A low spend Christmas here and feeling it. Anyone else?

[Nervousspendaholic]

I decided last year enough was enough - I am sick of being skint in January and spending money I don't have. Also (and this is firm) no more spending on any more decorations etc until it all needs replaced (and that is years away!). But it feels miserable and I am struggling. Starting to think I have a real problem!

The money could be better spent, and the cost of living is biting hard. We are spending much less on Christmas presents/food. Why oh why can I not be happy with what I have got?

Feel free to tell me to get a grip!

Are you comparing yourself with others?
Stop social media for this month. Unsubscribe from emails.
Make a list of low cost lively things you can do to get that christmas spirit - make paperchains, out for a walk to see the lights in your town/city, make mince pies, bake, are there any low cost events happening near you? We have Carol singing in our local park and some Christmas fairs which can be low spend.
It's lovely to get all your Christmas stuff out the loft to decorate and remember what you have and how much you love it.

Even if you are spending less on food make sure you get some of your favourites in.

Presents - well most adults spend on themselves and have more than enough already. We only exchange token gifts between myself and dh. So a book, socks, chocolate, beer etc - something we need anyway and will use.

You can do this!

It’ll only be hard until Boxing Day, when you see what a lovely, relaxing couple of days you’ve had without nearly bankrupting yourself in the process. Throughout January you will be so relieved that you haven’t got the added stress of paying for Christmas on top of everything else.

Are your Christmas traditions based around things you need to spend money on? If so, start some new cheaper and/or free ones. Lots of ideas on the Christmas board.

We’ve cut down for the last couple of years and I find the run up to Christmas the hardest part. Once Christmas Eve comes it all works out fine, and we are still left with too much food.

We're having xmas here, but this year certainly cutting back - spending less on everyone - we only tend to buy basic food for xmas day and a few extra treats, but cutting back on those treats.

Not sure of your situation OP, but there are things you can do for free which are lovely and festive. Will be making the most of having DH at home more, even if it's only for a local walk/watching something on tv. Our DD is older, but we used to make paperchains, snowflakes, have a walk around looking at xmas lights in houses and go to a carol service (actually might do that anyway this year) which is a lovely way of coming together with others and no cost/cheap if you want to donate anything as you're leaving.

Hope you manage to enjoy even if it's relatively simple compared to some.

Oh, thank you everyone for responding! I feel better reading through your messages. I have always made such a big deal out of Christmas and this time of year is usually a hustle of spending and organising and lists galore and a full calendar of "magical moments!", but the DC are older now and the last few years it has become blatantly obvious that you cannot buy magical moments and there is no such thing as a perfect Christmas. And I can't afford it if you could!

I will definitely take some things on board - the Christmas lights and the carollers sounds lovely (I have recently moved to a new area, so I don't know what is out there, but it is much livelier than I am used to so there will be things to do). My work closes over Christmas (for 2 weeks) so I need to think of things to do then. We are doing few gifts this year for the adults in our families, and the DC have chosen (one) more expensive gift versus lots of little ones - I am determined to stick to my new budget- so I need to think of a new way to make Christmas morning special.

I have so much more free time than I am used to - it feels quite disconcerting!

I got the decorations down from the loft to check through what I have - I will put them up during the next week, that will help.

Definitely need to rethink Christmas traditions. We normally do things that cost quite a lot of money - Lots of adult nights out and family days out. I will check out the Christmas board - because I can't go back to expensive Christmas chaos, but it is still a very important part of the year for me.

Thank you again!

Me too OP. It’s quite basic this year - minimal presents, the food won’t be fancy (usually get the meat from a farm shop but will be supermarket), no Christmas trips, just doing low key stuff at home. Not buying a tree just using our old fake one. I don’t mind it actually, the pressures off.

I don't have a Christmas nowadays and really miss the ones as a kid, insisting we have our grotty paper chains and paper bells up which my mum hated!

We have some cheaper traditions every year, we always make oranges with cloves and hang them up. We have a snacky/buffet style tea on Boxing day and watch a christmassy film at the same time. We make some things like cheese scones and something sweet to have at the buffet during the couple of days before. And we make our own advent calendars in November (print off and stick onto card, doors cut out on the front sheet with a craft knife so they can be opened) and all open each others through December (too late for this year though obviously!).

I don’t actually find Christmas food shopping that much expensive than a normal shop. We are having a buffet on Christmas Eve, Turkey lunch on Christmas Day and then cheese and biscuits/Turkey sandwiches/chocolates in the evening.
One of my favourite Christmas things to do is watch Christmas movies which doesn’t cost anything.
There’s no need to buy new decorations you can always swap stuff around if you want a change.
Could you have friends over and do a small buffet? We do that and they bring all their own drink.

find a local cathedral or big cofe church and do the carol concerts and nativities.. midnight mass with hot choc after is fun even for teens.. esp if they are older and are allowed a snowball! Then everyone up a bit later on Xmas morn to compensate..
plenty of cathedrals run lovely Xmas am services too- there will be a choir, childrens choir and wonderful atmosphere

As you're new to your area, is there a walk you can do? Or one if you're near countryside - a car drive and therefore expense - but still.

Like most people I imagine I normally eat far too much over Christmas; I’m not talking one or two days but two or three weeks.
This year to save money I’ve decided to cut back on goodies. I will still buy some but only 50% of the usual amount which will be sufficient.
Im hoping that the payback will be that I don’t finish Christmas fat, bloated and with terrible skin and a bad head. Fingers crossed!

We just do a normal roast and have a few Christmas trimmings. My kids aren't that bothered about Christmassy food. Then just a few extra treats - nicer cheese than usual etc.

We don't have any family in the UK anymore so it's pretty quiet. I quite like it.

For me one of the best bits of Christmas is carols. I like to shut myself away at 3pm Christmas Eve and wallow in Carols from Kings on the radio. It tends to be a bit of a shock to re-emerge into the Real World again after.

Churches will have carol services - look on their websites. Ours serves mulled wine and mince pies afterwards. No pressure to make a donation, although it's always welcome! (Many regulars have standing orders set up, so a lot of people will appear not to be putting money in the basket.) If you are new to the area it might be an idea to investigate your Parish church and maybe find out what goes on there and talk to some people, who will also know what else goes on locally. Just a warning this year: our church has moved the carol service from the obvious Sunday before Christmas to the 11th because of the World Cup! Others may do the same. Maybe a big church or cathedral will stick to 18th and you could get a local one and the big performance.

Thank you! This thread is definitely helping me see the benefits of leaning into a different type of Christmas instead of missing what I usually do. I have checked out the local Parish Church (website), I am interested in their Sunday services, they sound really good. For Christmas they have quite a lot on their calendar, a coffee morning in December with Carol Singers and a Christmas Eve service from 11:15pm with Carol Singers. They have a Christingle Service on the evening on 18th December as well - so they haven't changed the date. It looks like everyone is welcome. I am excited! I would never have thought to check that out - so thank you!

I am healthy eating this year as well, no rich food for me - it's not as enjoyable as it used to be - so that's something! (and I don't drink very often at all now either). Christmas is going to be different, but not in a bad way.