Credit-crunching Christmas - please may we have your survival tips?

OK we are tight this year, so I have been buying pressies for the boys throughout the year when on Sale and they are all things they will love or need ie globe £6 in woolies is DS1's main pressie.

I also bought for Neices and children in the sales.
We dont buy for Bro, BIL, SIL et all

Look out for the promotions on here - I got the photobox collages 4 cost £6.99 so that is parents and godparents sorted.

I have made christmas puddings and small christmas cakes for the adults in the family and we will make fudge near the time for teachers, toddler groups etc.

Brown paper (99p in Tesco) and glitter or christmas confetti (pound shop) makes great wrapping paper and the children love it

Same for christmas cards

Make your own crackers

I have bought games etc for stockings - tiddlywinks, pens etc (small items).

Only buy what people want or need.

Dont overdo it. It is only one day a year and you dont need to stuff yourselves

With my antenatal friends we pick one family's name out of a hat and then buy one present for the child and one for the adults.

This worked really well last year and I was really pleased that everyone wanted to do it again this year.

I have bought a set of books from The Book People for our DC's birthdays which closely follow Christmas. I think each baby will get 3 books with a couple spare for DD.

The best economy I've made was to cut people off the pressie buying list - Don't buy for siblings, neices, nephews etc by mutual agreement, or buy for friends. I only buy for my husband, my children and my Mum now. Sounds a bit joyless, but how often do any of the presents we give or recieve really hit the mark anyway? Saves a LOT of time and money.

Don't buy crap for the sake of it, just because it is christmas.

When I was with exdh and had money we used to go to town with the boys. One year we bought loads as usual and ds2 played with the stocking filler pound shop soldiers ALL day!

Pound shops are great for stocking fillers. I also bought a friend who has everything one of their smelly candles and a photo frame = £2,last year and she was over the moon.

I agree re: dinner is just a roast. You can go crazy but it's the add ons that make it.

Last year I dished out the smaller school photograph of my DD that you get with the standard packs as presents to my aunts/uncles, partly to save money on more pressies and partly to get rid of them plus they all adore their great-niece. Can't do that this year as she was off sick the day of the photograph. Darn .

I'm with MP - I buy essentials like knicker sets, vests, socks and pyjamas for Christmas and my dd loves them all. She knows that in her stocking will be a new toothrbush,paste etc. Father Christmas likes nice teeth! She gets most of her clothes for Christmas or birthdays as well as the plastic tat - I've picked up generic games in markets before now and she's just as happy. Although this year she wants a DS Lite or some such pink handheld computer game .

I have been buying stuff for christmas for ages now and I am nearly finished. The kids get stuff they need rather than want from me.

Dd will be 6 months at christmas and she is having a cot from me. Its not highly exciting but she needs it and I cant afford a decent one on top of christmas prezzies. I have got both kids nice pjs to wear on christmas eve and a special decoration for the tree. dd also has some new clothes from me.

Ds has stuff that I bought in the sales. I got him a trike from wollies!!! It was a total bargain. £10 down from £50. He has a new In the night garden bag for his over night stays at his dads. I bought him load of clothes. I have got him some stuff on ebay that is for the fun factor but it was all fairly cheep. He has a lovely tea set which i know he is going to love, a dollies pram and a fisher price vintage record player. I have his stocking fillers, they were all from the £ shop. Just some bubble bath, a few choccys and some glow sticks. I think the whole lot has cost me about £60 and it perfectly enough for a child. As children we were spoilt rotton and had a "main gift" which usually cost about £60 and then smaller gifts and a stocking. I cant afford that extravigance and although £60 is quite a lot of money because I have been collecting things for months and scouring the net I have got some real bargains and spread the cost.

I always put pants, toothbrushes, flannels, hair accessories, socks etc in the stocking, my mum always did too, even when we were at uni

Agree about pants - ds was 3 last Xmas and got some pants with rockets on in his stocking. He was beside himself.

