Christmas on only £250

[Broadlygotit]

We’ve only managed to save £250 for Christmas (both work but low earners)

There’s DP & I (we aren’t doing presents for each other) then our children aged 15, 6 and 3.

15 year old is a beautiful human who understands that money isn’t what it’s all about, thank goodness, and just loves the whole atmosphere so will be happy with very simple gifts.

Then we need gifts for the little ones. Parents of kids in our 6 year olds class are saying they are buying things like an x box etc this year and I’m too embarrassed to admit that our entire budget wouldn’t buy one of those!

Then there are our dear friends and family and their children too.

Can it be done?
The food, the gifts, everything. For £250?

Don't buy for adults, only buy for children. You don't need to buy for teachers either, I normally just send my DC in with a box of chocolates to share instead. You could do a magazine subscription or adopt an animal - you normally pay a couple of £s monthly so it spreads the cost. Amazon have some good deals on kindles and kids fire tablets. What about planning some 1 on 1 days in Jan/Feb with each dc and printing off some home made vouchers eg, lunch and shopping trip with eldest, cinema or swimming and ice cream with 6 year old, museum trip etc, that way you dont need to pay for it until you actually do it, and if u set a date now you know you will actually do it. Second hand for the youngest. Food is totally doable, tesco had some good deals on treats this week. My 7 year old is really into stationary, you can buy loads in poundshop/b&m etc. The works or book people for cheap books. The works is good for lots of things.

For the younger ones I would definitely get secondhand, if they're into anything in particular such as imaginext, it's actually crazy to buy those things new! I bought a huge bundle of imaginext last year off ebay (5 sets with figures and cars) for 20!

Great ideas.

Was going to say that if you have a Flying Tiger anywhere near you then they do 'Surprise bags' for either children or teens or both for £3 or £5. When I've got them they have been good fun although I do see that it could be way off the mark as well.

DD thought that a flashing toothbrush was the last word in fancy stocking presents when aged about 6 (was approx. £3, really didn't expect such a reaction).

Don't buy any gifts for adults eg parents, siblings or teachers and explain to your family. If you really want to give something, offer to babysit so they can go out for the evening, get your children to make a cake or something for their grandparents.

For nephews/nieces etc, make up hampers - wrap a box and add sweets and small items from pound shop, Wilko, home bargains etc.

Check out Black Friday etc for bargains between now and Xmas.

Xmas dinner - is just a glorified roast, you can make a lot of the trimming yourself and don't over do it. When you do your weekly shop, add an item of food for Xmas eg a pack of biscuits or extra veg.

Charity shop for books/jigsaws/boardgames and dvds. I got loads at this time of year last year when I was off work, and will be taking some back this weekend. Poundstretcher has cookie cutters for a pound, great stocking filler and can make dough the night before for an Xmas day activity.

Here's some of the best deals I've found.

Huawei Y6 2019 £49
This is a great phone at a great price maybe an idea for your 15 year old if they need one.

Amazon fire tablet £29.99
This is a great tablet for the price and a wow gift would be great for any of your children.

Personalised book £1.99
This is a great book suitable for your 6 & 3 year old and any other young children you may have to buy for.

2 birchboxes for £7.95
Suitable for teen girls through to adults works out under £4 each.

The Works 10 for £10 children's books
These would be good to split between any young children you have to buy for. Free delivery over £20.

3 gifts for £12 There's probably something suitable for every child you have to buy for here.

If you have a Home Bargains near you that's good for stocking fillers and other gifts.

Second hand gifts for the two younger 2 DC. My local FB selling site currently has a big Peppa Pig bundle for £10, several jigsaws and board games for £1-2 each and lots of books very cheaply. You could get a decent pile for about £20 each.

Another teacher here saying don't buy a gift - nothing is absolutely fine, or a card with a personal message is lovely.

For the last few years the Co-op has done a frozen Christmas dinner for £10. I’ve never actually had it but it looks absolutely fine to fine.

I think you could do all food for the day for £20 and have leftovers.

