Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3

Original poster

AIBU to think 40 quid is too much to spend on a Christmas tree

55 replies

FredFredGeorge · 11/12/2011 19:18

DP was out so me and DD (6mo) went out to buy a Christmas tree today, but I came home empty handed when I discovered anything bigger than 3ft tall was 40quid or more, even for the no drop ones.

Surely this is way too much to spend on a bit of tree that'll be dead in 3 weeks?

OP posts:

acsec · 11/12/2011 20:02

My friend's DH took the 2 DCs out to get a tree and came home with an 8ft tree. My friend asked the DCs how much tree was "£110" came the reply, hahaha thought my friend, how much really? "Er £110" WTF!!! She was

MaryPoppinsMagic · 11/12/2011 20:02

i just brought a 6ft fake one from tesco for £7. made it look all lovely and glittery with decorations.

I don't get all this fresh tree stuff

openerofjars · 11/12/2011 20:07

We just paid £36 at a local garden centre, not sure how tall it was. They had three sizes and therefore prices of tree: way shorter than me = £28, a bit taller than me = £36, slightly taller than that but not by much = £47 bloody quid!

I'm sure we only paid £30 last year and £25 the year before that. We should definitely leave it propped up in the yard until April this year, just to get our money's worth for the fourth year running .

CroissantNeuf · 11/12/2011 20:09

I am at the prices of some of these trees.

Ours is a non-needle drop, about 5ft tall (and almost as wide -DP and the DC liked its symmetry ) in a block of wood and it cost £23 from a local Xmas Tree Farm.

susiedaisy · 11/12/2011 20:12

6 foot spruce Xmas tree that doesn't drop pines costs around £45-£50 in my area.

soonbeforty · 11/12/2011 20:15

I am so glad other people think £40 is expensive. Went out yesterday and couldn't believe it when DH said take £40 (he normally buys the tree). No way I was paying that much. Got a nice little one for £24 that is perfectly fine. Only 4ft but I can't pay £40, I just can't!

MogTheForgetfulCat · 11/12/2011 20:17

Blimey, ours was a tenner from the local fruit and veg shop. I would estimate that it is about 4'6". And I live in a veh posh town where everything is usually more expensive than it would be elsewhere . The wreath for the door was £7.50, mind, so I expect the tree may not make it to Christmas Day without keeling over, or dying. Seems pretty green and healthy for now, though.

HairyBeaver · 11/12/2011 20:21

I brought my 6ft fake tree for £15 from wilkos 5 years ago and it's still going strong

cherrysodalover · 11/12/2011 20:24

13 quid for a four footer in the states at equivalent of b and q - the 6 footers are 25 quid so cheaper here!Why is the UK so ruddy expensive for everything?I dread coming home for a visit.....it is such an overpriced country.

TalkinPeace2 · 11/12/2011 20:29

We bought a 6 foot Nordman for £35

last years one had its branches cut off in January to be used as mulch under the Strawberries and blueberries
the trunk is seasoned and will go in the woodburner on the solstice

as we have done for the last 15 years

marriedandwreathedinholly · 11/12/2011 20:38

We are in London and my "tree man" will deliver a 6' ish tree for the main living area, and two 4-5'ish ones - one for the hall and one for the drawing room, a wreath for the door and holly and other green foliage for the bannisters and fireplacdes for £225 this year. They come all ready on bases and he brings them in and sets them up and dresses the staircases and fireplaces. After Christmas our LA collects it all on a special tree collection day. Coming on Friday and we will sort out the decs over the weekend.

Could do it cheaper if I drove up to the the new Covent Garden (have friends that do) but don't have the extra two - three hours to muck about with it.

TalkinPeace2 · 11/12/2011 20:41

I get my holly, ivy and other foliage from the garden and build the wreath with the kids

why 3 trees?

my cousins have an 18 foot tree - but they cut it on their own land ...

