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 ?

Our local village players is a tenner a ticket, some are more. But honestly, if it was £100 for a family trip and I was worried about money, we'd not go. We'd do something cheaper or free instead. Because it's not about money spent.

It’s a load of bollocks, that’s what it is 🤣 Why are you letting yourself be influenced by the shops?

Organise yourself better & you can halve that, at least! Christmas trees were £28 in one supermarket last year by mid December and one year Waitrose were actually giving them away. You can get crackers in the sale for a couple of quid ready for the following year & fake wreaths, decorations, etc. will last you years & years. I feel sorry for you, for being slave to the system. Don’t fall for the hype, OP, you can spend about 1/4 of that, still have a good time & have something to show at the end.

Learn to spend your money wisely!

I don't think I go overboard compared to some people, aim to spend £100 max on each child (x3) plus stocking and advent calendar (up to £50 each)
And yet... total Xmas budget is £1000 but that includes real tree, couple of new light sets/whatevers needed, Xmas food, one Xmas outing to light trail, presents for family (don't go overboard)

That's relatively good value imo. I often spend more than £1000 on my wife. Not sure why...😆

🤣

seriously?

I don’t buy any decor at Christmas. £200 for the kids each (2) who are 18 and 13, plus £100 for my husband. Xmas dinner £40 plus £50 for gifts outside the family.

If I want to by something special/expensive then it’s for a big birthday. 5/10/16 etc.

no, it’s not just the cost of Xmas lol

Yeah, I guess there's always birthdays

I agree. My favourite decorations are the ones my DC have made over the years. I've got a bell made from egg carton and covered in foil, a Rudolph made from lollypop sticks and a straw star my 3 DC made. They are my most precious decorations the ones I'd cry if they got broken. I pick greenery from my garden for my wreath and I spray a few branches to make a display with Holly and Ivy too. I don't buy everyone new outfits. We wear Xmas jumpers we had last year. I buy nice food and wine and I spend £150 on each DC plus a £50 stocking. I do a few activities like ice skating and baking Xmas cookies and decorating but they are not overly expensive. I could easily afford to spend more but I don't see the point.

Go to home bargins, they do some great christmas bits, including trees, garlands and decorations for reasonable prices. I started my christmas decoration shopping years ago with basic stuff, and built on it every year adding 1 or 2 sentimental or special tree ornament. My tree is ull of memories now, from places we've travelled etc...
The kids love our mismatched tree! Cut back somewhere, or Jan and your savings goal os going to suffer!

i personally think for all in new everything that isnt bad.
this year ive spent roughly:
1200 on presents for my 2 DC
150 on DP
and about another 50 on extra decorations to add to last years
plus 150 on food

I typically spend about £1200 a year on the whole christmas period.

Food & drinks £150-200
Family presents £700
Wider family and friends presents £150
Pre christmas trip to either the theatre/London to see lights/concert £150

Ive done it a LOT cheaper but I put money aside each month in a christmas saver and I can afford that, but yes the costs can easily spiral especially if you are hosting

I spend about the same maybe slightly less with a partner, 4 kids, friends and family gifts, Christmas jumpers, pjs and food.

Well if the comments on this post are to believed no one seems to go over the top and most manage by spending next to nothing. Amazing 🤣

I think most people don’t buy more than 1 decoration a year( to add to what they already have) …all that bollocks about buying new every year is MN shite

Have still got the gorgeous decs i bought when pregnant with DC 24 years ago

Could make some decorations with the kids, they would love that. It would make the decor personal, add ambience and create memories (some stuff for a memory box)

Good grief, that’s insane. What I could do with £1000. Live tree £30, decs from last year, £30 spend on close family, meal can be really cheap. Don’t know how many, but total food for Christmas Day about £25 each tops.

Ok so having added up my costs I can see that it is quite easy to spend over £1000 if including Christmas events and activities. I think basing £1000 on decor and presents alone seemed a lot but if you include all elements then actually £1000 doesn't seem so crazy after all!

I agree with posters that events have become more expensive. We always see the local am dram panto production and as a family of 4 that is £68. If we went to a professional one it would be nearly £200.
Maybe some places do still £10 tickets but I don't see things like that where I live even with small group productions, as the cost of everything has gone up so much.

Exactly this! Haven’t bought any decorationsfor years and it’s a roast at the end of the day.

Its up to you and your budget

I could see how you could spend that much if you starting from scratch. But I think Christmas is one of those times you can go crazy or do it on the cheap quite successfully.

Very few people are starting from scratch, most people reuse things surely?
Other then presents and food for this year I've bought 2 tree decs, some twinkly lights, a pair of pjs and a festive cardie.😀

Can you buy from charity shops? They are drowning in Christmas decorations and you can get some amazing stuff for a few pounds. I’ve never looked on Vinted for Xmas decor but you can probably find all that stuff from Next on there too.

And you can always buy one new thing that you love and can’t get elsewhere each year.

Don’t do it then! Good grief.

I spend about £200 on presents for my DD, £150 on the Xmas shop, £350 on presents for other family, no new decorations, tree or outfits as I have them from previous years. We do go to the pantomime and the Xmas trail lights, so another £140 approx. All in I guess that is about £840. Am quite shocked seeing it all written out like that. It seems like a lot!

Obviously the tree (unless it's real), lights, garlands, door wreath, decorations etc are one off purchases so will be used every year. I understand buying a child a Christmas outfit but do you really need more clothes? I bought Christmas themed clothing for myself several years ago and wear them every year now. When dd's were younger I never bought new Christmas outfit for myself.
Write a list of who you are buying gifts for and plan your menu so you don't overspend. Don't throw food away and if you have guests after Christmas don't concern yourself with what they will think when you put out the left over turkey and Christmas pudding. They will enjoy the food no matter what.
Merry Christmas