OS Christmas Support thread & timetable

pavlovs_dog

yes, yes, i know its only june :beer:

well, this thread is nearly a year old, and i found it such a helpful resource last year that i thought it deserved a bump to remind people to start planning for xmas 06

if i learnt anything from this thread last year, its that christmas is about spending time with loved ones, not rushing around like a headless chicken on christmas eve trying desperately to find something for aunty maude or the MIL.

the more time you allow yourself to prepare, the more time you will have to enjoy with your family come december.. so please dont all rush to beat me at once!

its june 10th now, which gives you just over 6 months to get it sorted. for those of you who havent given christmas so much as a second thought yet, you might want to try some of the following.


*make the most of summer sales to grab cheap bargains. there are some toys, smellies and gift sets that aren't seasonal. get them whilst their cheap and find a safe place to store them all.

* get yourself a present book to organise your ideas about what to get for whom.

*start thinking about the kids' stocking fillers. especially if you have a lot of littlies (or if like me you do them for the oversized children in your life (OH ) spreading the cost by buying one small item a week, or putting £1-2 away. dont leave it to the last minute! do they really need a santa matey if the pirates are on bogof this week? take advantage of the offers

*head over to the pigsback thread in the freebies section and register. the answers to the daily quizes and competitions are posted daily, and between now and december you should be able to earn a fair few £sss in vouchers. there are also lots of other survey type companies i can recommend - feel free to PM if you want any info or advice. if you're online anyway perusing MSE, you might as well be earning some pennies whilst waiting for the pages to load.

*there are a whole range of lovely HM gifts that can really show youve put thought and consideration into the present. some alcohols, chutneys etc taste best matured, whilst other skills such as knitted scarves/ipod socks etc can take time to learn and perfect. its not too early to start thinking ahead and crafting.

*christmas is a foody's delight. are you saving your tesco vouchers/ stamps/ pennies? dont forget that tesco vouchers used converted to deals are worth four times face value - do you know anyone who would appreciate a magazine subscription or theme park tickets?

*if you make your own cards and have a lot of friends, you might want to start planning now. why do things in a mad panic if you can spend you winter evenings leisurely finishing off your projects.

*if you have relatives who would enjoy a photo calender of the kids as a pressie, start taking photos now! make the most of the sunny weather to get some light, bright snaps. dont forget you can get free prints and cashback by going through a cashback agent such as quidco



like it or not, chirstmas will be happening on december 25th. if you want the wholesome, family inspired OS christmas of yore, then make it happen! enjoy the leisurely preparation and avoid the need to enter the tacky, over-commercialised world of high st christmas any more than necessary by GETTING ORGANISED!

oh come all ye faithful... :rotfl:

**purpleprincess**

dashing through the snow, on a one horse open sleigh.....!!!!:rotfl: :rotfl:

I remember when I found this back in March!!:D

pavlovs_dog

DISCLAIMER
Pavlovs_dog is secretly very VERY excited about christmas and is very happy that other people are excited too

jessicamb

pavlovs_dog wrote:

DISCLAIMER
Pavlovs_dog is secretly very VERY excited about christmas and is very happy that other people are excited too

When does the Xmas tree go up? - Last year mine went up 30th November

I love Crimbo too (always comes as a shock though - will be more organised this year).

pavlovs_dog

well last year it we waited until after nephew's birthday which is dec 17th. i dont like putting them up too early as the house looks bare when you take them down

he will be 2 this christmas, which adds to the excitement, because he will have a better undertsanding of whats going on. christmas is a special time anyway, but if you have young kids around its just magical

where's the soppy smiley too ?

jessicamb

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Only 169 days to go :j :j

or

4042 hours
242461 minutes

pavlovs_dog

even im not (quite) that bad!

so far, ive been really good this year. started my shopping in the sales, and am getting much better at the forward planning to avoid last minute panics.

i'd much rather wander around the christmas market enjoying the atmosphere than worriedly searching for a pressie for those people who you awlays leave to the last minute because they have everything they need and are impossible to buy for.

and,in a great moment of forward sightedness, ive kept all the odd ends of last year's wrapping paper in an accessable place, so i can wrap OHs stocking fillers as i go along, instead of trying to hide them!

moggins

I started in January when I raided Boots for all their 20p rolls of wrapping paper

Since them I've been stocking up on suitable presents whenever I see a sale or a great offer, some of them will be used for birthday presents but there will still be a lot left over for christmas. The summer sales will soon be upon us and Woolworths always have a half price toy sale around July time so I'm looking forward to that.

recovering_spendaholic

I only started OSing after last Christmas because I ended up spending so much and wasting so much food and drink. I need to really try and cut back this year as I was made redundant on 31 December and so far haven't found another job (although I haven't been looking all that hard as they gave me a good pay-off and I have never had the luxury of being at home with the children before and I am loving it). I usually spend way too much on presents and am a really disorganised buyer. I start in October but always seem to overbuy on the food front in the week before Christmas. I think it comes from us not having alot of money when I was growing up and I always felt really nervous in December because my Mum would be so depressed about how she would cope financially. How much does anyone spend on Food for the Christmas period? Last year I spent a disgraceful £400 and loads of it was wasted. I am determined not to do that this year.

pavlovs_dog

the trouble with foods at christmas is that the second people walk into tescos, they develop "surviving a nuclear fallout" tedencies

in reality, the shops are only closed 2 days max, so there really is no need for excessive shopping. this year we're going to cut right back on the amount of sweets and biscuity things we buy, because we're fed up of having the leftovers hanging round the house even now. and then its sods law that we get given quite a lot of sweet stuff as gifts.

we've decided to treat ourselves, and spend the money on buying less, but buying 'better' quality than we normally would. its quite likely that our special christmas treats shop will be done in marks and sparks will be a change from tescos own brand anyway

perhaps nearer the time we can start a special christmas food planning thread, to help everyone take stock of what they really do (and dont ) need