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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask do you put Christmas on a credit card or use a loan?honestly??

291 replies

jalepenopopper · 22/12/2021 22:05

Just that really, having a discussion with my dh after watching a programme where the family take out a loan each Christmas and pay it off all year. He thought it was crazy, I said it's more common than he thinks! I think more people do than they admit. So...do you?

OP posts:
DarlingDarwin · 22/12/2021 23:07

You’ll probably find on mumsnet everyone is pretty smug about not getting into debt at Christmas. Maybe ask the same question on netmums and you’ll get different answers.

LonginesPrime · 22/12/2021 23:07

You'll not get a representative range of opinions on this thread as the title isn't neutral - your inclusion of "honestly?" makes it sound like there's an element of shame to using a credit card or loan to pay for Christmas expenses, as if people who do get into debt would be confessing a terrible secret if they said yes here.

I haven't used credit cards for a few years (expect for the guarantee thing on big purchases), but I used to do it to buy modest presents and food when I needed to so that the DC could have a Christmas, instead of not having a Christmas because I couldn't afford it.

Tangled123 · 22/12/2021 23:07

I don't necessarily use my credit card for Christmas but I do use it occasionally for larger expenses and if my current account is running low. I usually get paid before the payment due date though, so I pay it off before I have to pay interest.

CeeceeBloomingdale · 22/12/2021 23:07

No, I save and buy all year in preparation but don't use credit. I've always been brought up to only spend what I have so cut the cloth accordingly, although I appreciate I'm fortunate enough to be able to have some spare money every month to do what I do.

tinseleverywhere2021 · 22/12/2021 23:08

@DarlingDarwin

You’ll probably find on mumsnet everyone is pretty smug about not getting into debt at Christmas. Maybe ask the same question on netmums and you’ll get different answers.
What are you on about. 😵‍💫
TheCatterall · 22/12/2021 23:09

I won’t get into debt for Christmas. We don’t need to and kids were never bothered if someone years were leaner on the presents.

We place emphasis on experiences and having fun. Indoor picnics, exploring woods/parks, dens and forts and making a home cinema experience, games nights. Star gazing. Crafts/arts. Making Christmas decs.

You don’t need to borrow and your family will be better in the long term if you don’t.

WhoAre · 22/12/2021 23:09

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

JurgensCakeBabyJesus · 22/12/2021 23:09

I do put it on my credit card, but not to borrow, just to keep tabs and have all the spending in one place and pay it off at the end of December, I have more than enough in savings amounts and current account to cover it. I wouldn't ever borrow for something like Christmas. Even when I was on very low income I cut my cloth accordingly and saved through the year even if it was only a little each month

minionsrule · 22/12/2021 23:11

Surely if it can be paid off over 12 months its easier and cheaper to save for 12 months before, in a Xmas club. My sister does it and has loads saved come November.

Cards come with interest rates

EveningOverRooftops · 22/12/2021 23:11

@Wrongkindofovercoat

I usually end up sticking a lot of it on credit cards and store cards.

For those who save up over the year, how much do you put away each month ? How much does Christmas cost you ? so total for all presents for everyone and food etc ? I am thinking of doing this for next year.

Box under the stairs from sept that I start adding the stuff we love at Xmas. Couple of items a week added to food shop. Eg Halloween choc tubs are super cheap so one of those go in in Oct. Wine is always on discount at the start of the school year Blush Bag of sugar for baking, jam for the Yule log, fruit for mincemeat, butter in the freezer etc. by early December ive got most of the festive cupboard food and only need to get fresh stuff. This year I got it a couple of weeks early and it’s frozen. It spreads the cost of food but you have to be organised and keep a list of what you buy so you don’t double up. Also saves having to do that mad big shop week before.

Present wise DC gives me a list in oct half term. They have a budget of around £150 but DC accepts that I will buy second hand items so they can get more of what they would like. This year there’s some secondhand fancy jumpers they’ve been desperate for. Rest is new.

I don’t put money away as such because I don’t have massive debts but on a good year for me, DC and the five non family people I buy gifts for I probably spend £300 on gifts and £100-£150 on food but that feeds just us through to early Jan as I avoid the shops at all costs then.