Northernlurker · 11/12/2011 20:42

Ours was £35 from the farm shop and that's in a pot with roots.

pigsinmud · 11/12/2011 20:45

Go fake. We went fake 13 years ago. Looks pretty darn realistic. No mess etc..

sitandnatter · 11/12/2011 20:46

I just don't see the point in spending that on a tree unless you have money to spare, that could be a WII game. We have our own traditions and decorations which don't involve the obligatory tree, can't say I've ever missed it to be honest.

Hulababy · 11/12/2011 20:47

Not got mine yet. Need to get it this week or next weekend. I do have to have a real one though, fake just isn't the same for me. Think last year's was about £30-35 for a decent sized one. Not looked ye, so a bit scared for this year now - eek!

5Foot5 · 11/12/2011 20:49

Bought a Nordman yesterday, about 6 foot. It was £45, which I think is about what we paid last year too.

Sorry but the fake trees just aren't in the same league IMO. They don't smell as nice for a start! Maybe my opinion is coloured by the fact that when I was a kid my Mum wouldn't have a real tree because they "made too much mess" but I always hankered for one. Ever since I have been an adult in my own place I have always tried to get the real thing.

Beware of the wonky trees though. A few years ago my BIL looking for a bargain bought one for about £15 and it really was a sight. My sister banished it to the conservatory and bought another one, so he certainly didn't save anything!

As for being eco-friendly, there is a clever scheme where we live. A band of volunteers collects the trees after Christmas and then shreds and composts them. You make a small donation for the service and all the money goes to the local hospice. They raised nearly £60K last year. Its a win-win really as you get you tree removed for a very small cost, the tree is not wasted and the hospice benefits enormously.

BizzeeBee · 11/12/2011 20:50

Bought ours at the local garden centre and it was 30 euros for a 6ft-ish tree. It is so perfect, symmetrical and nicely shaped I keep on thinking it is artificial! Disappointment is it doesn't smell. Sounds like we got a bargin in south of France seeing what someone said above about Paris prices.

marriedandwreathedinholly · 11/12/2011 20:50

Three because I like one in the main bay window at the front, one in the room where we spend most of our time at the back, and one in the hall because there's a space for one and it looks nice. I also have my grandma's fairy which must be 100 years old, DH's grandma's fairy which is about 75 years old and a very beautiful star that my mum bought for DS who was born on Xmas day and they all need top of the tree homes!

TalkinPeace2 · 11/12/2011 20:51

fairy nuff

AnotherMincepie · 11/12/2011 20:54

It does sound expensive. Mind you so does everything else these days!

HopeForTheBest · 11/12/2011 21:19

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ on request of its author.

pithtaker · 11/12/2011 21:28

Agh, we bought one from homebase ( using nectar points) for £45, thought it was a bargain but now i keep seeing them cheaper everywhere I go.

I'm trying very hard not to get worked up about it.

AmanitaMuscaria · 11/12/2011 21:30

£35 for a nordmann tree, 4 ft, grown in a pot. It needed re-potting immediately though, which was a right faff. I buy a potted one every 3-4 years or so, after which they start looking a bit desperate and we plant them out in the garden. I wouldn't feel quite right with a dead cut one or a fake one, personally, but whatever floats your boat. They do seem to be getting more expensive year on year.

Original poster

FredFredGeorge · 11/12/2011 21:40

So we are in London, so I appreciate there's quite a bit of transport costs compared to a tree that comes straight from the farm - although looking it seems well over 50% of the UK trees come from Europe anyway. So I should probably not get one as the transport costs will make them not very enviromentally friendly at all (growing trees is otherwise quite an eco-friendly crop, lots of CO2 stored in the trees and it uses crap farmland and doesn't need much pesticide or fertilizer).

I was mentally expecting 20quid for a small tree that could sit on the table, I'm not too keen on a fake one normally, but it seems like a good idea and DP has just told me of her childhood memories of putting together the fake tree every Christmas. So I can just get a cheap plastic one and tell DP I'm just letting DD have the same enjoyable memories that she had growing up.

Glad to hear I'm no BU, and glad that we've not had a "Tree Man" knocking ont the door with 225quids worth of tree on offer. Also glad to hear the german farmers aren't all 9ft too.

OP posts:

Flip

1 2 3