Festive chocolate in first week of September - grim.

[OtraCosaMariposa]

My local Tesco on Friday started filling its shelves with selection boxes and chocolate reindeer.

A full 15 weeks until Christmas.

Cards on the table - I loathe all the tat around Christmas, It depresses me that people get caught up with the buy buy buy mentality pushed on them by the retailers. It depresses me that every time I walk into a shop for the next 4 months I am confronted by the tat. It's impossible to avoid it and I hate it.

I love Christmas. I love seeing Christmas stuff. Christmas is my happy place. My DM brought me round some Christmas decorations that she found in country baskets the other day. All the father Christmas visits etc were booked in August.

But we are a church family, DM is a vicar and so we have to start planning Christmas early. I like family Christmas to be sorted and done by October/November and then I don't have to be rushing about in December and I can donate time and energy to others who might need it during Advent.

I find it really handy myself. I got Christmas chocolate bags when on offer in tesco the other week. They had good dates on and are now put away for friends & family for Xmas. I've been struggling financially this year so having done lots of my Xmas shopping already (I've picked bits up through the year) will really help me come December

I don’t like bananas, so when I go to the supermarket I walk straight past the banana section (often half of an isle, all year round). Could people who don’t like Christmas stuff in September possibly do the same? Each to their own!

@Purplestorm83 if you ever wish to start a campaign so that bananas are only in stores from September to December I will help out.

Fucking bananas, I’d take Santa all year round.

The chocolates I can cope with given the sell by dates, but my Sainsbury's is now full of mince pies, panettone etc! Madness

Although I'd like to see more Halloween stuff in September

No, Halloween is the last day of October. You don't need 8 weeks to prepare for that either surely.

I also don't buy the "oh people need to spread their shopping over the year" argument. I totally get that people feel they need to save over the year to afford the Christmas they want. My brother is in a seasonal occupation and earns the bulk of his money between June and September, so buys Christmas presents through the summer. But why would you need to start stockpiling food so early? Just put the money aside, or get one of those cards all the supermarkets do where you stick a fiver on a week or whatever. Then spend it in December.

I'm not religious in the slightest but for most people Christmas has switched from being a quiet time spent with family and friends to being a three month long consumer binge-fest where all the ideas about reducing plastic, being more mindful about consumption, recycling and just generally buying less "stuff" go out the window because, you know, Christmas.

And when it starts in August and extends to January as the shops try to clear out all the rubbish they haven't managed to sell, it's almost half a year.

I love seeing it all it makes me happy inside I don't know why, I have no problem with Christmas stuff out at all it gives me something to look forward to each time I see it.

You don't need 8 weeks to prepare for that either surely

I buy permanent home decor when needed in the run up to Halloween

And also I have started my Christmas shopping now because I don't have the money to be able to go out one time in December and do it.
I have to start now I'll probably get my turkey soon as they go into stores and shove it in the freezer, last Christmas my electric went on Christmas Day and I had to borrow a tenner to stick it back on again. This year I'm in a much better position however it still is tight. I have no savings no credit cards etc I just have to try and budget and stick to it.

@OtraCosaMariposa Lol I couldn't stick a fiver on a card a week because I'd probably end up using it when there's no food left in the house and need a dinner, or something else. I also can't set money aside as again something would probably come out. I live penny to penny everything has to be accounted for.
Last year I saved £100 for something and two weeks before it came to using what I'd saved it for, my children's school shoes were taken at play group, my freezer broke and I ended up in a minus situation than what I'd started.

But @anitagreen if things are that tight the money is better spent on shoes than a box of chocolates anyway!

As I get older and more bitter I feel like Christmas is less special than it once was. Buying gifts for the sake of it, spending money for the sake of it, overindulging for the sake of it and time goes so fast; it only feels like 5 minutes since the last fattening spend-fest... Eventually they'll sell off all the Christmas shit in January and put new out in February. It's about time we scaled it back imo.

Ps, I'm not a massive grinch, I love Christmas, but the sentimentality of spending time together as a family and doing nice things.

I'm with you Op, it's a little too excessive. Middle of November at the earliest for me to start thinking about Christmas. It gets boring quickly otherwise.

"They start selling stuff now in the hope that people will eat them and have to replace them, and a lot of people will."

That's after you've finished the Halloween sweets.

"Yesterday, I saw a family who had one of all 4 of the big tubs of Quality Street, Roses, Heros and Celebrations. They're not even that nice any more."

People give them into schools and as a combined family gift. They may have elderly relatives who are in care homes etc and when i worked in a care home we always welcomed a tub of sweets on the go.

I think it's a good thing to move towards gifts that you can eat/drink.

You see people buying them on the offer and putting them in a food bank.

We don't buy Adult presents, but when it comes to foid, it's annoying that those that don't host, criticise those that have to buy food for lots of people.

We do Christmas themed days out instead of gifts and none of us want to be shopping in December.

I tend to start buying things for Christmas about end of September onwards .Usually some food (Just got tin of Shortbread) from M and S! on offer for £5.00.This spreads the cost of food /drink over a weekly basis and makes it more manageable!

I bought a 2 kilo tin of quality street in August and have put it away for Christmas. I don't normally buy Christmas treats that early but I haven't seen a 2 kilo tin in years, it reminds me of my childhood where my (older adult) brother would always buy a massive tin for us at Christmas. It was in Costco so got it when it was there.

Its a fairly privileged position to not have to spread the cost.

And it’s all very well saying “oh go without if it’s so tight” - people, especially with children, want them to have the same festive experience as their peers, rather than low income marking them out as different again. If that means people buying months in advance, then I’m glad they’ve got that opportunity. It certainly doesn’t harm me!

just think of a no deal Brexit...

how will we get our Christmas tat if we don't buy it now?

Costco have glittery light up reindeer next to giant animatronic witches at the moment. It's very "festive".

I bought a couple of their giant tins of ginger thins and a few of their other tins to hide away for December. They will get eaten at some point, they still come in proper tins and our local community charity shop makes hampers for the homeless/people on low incomes etc every year and they're handy to give to that.

Same old miserable posts like this appear every year, it's quite arrogant to think that everyone should think like they do about Christmas e.g. It's too early, it gets boring, don't buy chocolates, don't stockpile food etc etc. Think it's too early? Don't buy stuff, quite simple. Other people will be buying.

Personally I don't see the problem. Not everyone can afford to wait until December to buy their Christmas things.

If it's easier for people to buy in advance then what's the problem? Consumerism keeps people in jobs and keeps families and children housed and fed.

My children both have shoes thank you. But if I have an extra fiver or I see a toy that's on offer then I'm going to buy that there and then. I would also end up spending savings or vouchers on necessities. It works for us and clearly for lots of others.

I’m usually with you OP - I hate that Christmas has become a commercial “buy buy buy” holiday.

But this year, I’m heavily pregnant....and seeing the tubs/pouches of Quality Street in my local Tesco yesterday really made me feel lots better in my fat, miserable state

Yas to Christmas is all I’m going to say!!

The Christmas films start on True Movies this month. Hooray!

The only thing better than More Christmas would be year-round original creme eggs.