Check out money saving expert. There is a list on there called "festive fivers" ideas for nice presents and stocking fillers that cost £5 or less.
The perennial favourite from that list for young children is a (very) large box filled with balloons, (you can add a helium balloon if you like) wrapped. Children love unwrapping the present, love balloons and then have a big box to turn into a car/rocket/castle....

Oh yes def get dc to make home made card for teachers.
Only buy for the children, dh and I didn't buy for each other for years.
Last year we all went to charity shop, I went with one dc to buy for other dc and dh and vice versa... We got funny gifts 😂.

Like other pp we have waited till last minuet for Xmas birds but a duck is gorgeous, special feels luxury and is 18 quid?

Pots, stuffing. Gravey.. Orange source... Beautiful...

Aldi and lidl do good ranges...

But more than anything... Create atmosphere... Fairy lights, stuff hanging from ceiling... Music... Fun and silly games

OP also try Shpock for presents. Download the app, type in your postcode and then search for anything. Whatever it finds is listed closest to you first and then increases in distance. So many bargains on there and unlike eBay, there are no fees to pay and it is not an auction. People put what they want to sell for and will usually negotiate with you too. You then either collect it in person or can ask them to post for costs of postage.
So much better than eBay.
Good luck

of course it can be done. if you are the gambling type Christmas eve an hour/2 before closing is perfect for getting an amazing joint of meat/vegetables and trimmings for literally pennies. i did this on a v tight year when a £500 payment didnt go in on the 20th Dec!! or co op often do a Christmas frozen meal deal for £10 which is the full meal (turkey, veg, potatoes, yorkies, stuffing) plus pudding.

Christmas presents - second hand is the way to go. loads of bargains to be had on Facebook marketplace/schpock or eBay. last year I got dd a Nintendo 2ds with 6 games for £30. sold the 2 games she wouldn't play for £10 and got them some dvds in CEX. charity shops are also brimming this time of year for things like Xmas jumpers/decorations/novelty items. I got a jumper for a pound for dd's Xmas jumper day.

if you have social arrangements try and meet at people's houses, each bringing a dish to keep costs down. there's some v cheap Christmas treats or meals you can cook.

if you like things like cinema check out the sat morning specials which are much cheaper. or panto there's often cheap days or special offers. or people selling on second hand sites. my local panto did £5 ticket nights for 2/3 select days. usually they were £16+.

have cheap crafty/cooking sessions for gifts for friends/teachers/family. also it's nice as a family activity. there's loads of free/cheap ideas on Pinterest.

How low income are you? If you’re on income supplementing benefits and in north east England check out www.feedingfamilies.org.uk They match low income families with donors who then supply a Christmas hamper with all the food you need for Christmas.

Check put the Xmas bargain thread on the mn Xmas board. I think it's on thread 15 atm, loads of brilliant bargains & discount codes on there.

Is there anything you can sell to raise more cash. Go through your house and see what you can sell on fb, gumtree & scpock etc. My boss sold her old mobile phone and got £130 for it. Any evening barwork/ temp work you can pick up for Christmas cash?

The Christmas bargain thread is on #16 now, it's called:
Thread 16 - the one with the twitch

You'll find it in the Christmas board, under the fun and games category.

The Works are doing 2 for £10 on activity boxes suitable for 6 year olds. I have bought the paper aeroplane one and the build a volcano one. Great bargain.

I know people turn their nose up at Boots 3 for 2 gifts as they look as if you haven't put much thought or effort in but it could be a good way of saving money on toys for the youngest two.

For teachers, loose your DC into a Poundshop and tell them to choose the thing they think the teacher would like best.

And then tell teacher thats how they came to be given a rather random thing. And you might just find that it'll be one of their more memorable pressies

Morrison’s have the large Thornton’s chocolate figures and Lindt truffles on a 3 for £10 offer. Great kids gifts or stocking fillers.

M&S biscuit boxes on £3 each too. They’re token gifts but go down well and I’ve done 8 adult couples and 3 children for £24!

