Anyone else have to turn to credit accounts to pay for Christmas?

[sammyjayneex]

So as the titles says, is anyone else struggling with finances leaving them with no option to turn to credit cards/ Catologs this year for Xmas. I never have the spare money to buy things out right but do have money to pay the weekly amount.

[LadySybilLikesCake]

Why not save the weekly amounts from now and go shopping just before Christmas? Doing it on credit cards etc is more expensive and you'll end up paying more. Just save the weekly amounts and use that, there's no need to get into debt.

[TripTrapTripTrapOverTheBridge]

Use the weekly amount you can save instead! If you then still feel like more is needed then if you can afford to pay it off without struggling and are not getting far into debt then it is ok to get a few extras.

[wannabestressfree]

I do park every year and am counting the days until my vouchers arrive :)

[TheWhisperingDeath]

We have in the past but don't have credit cards now. We will just have a very small low key Christmas. Nobody will suffer for it. I used to make myself I'll worrying about how we would pay for stuff, but I've really changed my approach and realised that it's not worth getting into debt for.

[TheWhisperingDeath]

ill, not I'll.

[LadySybilLikesCake]

Kids really don't need masses of presents, the shops encourage you to go overboard but they just really want to have fun. A snakes and ladders game, jigsaw, colouring book and pens, sweets and chocolate, fluffy socks, clothes. A bag of flour, some sugar and butter with some cutters and a rolling pin (to make cookies), books, a DVD and bag of popcorn, small things really. Lunch is basically a Sunday roast and the shops are only closed for a day or so.

[Fairylea]

Park is fantastic for people like me that are rubbish at saving... If I put it into a savings account I'd just spend it again. With park I pay by standing order. It's all done and dusted and I get a love to shop card and use that. I love it.

[TripTrapTripTrapOverTheBridge]

Thinking of what Fairylea has just said (waves!!), if you are likely to spend it, I believe post offices now do gift cards similar to love2shop and you can regularly save on them or something. So,instead of paying off a catalogue every month or putting a bit back for that weekly, could you nip to the post office instead and put some money onto an account for the gift card they do? That would help you save it.

With larger items and things that may go out of stock quickly etc, I personally see no problem in using credit as long as you are in a position to pay it back and it's affordable.Afterall, people use these things for clothing etc and it's not the bane of your life if you are careful in your purchasing and planning, IF it's affordable to you. Just start saving a bit earlier next year and look at things like the Tesco Clubcard Christmas Savers scheme for next year, where they save your vouchers throughout the year, you get a bonus, can top up the money in the scheme yourself and get bonuses for doing so and get the whole lot sent to you before Christmas and in time for the Clubcard Double Up offers.

Obviously, that's no use if you don't shop at Tesco though!

[eurochick]

No, I never spend what I don't have (mortgage aside).

[Shamazeballs]

This is the first year ever none of our Xmas is on credit.

I've been buying since January throughout the year when I've seen things on offer and I'm actually done for the kids now.

[bronya]

We're just going to be very frugal and buy £ shop bits. V young DC though who won't notice.

[LIZS]

Christmas is not worth getting into debt for, be a credit card, "easy payment terms" or loans. Work out what you can realistically save between now and then and plan accordingly.

[DaisyFlowerChain]

Like Euro, we don't spend what we don't have. I'd never get into debt for Christmas as it's just one day out out 365.

If you can afford weekly debt payments then you could simply save that amount and avoid all the interest and debt.

[morethanpotatoprints]

I would rather save through the year or have a simple Christmas than get into debt for one day.
I have never had a credit card though so don't know how much extra you'll end up paying.
There are some that if you pay the balance in time you don't receive interest, but no good if you hope to pay instalments.

[KnittedJimmyBoos]

I work within budget as much as I can. Buy here and there throughout the year.

[PesoPenguin]

No, like others we save throughout the year.

[bunnybunny14]

I use park that way I'm saving for Xmas and can't spend it elsewhere and I don't have to panick at this time of year!

[SoonToBeSix]

No I put £30 a week into a saving account every week even Christmas week to pay for the following year.
I am quite disciplined though once money is a saving account I won't touch it for anything else.

[cailindana]

"I never have the spare money to buy things out right but do have money to pay the weekly amount."

Eh? So you do have the money to buy things. All you have to do is put it away across the year then you'll be able to buy what you need when December comes.

[LadySybilLikesCake]

I get a lot of overtime at work so will have Christmas covered. It's not good to start the new year in a load of debt for one day though. I do get the attraction to pay weekly, but it does cost more and by the time you've paid this off it will be next Christmas and the whole thing will start again. You really are much better off putting some into a savings account each week and working things that way. As for Park, I'd worry about another Fairtrade fiasco. I suppose they are fine if you were planning on shopping in certain places anyway.

[Greengrow]

I am fairly well off. We give nothing at Christmas now the children are older. I don't see why people can't make Christmas about God rather than morally bereft values of consumerism particularly when they cannot afford anything. Just make a few things and make the whole occasion about going to church which is 100% free.
I think it's a class issue - the less money you have the more you feel you should get into debt over Christmas which is a huge pity. Babies need nothing. Toddlers love empty cardboard boxes, older children can have fun getting a few small things from charity shops and if they don't then they need their values changed.

[wannabestressfree]

Greengrow as much fun as that sounds I prefer to save all year. I don't think your way is the 'norm'.

[HolyQuadrityDrinkFeckArseGirls]

It sounds like market research to me

[PrivateJourney]

I just wouldn't.

Four Christmases ago we were absolutely broke. DH and I both lost our jobs in the first week of December. It was one of the best Christmases ever.

DCs cleared out their toys and found things their younger cousins loved, adults got things like bookmarks and potted plants the DC made. DH and I went without. We just managed to scrape together enough to get DC the thing they each wanted most and their stockings were filled with things we would have bought anyway. e.g. treats for their lunch boxes and things they needed for school. Christmas dinner isn't really that expensive and we split the cost by everyone bringing something.

Time was spent playing games, watching traditional Christmas TV and it snowed so we could sledge and have beautiful walks. Everyone, including DC agreed it was a magical Christmas when everyone took a few days to remember what really matters. It would have been awful if we'd added to an already stressful situation by running up debt in the name of a good Christmas.

In more normal circumstances, start saving earlier!

[fuzzpig]

Please don't feel you have to get into debt just for one day! I understand that you want to get nice things for your DCs - I LOVE choosing presents - but really nobody needs lots. Having pared down the pile under the tree over the last few years I have really accepted that Less Is More.

The problem with catalogues and voucher schemes is that you can end up tied into a particular place for all your shopping, when they don't necessarily have the best prices etc.

How old are your DCs? Honestly this year I would not use anything like catalogues (or at least stop now, if you've already started) and just try for frugality. That way you won't start the year in debt and you can then save a little each payday towards 2015.

The other thing I do is look out all year for things that are just right, in case a bargain appears. But I have to be careful I only get something if it's just right and not just because it's a bargain (for this reason I avoid the Reastie bargain threads even though I know they're great!).

I have lots of wishlists on amazon and add anything that I know people will love, I virtually never buy something straight away, I just keep an eye in case the price drops. And it's a useful frame of reference if there's a sale in a shop - eg at sainsburys the other day I got two items that had been on my wishlist for over a year because I knew the prices were shockingly low.

FWIW my DH's ex has always used catalogues and now my teen DSD REALLY resents her for it. She understands that her mum wants to get them nice things (even though she tells her she doesn't want or need them) but finds it so frustrating because she can see how much money her mum is wasting. They argue about it quite a lot.