My Christmas expenses look to be totalling over £1000

[Xmasdemon]

This includes decor including a tree, lights, garlands, a door wreath and other little pieces; outfits for self and child in family; presents and money gifts. Is this crazy or is this just the price of Xmas ?

Ours comes to £1k too. I’m always shocked how quickly it adds up especially when we’re not especially generous with presents. .
we spend £100 on each child and each other (although that includes things we do need like pants, socks and slippers) and then c£20 per wider family member. Soon adds up!
then £40 turkey from the farm shop.
the trip to see Father Christmas is crazy at nearly £100. And we are going to see the lights at the zoo which is another £100.

Yes it is crazy. Why are you buying lights,
door wreath etc. Don’t you have it already? Why are you spending so much on gifts? You don’t need new outfits either.

Go outside and collect an armful of Holly and foliage? Better than plastic crap.

OP, a friend of mine moved country every couple of years due to her husband’s job. She didn’t want to have to move lots of furniture and bulky “stuff” each time, so she made a felt Christmas tree that she hung on the wall, and made decorations that velcroed on to it so the children could decorate their tree.

It looked fantastic, cost less, took up little space except on the wall, and was easy to neatly store afterwards. It is just an alternative idea for how creativity can change the options and solve the problems that could be tailored to your needs.

Also use Freecycle or whatever other giveaway social media networks are in your area. People often give away lights, garland etc.

I haven’t read the whole thread so sorry if it’s already been suggested, but it’s possible to rent Christmas trees too! Of course, over time, it works out to be more expensive than just buying a good reusable one, but if you have no storage space, renting could be a good option for now!

As well as my usual ‘grown up’ savings, I save £100 per month for Christmas. Every year I have £1200 to spend and I manage to spend it. I am lucky enough to be able to afford to save the extra £100 per month.
if you need the tree etc, can afford the bill, then there’s no harm in it. But I do think at times, Christmas is just about excess. Try to be sensible, question your choices and minimise waste.

I'm spending about £300 total on Christmas. That's gifts for close friends, three local music events, a nice Christmas Eve dinner and lunch on Christmas day. No new decs, no tat, no conspicuous consumption because I can't afford it.

Exactly, thats what I was trying to illicit. If OP is buying new to stay on trend then thats a choice and will result in much higher annual spend.

Giving your children a lovely Christmas need not depend on spending large amounts of savings. Garlands, door wreaths, new outfits for everyone are not really needed. You can go out in outfits you already own - maybe add a seasonal uplift like ear-muffs, inexpensive earrings etc. Great suggestions re buying a real tree nearer Christmas when the price - hopefully not the needles - drop! I have bought some lovely decorations at charity shops. Today I made.a wreath for the door - maybe a fun thing to share with your children? I remember doing that kind of thing with my mum around the kitchen table many years ago. You might like to watch Martin Lewis’s YouTube post on Christmas giving.

This is ludicrous.

So much waste.

Just because you don’t have a loft doesn’t mean you need to throw out a perfectly good plastic tree.

Keep it: under your bed, inside a cupboard/wardrobe, top of the wardrobe or buy a bin shed and keep it outside.

I’m honestly baffled you spend money EVERY year on Christmas trees but are complaining you’re spending too much. Fucking ludicrous.

Charity shops, car boots and marketplace/vinted/eBay.
I don't understand the need for outdoor decs, once you're in the house you don't see them!
I've never had garlands -nowhere to put them, it doesn't make it any less Christmassy

I’d say outfits is a bit ridiculous. Surely you just wear clothes?!

This

a fake tree every year!!!! I live in a 2 bed house with 2 adults, 2 kids and we just shove it under a bed. We have hardly any space but just make it work as I couldn’t afford to buy a new one every year. Unrelated, I must say I can’t wait to move next year and have more space for everything 😃

If you can afford it, it’s not a problem. It’s just you choosing how to spend your money

All people should limit presents to children (nieces and nephews for those who don't have children) and parents. If you're buying presents for people outside of that, then chances are you will be buying a bunch of shite and giving people shite gifts.

The sensible answer in all of this really is you spend what you can afford and what you want to spend. That could be £1,000 or £100 or £5,000. None of the amounts are wrong - you could be broke and spend £200 on Christmas which may seem like a small amount but if you haven't really got it? If you have the money and want to spend it then that's fine too.

