How much do you spend at Christmas - even being careful it seems like a horrendous amount?!

[Anitee]

Just present wise I just totted it all up, both from big families and brought each of our siblings families a gift rather than individual presents at around £25 per family X 6 = 150, both sets of parents the same = £50, plus grandparents = £50. Spent £70ish on each of our boys = £140 (£40 of that has been on the bits on a present we've made from scratch as well to try and save money!), stockings £30 each = £60 and I spent £50 on DH. £500 gone and we still have 8 to cook for and feed on christmas day - easily anouther £100+. I thought I was being careful and quite modest in comparison to others I know but even now it seems a huge amount. How has Christmas become so expensive?!

We probably spend around £500 on presents for each other ans family, and £100ish on food and drink. It is a lot, but quite honestly we are generally sensible with money during the year so it's a bit of an excuse to buy nice treats for each other. DPs family go very OTT with presents so we get lots in return too. We could (and would) cut back if needed, but we all love Christmas!

£100 each on children ( grown up ) and spouses, Mil, DH, =£600

Stocking full of useful pretty things for 2 DDs. £30

DGC. 3x£50. £150

Friends and relations say 15 people at £15 . £225

Then we host Christmas for 9 ( ranging from 3 months to 93 years ) probably about £300 on food and drink.

Tree was £60 this year .

So getting on for £1400.

But we are older and have no debt and can afford it and it gives us great joy to treat our family.

aprox £25 per child. we don't have a big xmas meal. probably a roast chicken and veg.

DH and I don't gift each other and nothing for wider family either.

we both work (I only p/t) but DC1 is severely disabled causing a lot of financial hardship so we were forced to scale xmas down massively.

I try and be careful but if I added up the true cost of Christmas I think I'd be shocked.

The little things add up - chocolates for the advent calendar, the Radio Times is the best part of a fiver!

Then the presents, the food, the Santa Train trip, trip to Christmas Market, works Do, secret santa, fuddle.

I save a bit every month so that November/December isn't hit so badly but I'm sure I spend an absolute fortune!

I don't want to know how much we spend for Christmas, even when I try to keep it reasonable. It's true, when you add all the extras: tree, grotto (but little ones don't believe in Santa for long, it would be a shame to miss that small window), Christmas costumes asked by the school, presents for the teachers, cards, it gets a bit much.

I genuinely don't understand why we have to buy presents for all our nieces and nephews - don't get me wrong, I do it - it's fun for the little ones, but the young adults with a good salary have a lot more money than me! If it was up to me, I would only buy presents for my kids and the people we celebrate Christmas with obviously. My kids receive enough from us as it is. I would much rather spent our limited funds on a holiday. I can't say it in RL, but I do resent spending money on other people because I have to.

I know! I have a small family and we only buy for 2 of DH's family but it all adds up! Because he doesn't get gifts from his family I end up going overboard and spending a shit tonne on him because I feel so guilty.

I don't think that's very much. We end up spending thousands and o hate it

Only buy for children, so niece and nephew and our dd. She's one and no idea what day it is so less than £20. Future years will be more expensive. No turkey dinner as I want to spend time with dd. Doing Buffet food which have been making and freezing to spread cost put over lots of shops.

£150 max per child. £75 for siblings and nephews/nieces. £40 for parents. £35 for extra bits of food. It's about £600 which sounds loads but we save £60 a month Jan - Nov. The extra £60 covers December birthdays. Our spends on each other vary depending how much cash we have. In skinter years these budgets were all halved.

Yep , every year im adamant im going to scale it back and then end up with every cupboard loaded with stuff , i do buy bit by bit and make lots of the food from scratch to cut costs though , next year i will spend less i will i will i will

I spend more than I intend on Christmas. We have a large number of elderly waifs and strays with us for Christmas Day and DH and I are the only family members who look after them. I like everyone to have four or five presents under the tree and for the old people it's really special. They won't be with us forever, so if we push the boat out now then so be it.

More than a thousand. I love buying for my kids but can't stand all the extra gifts I have to buy.

£200 on presents for the kids, paid for with Topcashback, surveys and mystery shopping
£50 on DH, ditto
£10 each on parents and in-laws, total £60
£150 on food (enough to cover the two week period), booze and baking ingredients, for which I buy £2 per week of Tesco savings stamps to spread the cost.
I buy a couple of new decorations each year at say £1 each, and probably spend another fiver on wrapping paper and bits and pieces.

So although it seems to add up to a lot (for me) it is spread through the year and I don't have a massive outlay in December.

I don't really celebrate Christmas so I spend less than £100:

Stonking dinner for me and a friend £50 or so for wine and food
Office Secet Santa £5
Ingredients for Christmas cake about £15

Nobody is mentioning the cost of eating out around Christmas? I'm spending another £200 on that.

at some of these amounts!!!

We don't buy for adults in my family and very newly single so no husband to buy for either.

I've spent about £50 on dd which is more than usual and I'll budget about £10 per child in my family.

Drinks and dessert to take over to my Dads on Christmas Day about £15.

I don't buy new decorations so that's it really.

The cost is sickening.