Figure out who you buy for each year, what you’re willing to spend per person, add on a few hundred for food plus £200 contingency (ovens have a habit of breaking on me and needing a new heating element days before Xmas Angry ) dived by 11 and that’s what you should aim to put away.

waitingpatientlyforspring · 22/12/2021 23:11

Never a loan or credit. In early days I might have gone into over draft but not done that for years.

elizabethdraper · 22/12/2021 23:12

No
I dont have credit cards or any loans

I save for anything I need

Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese · 22/12/2021 23:12

I put all Christmas presents on the credit card. It means our savings don't get touched and we can pay it off as quickly or as slowly as needs be.

I do however use the credit card all year as a everyday card for food shop, fuel etc and it gets cleared monthly (bar December - February or March)

I think everyone does what they need to get stuff done.

SheWolfOFFrancee · 22/12/2021 23:13

No. I’m not being smug about it but after being and escaping a financially abusive relationship I’m really conscious of money and making sure I live within my means.
I’m currently on unpaid Mat leave so just living off DH salary so we’ve adjusted our budget accordingly. Kids have a few lovely gifts each and we’ll still have a wonderful time. Previous years I’ve spent loads on gifts because we had the money and it just felt wasted.

Going to try saving a bit each month next year in a Christmas fund

evilharpy · 22/12/2021 23:13

No we don't, but we have only one child and not huge numbers of other people to buy for, we are lucky not to struggle for money, and there's only three of us to feed.

I know many people who pay for Christmas entirely on credit cards. I remember back in the 80s/early 90s my mum would have taken a credit union loan to pay for it all and paid it off weekly - that would have been at a much lower rate than a (non 0%) credit card though. She also paid into a "Christmas club" at the local supermarket. I was an only child and wanted for nothing but equally didn't get anything very extravagant, and my parents seemed to have vast numbers of people who had to be bought presents - all those boxes of Quality Street added up. It was madness.

pradaville · 22/12/2021 23:13

No I've never had to. I imagine though it must be tempting if u can't afford much and the kids asking for expensive gifts. I always save all year round for bdays and Xmas for both family and our kids.

BrainPotter · 22/12/2021 23:13

Nope no nooooo, Christmas is not about getting into debt. We do minimal gifts, a stocking + gift from us. I also do either gifts or charity donation for close family. We earn well, but I just don’t understand why anyone would get into debt for a Christian holiday when that’s not what it’s about.

Newbabynewhouse · 22/12/2021 23:15

I never have but my family are not materialistic in the slightest and i think that sometimes matters... i can usually get the gifts i need with one pay day and i dont earn alot.. i have only just had my first child though so that will eventually change but won't get into dept ever for xmas

ForestLake · 22/12/2021 23:15

No. I also don't understand this reasoning "we had no money and we needed to buy presents for the kids, so we got into debt".
I grew up in a poor county, and if people didn't have much money, they would just give very cheap or even handmade presents.
You just live within your means.

needmoreshinys · 22/12/2021 23:15

I think part of the problem, is lets say you had some unexpected expenses in Decmber 2019, so you put everything on credit card thinking, its ok I will pay it off in a couple of months.

Then shit hit the fan, you were one of the unlucky ones who had to close down their business and couldn't get any of the schemes that were available, so then your main concern became feeding your family and keeping the roof over your head, but its ok because its only till the summer and then it coming and coming, so come Christmas 2020 you put the presents on the credit card because its not going to last much longer, then a year later, its still coming.

Alright, a bit of an extreme example but it only takes one little thing to get you into that cycle and if you are suddenly not earning enough, you find that you have paid off the credit card in time to use it again in December, so you can never save as well as pay of credit

Newbabynewhouse · 22/12/2021 23:15

Debt

Opalfeet · 22/12/2021 23:17

Agree @phishy it is a bit and then loads of people joining in...no not me!

MichaelAndEagle · 22/12/2021 23:17

I'm fine with the level of debt I get into for Christmas. It gives me pleasure to have a nice Christmas and the children get a few nice presents- not masses. Its all paid off end of Feb at the latest with my disposable income for those months.

Tittyfilarious81 · 22/12/2021 23:18

@wrongkindofovrcoat you absolutely aren't and should not feel like a terrible parent you are giving what you can afford x

notacooldad · 22/12/2021 23:18

No. I've never got into debt fir Christmas. Even when ti.es were tough we just had a scaled back Christmas.
Now we just do it out of December's salary.

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