I just want to wish you a very happy Christmas. I would also encourage you to have a go at making a wreath. I would never have believed I could do it myself, but it is so much easier than you think. Every year now I get together with my lovely neighbours and we each make a wreath. We forage for greenery, dry orange slices in the oven, tie it all on to the base with wire (though I have been known to cheat and use string if I don't have wire) . I have a couple of sprays of fake berries which computer every year and some pinecones from the park and then tie a big ribbon at the top to hang it from. The hardest bit is making the wreath, but if you're really worried about it, buy the cheapest wreath you can find (aldi/lidl/home bargains etc usually have them for between£5-10), take the decorations off (they're usually on a plastic stick that you can ease it when you work out the right direction). Tie on bunches of any foraged greenery you can overlapping each bunch to hide the stem, and then arrange the decorations back on top and adding any thing else you want. Adding the extra greenery makes it look much more expensive. I then usually lay it flat, put a big candle in the middle and use it as a centrepiece for the table on Christmas Day (though I dont usually light the candle if people are drinking because I'm scared of a fire.)

I can understand why you want to push the boat out after having an extended period of an awful time. But dipping into your precious savings is not a good idea. I would suggest that you work out what your maximum budget is from your income and then work out what is affordable.

You have had loads of advice as to how you can cut costs so I won’t repeat other than to say have a look on local facebook pages and market place and then charity shops as loads of people either give Christmas items (decorations and clothes) away for next to nothing or free. You could end up decorating and having new outfits with a small budget. When you are more on your feet you can add to your Christmas collection.

How will you feel come January when you are really cutting back?

You can still have great Christmas, just look to save where you can!

Is this crazy or is this just the price of Xmas ?

Of course it's not the price of Xmas. You go on to say that you have been through a lot and that you've previously been poor. Did you celebrate Xmas at those times? I'm sure the answer is yes.

You can spend as little or as much as you wish.

Last year I got a new and bigger tree. I thought I had enough stuff but I'd didn't.

Here's my tips for anyone struggling to fill a tree on a budget.

*Christmas crackers to put on the lower branches.
*Use small boxes wrapped in Christmas paper.
*Raid the pot pourri for any fir cones or cinnamon sticks.
*Christmas ribbon. Look for wide, wired ribbon sold by the metre. YouTube has super easy videos for how to use it.
*Put small Christmas cards on it (the little square ones).
*This is obvious but don't decorate the back.
*Try charity shops for a cheap boost to the bauble pile.

If you find it crazy money - what happened to last years lights? Do you really need new outfits ? A door wreath? Who gets presents and why?

I do love a real tree though - the smell and touch - and we can source locally so it’s low footprint. So that’s our decadence

But the decorations - some must be 35 years old - excluding the inherited ones

The budget isn’t unreasonable if you can afford it. It’s horrific if you can’t. That’s for you to decide.

But please don’t buy a cheap fake tree and bin it because you’ve nowhere to store it. That hurts my heart. Get a real one - they’re more environmentally friendly for the first 10 or so years of a plastic one’s life, and you throw yours to landfill.

If I was you and wanted to make Christmas feel super magical for the kids, I would spend money on fairy lights, and create experiences. When my son was little we’d religiously spend Christmas Eve baking and doing Christmas crafts, watching Christmas films and always Carols at Kings. They are baked in traditions. We’d make the Christmas ham together, and bake biscuits or tarts. On Christmas Eve morning he would make breakfast Christmas tree using ready roll puff pastry, Nutella and icing sugar.

Christmas, to me, is about ritual and time together, not matching pyjamas and Christmas Eve boxes. Though we did those too sometimes. But they weren’t what made Christmas and never stuck as canon.

My Christmas budget this year is £1200. It’s not like I scrimp imo. But the bits that make it magic aren’t the bits that cost much money.

I’m sorry you’ve had such a rough time on here OP. Sometimes we need the magic and sparkle. A few tips to hopefully bring costs down:

Charity shops for decs and tinsel, obviously won’t be all matchy matchy but I’ve picked up stuff for a steal. If there are then any really nice new baubles you could then splash out and buy them. They even have Christmas trees if you’ve got a bigger furniture type charity shop near you.

Is there anywhere you can go to grab some greenery? Ivy in particular is really effective and tends to grow wild in lots of places, you could get a few long bits and wind round for a garland with some fairy lights.

Also if making your own wreath - consider going half way and grabbing one from Lidl or Aldi (usually about £10) and just adding a few extra bits to jazz it up?

I hope you have a very happy Christmas season!