I also do a chicken Sunday dinner for 4-6 adults which would double as a great Christmas dinner, comes in around £15-£20 although I’m sure many do it cheaper.

Just make sure to highlight to family your situation. ‘We’re just doing token gifts this year so please keep it cheap when buying for us’ or ‘do you mind if we just buy for the kids this year?’

I really don’t think people mind as long as you tell them in advance so they don’t buy you £50 worth of stuff and get a box of biscuits in exchange 😂

Your eldest sounds like me, we had very little money growing up but my parents were great and we had the best time at Christmas. I wouldn’t have swapped my tub of hero’s, snuggling on the sofa in a house filled with love for all the XBox’s in the world 🙄

My 6 year old has just had all his Santa presents bought in the nectar points double up. He has a hatchimal, a taboo style game, lego, some other bits and bobs. It would never occur to me to buy him a console. I asked him if he wanted a new scooter but he said no.
His little sister has a present that was free from fb marketplace. She did last year too. No one will wver know.
As long as they have plenty of chocolate and some stuff to unwrap they are happy.
However, the expectation to spend pn extended family I find really hard. I don't know why we can't reuse/ recycle etc. I would love books from charity shops for myself but know I will be given expensive nick nacks I don't want. I have suggested secret Santa to no avail.
I will find Christmas extremely expensive again, so I make savings where I can... on the kids for now!

I’m sure it can be done. Frozen turkeys are much cheaper than fresh and lots of supermarkets have deals in veg near Christmas. Don’t drink too much alcohol - that always pushes up the price of my food shopping. Also cut down on family/friend presents, I’m sure they’ll understand. Look for second hand toys on eBay, Facebook, Gumtree, car boot sales etc.

It can but I have paid for Christmas this year doing online surveys in nap time. You could easily get you budget up another £200 in three weeks if you both do them. I use qmee, prolific and crowdology. Give it a whirl then you could get the older kids a bit extra. The 3 year old will be fine with second hand toys. They really wont know the difference.

We don't have a lot to spend this year either! I;m lucky in that my Dad hosts us food wise and we are instructed to bring the Baileys and cheese but presents wise I really recommend having a really good browse in the follwoing places. Wilko, B&M, Home Bargains, Poundland. The Range. I have managed to do dd's stocking entirely from these places, I love them. You can get really good make up sometimes from £land and decent sweets and treats from all of them. Along with edible stuff this year I have put in acrylic paints and brushes, a pillow spray, lip balm, top trumps card game, blind bag, pants, socks and bath bomb. All for under £15.

For us, Chrismtas morning is about being allowed to have stuff that you don't usually have on any ohter morning. So in her stocking I always include a can of coke, nutella to go dipstick thing that she loves, mini cereal box and a bath bomb for a nice bath. This takes up at least an hour.

We also like doing presents for the family, cheap little things but I wrap them up and we do them together so I go to the charity shop and get a board game or jigsaw, DVD, tacky cd etc and we play together on the day. A good one is also those kids baking kits, about £1 from most places.

Kids don't need loads of presents, I'm sure you will all have a super day.

I have a six year old and would never by a games console. If you have an aldi they had loads of lovely wooden toys in dolls houses, garages, play food eg blender, cakes, food ect you could get them both some bits there and then I would just look at online selling sites, charity shops to get jigsaws, books ect , home bargains usually has sticker books, crayons ect for stockings. Your older one I would try and get her something she has chosen if you can then do the same second hand books, smellies, DVD ect from home bargains ect. They also have boxes of chocolate for a couple of pounds so I would just get your other family those. For food buy a chicken , you can get frozen veg, big bag of potatoes and maybe go to Iceland or somewhere for a frozen pudding. I would also try and make decorations , paper chains ect in the build up, go and see any local light switch ons, is there a free santa in local shopping centre ( you just have to put a little donation in) you could fo winter scavenger hunts, make reindeer food, wonder round and look at the local houses and lights, look out for the xmas films on tv and watch with a hot chocolate, near us libarys do Christmas crafts and christmas film screenings they are free.