If you really are so worried about the expense of Christmas there are lots of things you can do to cut the costs down, I think it is so sad that so many people get so worried about 'how much they spend' and the material aspects of Christmas.

We don't exchange any presents for over 18s - have a strict £20 rule for under 18s. Getting together for the Christmas meal should involve everyone bringing a contribution.

I don't spend 'silly' amounts on our DS - probably around £100 - yes, we could spend more but I think £100 is perfectly acceptable and DS understands that some of his friends get a lot more spent on them but also most people have a lot less spent on them.

There are lots of carol services, town events etc etc which are free or very cheap to attend.

Every New year Mumsnet is full of threads of people who have got themselves into debt over Christmas - it really is sad .

Artificial tree. No new decs every year unless we have been away somewhere and I have sneakily bought something for DH's stocking! V cute skinny wooden FC last year, went down a storm!

Around £80 on 5yo DS but he also has a December birthday. We got bargains on Amazon on Black Friday.

My niece and nephew about £20 each. DH's niece and 2 godchildren about £15 each. There is a big supermarket near us that has a 3×2 offer on toys every November, so we always go there then.

Other gifts I make: tablecloth and 10 serviettes for DH (as requested!), tree decs for friends (I am pretty good and sell them too). Etc. On adults probably £20/25 max.

DH and I don't buy for each other - oh, except the surprise tree dec and he's getting a can of Guinness in his stocking

Food isn't an awful lot. Turkey is dull and unappetising. We do salmon for DFil, something veggy for DSil, meaty surprise for us and DBil, bunch of roast veg for all. Starter will be squash soup with glazed walnuts and desert will be a light chocolate cake with chocolate topping to look like a xmas pud! Plus 1970s plastic robin stuck in the top

We don't buy lots of alcohol (1 bottle for lunch), or nuts and other nibbles- they just make me fatter! We are in Spain and a lot of 'my' traditional food, and things like crackers, aren't available here.

We also don't do any of the following: Elf o/t Shelf, FC grotto, ice skating, steam train ride (a la Hogwarts Express), C/Eve hamper, Xmas bedding, Xmas pyjamas, fancy-ass Advent calendars.... Really the list is only endless if you let it become so.

My Christmases as a child were incredibly pared back, but still so much fun and I have very fond memories of them.

Christmas to me now is all about putting up the decs, Harry Secombe singing from Wells Cathedral (much-loved CD!), crafting with our son, cracking open the Christmas Tea, watch DS playing with the Knitivity the rest is gravy.

What can you get for £15 for an adult? I found some lovely bits on Etsy this year for women but struggle for non-edible cheaper gifts for men (bar books).

Nobody is mentioning the cost of eating out around Christmas? I'm spending another £200 on that.

but surely you would also eat if it wasn't Christmas.

hollaback photo box stuff, home cider brewing kits, to maxx home stuff, accessories like a nice hot or scarf or small jewellery.

God, I have just started to add it up.I thought we were pretty reasonable.

But I have a godchild- i spent £9 on a toy from tesco.
DH's godchild- stupid money - he gives a cheque for about £200.00
Nieces and nephews x 5 - £100.00 cheque each

The above two things DH did before we met, so I do not feel able to express that I think it is too much

Cousins' children,my side - about £100.00 total (4 children)

On DS - this year about £100 max
DH - £70.00
Presents on me- unknown

Christmas lunch - just us this year, so a plain roast chicken and veg and smoked salmon to start. All from Aldi.

I think we spend crazy money on other people's children to be honest.One year DH bought his god child a kindle AND sent a cheque - and that was when DS was aged 1 and we bought him a little teddy thing. I was a bit cross, but he started the habit of generous gifts when he was unmarried without children and had a huge disposable income. It is a little more difficult now - and those gifts have to be carefully budgeted for.

I am feeling very extravagant reading some of these. Christmas lunch alone is costing us £300 for 8 people. But we do buy loads of booze and I buy lots of table decs and crackers that I'm sure I could get cheaper but I absolutely love the whole process of planning and decorating (I don't cook my dh does that bit).

Presents - £200 on each dc and another £200/300 on our families.

Then all the little extras near the day like flowers or the odd new bauble when I'm out and about so easily a grand, probably more (I don't add it up )

My main focus on Christmas is the kids they got just over 200 each there's three of them then I normally spend 15-20 for all our stocking going to places like BM or homebargins. Presents wise for families we have two nieces so they got 30-40 each my DB who doesn't have kids got 15 spent my other DB and SIL don't want to do adult persons so a token gift is given. My parents I searched for deals my Mam got a red herring bag worth 28pounds for £12.80 in the Black Friday sales and my DF got some red herring shoes from 30 to £21.80. I'm always online looking for the best deals. Me and DH spent 50 on each other we have previously spent less.

Could you limit what you spend on grandparents? Or just buy for your own and your parents in future?

Hmmm not really sure.

Decorations - nothing we have loads and we haven't got a tree this year
Food/ drink - not much, bit of extra booze and things but going to my mums for Christmas Day
Presents - maybe £300

We only had one 2 year old though and he's not really aware of what's going on. I expect we'll step it up next year!

Have not had, he's still here!