This year we are saving money all over the place (isn't everyone?), buying early to spread cost, looking out for vouchers for toyshops/freebies/leaflets, doing secret santa within group of friends so everyone knows to just buy for one other and everyone gets a pressie, and this year although I am utterly rubbish at sewing I have made a very rudimentary set of dressup costumes out of some old clothes and sheets for ds (4 this year), so now he will have a pirate costume, a mediaeval knight and a superhero cape. The pirate hook and cutlass, and the sword and shield I got from the pound shop. Luckily ds isn't a world expert on sewing techniques so I know he'll appreciate them and hopefully enjoy them!

do secret sants amongst adults in the family, so everyone gets one decent present instead of lots of crap ones e.g. 8 adults (parents, siblings) £10 per person = £70 (as you don't buy for yourself) bargain

Nothing wrong with buying a goat imo! (we have done this for adult family members who live abroad, and who are considerably better off than us)

Make your own Christmas wreath (wire coat hanger, ivy, bit of holly and some red ribbon or similar), tree decorations from saltdough or make pomanders, get the dc to make cards for close family and friends. You can also drape ivy round picture frames, clocks etc. Our table 'centrepiece' is basically a red pillar candle with ivy round it and some Christmassy pot pouri type stuff bought in the January sales!

Also, use 2nd class stamps for sending cards, and use economy class for sending presents abroad.

Get the Dcs involved in making decs, loads of glitter, cotton wool, glue, all the shit you normally ban the rest of the year round.

As a child, we had some very generous Christmases and others more meagre, depending upon income at the time, but the build up, making decs and shit was really and truly the most memorable and enjoyable part of Xmas for me (and no pants for me, I had a walky-talky doll for chrissakes).

Oh and food, making the mince pies, the Xmas cake and all that cack - magic!

Just re-read and obv what I meant was no pants as a Xmas present, not no pants per se....

We (friends and family) have agreed to just buy for the children, not the adults.

We use Xmas as an excuse to buy something nice for ourselves / each other that we wouldn't normally splash out on. In the past we've upgraded computers, bought a games console - stuff for both of us quite often.

I do try to buy useful things for relatives, but sometimes they're just too hard to buy for or very very fussy and end up getting gifty stuff or a collection of tat - and they often give the same. Ah I wish they'd just give me monsoon vouchers.

Of course sometimes, its nice to buy things that aren't practical. A couple of times over past years, DH has bought SIL and I a pamper day (She couldn't afford it otherwise, and I wouldn't want to go on my own - and he'd hate it!)

My nieces get things they need, which they think is great. Many of their clothes come from 'Father Christmas' and assorted relatives, and they think that's great.

For grandparents I get calendars made up with photos of the children over the past year. You can get them at Jessops or snappy snaps, or online at photobox.co.uk. They usually only cost £20 and are universally loved by all grandparents (and aunts and uncles and great grandparents etc etc etc...)

Do a list of everyone you need to buy for and set limites you will not go over I do £10 for family IE Mum/Dad etc and then £100 my DC (although more this year on DS1 as won the smartbike from here)!

get things from the internet using sites like offer of the day and pop voucher that way even though your spending £10 and under looks like you have spend way more!

Also look out for the deals in places like Boots Argos, WHSmiths, M&S and Woolworths all of which do 3 for 2 deals on things like toys, books and smells as well as xmas wrapping paper and cards!

As my Dad says if you havent got dont spend it

We save all our supermarket and boots points for christmas and this year we got 4 lots of spend £60 and get £12 off at sainsburys. So we've spent that £48 on Christmas food and drink.

Blimey, sorry. Sound like a right know it all there... its always chaos here in november that was a lie!

my tips...

1. make a soft toy out of theirs/your old clothes. Always a hit whatever age.
2. Get books from discount book stores, always have fab offers.

1. recycle.. swap unwanted toys with friends
2. get a big joint present secondhand like pool table/garden swing from adverts locally
3. go to inlaws on xmas day or buy the xmas dinner as far in advance as poss!
4. stick to tradition with stockings; an orange , bag of sweeties, stickers, a £1 coin etc. They love all that.

Shop using the links at Mumsnet Mall (click on shopping in nav) to get discounts and offers...

Buy multi pack pants (different patterns) and split them up and individually wrap to make it look like more pressies. "Oh look more pants, just what I wanted".

Check out the latest offers with 0% credit card transfers before you get your existing cards out to spend with. Watch put for Balance transfer fees with different lenders, but you could save paying high interest if you swap now before you start to spend.

compareandsave dot com

Don't buy loads of overpriced throw away tat that you neither or any recipient would want or need.

Both your purse and your planet will thank you.

Remember that Christmas is about more than how much should I, could I, will I spend.

Enjoy some good food, good company and well earned rest.

It's a holiday people, Christmas not Christress.

More than that, and apologies to those of a religious bent.

Rant over, as you were.