'Tia Maria' last year using a recipe found on here. Very popular with all. Now I have gone and lost the recipe - I remember most of the ingredients (cheap white rum, instant coffee, water, vanilla essence, brown sugar) but cannot remember quantities. If person who did it still has recipe I would love to have it again.

Is this the recipe you were looking for katyk?

I found it on this thread: make your own christmas booze!!


Pink

[Deleted User]

Hi ,
If your Christmas Decorations are looking a bit sad, try going to a local Christmas School Fair.My eldest daughter works at a local Special-needs school, and there is some beautiful crafts done there.The school sells them to raise funds and they are nearly always a fraction of the price of ones from the big stores. The school benefits from funds raised, and I benefit by not having to spend quite so much cash.
In the summer I always get some lovely bedding plants from there as well.Chistmas is a time for helping other people so I do my little bit by supporting our local school. I live on a fixed income as a disabled widowed pensioner, so it's my way of giving to a local charity.

squeaky

tasha38 wrote:

hi

might not be the place to post but here goes...i thought id start a thread re christmas as its only round the corner..

Hiya

You are wa-a-a-a-a-ay behind us all

We have a long running Christmas support thread and I'll merge this one into it to keep all the good ideas together.

Since posts are listed in date order you'll need to read from the beginning to catch up with us

squeaky

A nice site for stocking fillers has been posted on the shop but don't drop board...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=109811

squeaky

Another thread in SBDD that will be worth keeping an eye on...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=109822

chinagirl

hobbesy wrote:

Found you some santa stationery, now we just gotta do a letter :-)

Keri -x-

http://www.northpolesantaclaus.com/images/santastationery.gif

I have printed it off twice now, just what I needed for encouraging the little ones to share their Christmas wishes with me, (so I know what to aim for).