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 ?

You've made a good case.

GehenSieweiter Just a family tradition really .The lovely garden centre nearby has some pretty ones .DD remembers from a little tot, going there and choosing some . Just buy one or two. and we use some of the old ones as well on relay! Kept our tree and store it in a box in DDs room(have loft but full up!)going to festive lunch with my friends, and wearing a full CS outfit! Apart from Boots !

Do you need to buy new lights and garlands every year?

And personally, we’ve never done special outfits for Christmas, except maybe the odd 🎄jumper, and never special Christmas pyjamas.

I’ve been a bit bemused lately to see so many posts where people ask how much everyone else is spending on their dcs - I find some of the sums quoted per child pretty eye watering. Surely how much you spend will depend on a)what you can afford, and b) what the child wants, which may well not be £££.

We were always (thankfully) comfortably off when dds were small, but there were never ‘piles of presents’ from us, just usually one ‘big’ thing, and relatively little things in stockings. They did have (fairly inexpensive) presents from other family too, though.

I don't know the normal amount to spend on Xmas, because I've always been poor

And you will remain poor if you keep spending on crap.

Will all of this also end up in the bin? Are you likely to need to move again or have nowhere to store this year’s Christmas tree and decorations?

I get that you want to have a lovely Christmas but it’s not about money and debt, not about a shiny new outfit and wreaths from b and m.

Wear your favourite outfit rather than buying new, make a wreath with the dc, go and look at the lights!

It's expensive if you start from scratch with everything. I would maybe concentrate on some things this year and build on. If you can, try to gather some greenery in the woods or look if a neighbour has a holly bush and ask if you can cut some branches.

We always have a real tree and a real advent wreath but moved to some non-real decorations for the door wreath and I don't do garlands anymore. We collected so many bits over the years but if I would have to put a price on all these, I would think they are around £500 at least.

Clothing - normally there is plenty second hand coming up and Black Friday has discounts as well.
I often bought a dress for DD slightly bigger and one which didn't scream Christmas so she could wear it again.

I’d be thrilled if I managed to spend just £1000 for Christmas!

I think it’s perfectly reasonable.

As for the comments, Christmas is only one day. Is it? I make December an experience and it’s one of the most magical times of year for the kids - All my childhood memories are Christmas and yeah, we didn’t have much money, but that doesn’t mean I have to do Christmas on the cheap now because that’s how it was in my day.

If you can afford it, do it. If it’s tight, but it’s important to you, then still do it.

I buy new outfits for Christmas, not quite sure why there is rage from Mumsnet on that one. OP, just do Christmas how YOU want to do Christmas and how it will bring the most joy to you and your family 🎄

Having read all your posts I can understand why you want to make it special. You can make lots of savings though.

Look ok Facebook market place for a tree, loads available and then you can sell on in the new year rather than chucking it. Same for decoration.

You can make your own wreath, loads of videos on you tube. Just go for a walk with a big bag and some sharp scissors or secateurs.

Get your kids making decorations, maybe not the most stylish but they mean so much. Still have all of mine in box.

Once you can afford it I do not see an issue. Enjoy your home with your lovely Xmas decorations. Have a good Xmas.

Spending money won't make you feel less sad about estranged family, etc. I mean, cashmere is nicer than acrylic, but it doesn't lead to proper happiness.

If you were spending from income or from short term savings then Id say that was normal, typical thing to do. But you're spending more than that.

So, personally Id be redoing the budget to bring it in lower. Not to make it miserable or bleak, but remove the noone-cares elements, find cheaper options, etc.

Christmas is about the experience, not the outfits etc. Maybe you could wear something you already have and go to a Christmas market/winter wonderland/ice skating type thing instead? Depending on how many people you’re buying for I think it sounds a bit expensive, but if you buy nice quality decorations that you will have the desire and room to keep then it will save you money in the long run. I was spending £60+ on a real tree every year but got a nice one last year which will save me a lot over the 5+ years I plan to keep it. There are a lot of trees on fb marketplace at the moment

A charity shop would have been a better option.

I think this about me throwing out artificial trees every year is getting exaggerated. I have done this a few times. I have kept trees in storage for more than one year before and I have also bought real firs some years. Additionally I have moved more than I can straight off just write down without thinking right into it, and because of this I have also had to dump items of actual furniture because it was cheaper than removal costs to new homes. Besides I have zero storage space. I will however be hanging on to my next tree.

Watch this OP. It is the answer to all your questions.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0077x05

Read OP's posts. She says she has done this several times.

Special is not about 'stuff'! Special is about being surrounded by love - if your children know that you love them and you do little special things (hot chocolate with marshmallows or whipped cream for example) they won't be bothered if you only have a tree and not wreaths and garlands. We've never had wreaths or garlands, our tree is 20+ years old and if I want anything new for it I tend to buy in the sales as the tree is only visible from 20th December to 2nd January- it's bright and colourful as I don't feel the need to have perfect coordinating decorations. We don't have Christmas outfits we just wear our favourite clothes and the emphasis is on having a nice meal, thoughtful presents (even if it's only one but is something really wanted) and spending time with those we love most.

My presents for my two grandchildren, their parents and my mother come to £1000. We are not wealthy but somehow what we could get for a lot less a few years ago has crept up alarmingly. Other presents and hosting Christmas day with all the trimmin
gs will bump this up another £600. Add on Christmas meals out 2 of us twice and it looking more than I thought ..wish I hadn't started adding it up now. 🤔🎁🤣 But as someone said up thread, this is how we've chosen to do Christmas. When can decide to do it another way if we choose, the people we do it for Wil miss it but will understand when we start cutting back ...maybe next year ...but this is what we said last year for this year 🤣😭 I can see why some people choose a lovely warm holiday in the sun, for not much more, maybe for a while week or more instead of a mad spending fest leading up to one day here in the freezing cold. 😃

But you can afford all of that. Op has something important to pay for in January. She is robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Op charity shops are brilliant for Christmas decorations/ fake trees/ garlands/ wreath bases. You can huge amounts of 'filler ' decorations for your tree for very little

Try freecycle for a tree and decorations.

tree decorations start from 39p (in Home Bargains)

wow, that's great I didn't know that

If you’ve got the money, you want to spend it this way and it gives you joy then crack on. None of this is necessary though.

I hope you also get pleasure from
your bragging thread.

It sounds reasonable to me for the things you’ve listed. However, some of it can be reused for future years. Christmas is expensive unfortunately. Just the food and drink can total several hundred, if you go the traditional route. We do cut back on certain things. Presents for each other (DH and I) are always things that we would be buying anyway. A foundation I always use or a bottle of olive oil are things I’ve asked for in the past.

When DH and I first moved in together 9 years ago, we went to IKEA and bought two boxes of red and gold baubles in two sizes, then two of red and gold decorations like bells, hearts, presents for the tree.

We bought a tree with lights attached online and in total itnwas about £50. They're still going strong. I imagine it's a bit more money now.

We buy or make or are given one or two decorations a year and adding to the tree is one of our traditions.

IKEA deliver these days as well, and do wreaths and other decorations.

Make decorations with the kids for the tree. My mum still has all the ones I made over forty years ago. Therefore more special than some expensive shite.

Our tree will be seeing its 30th Christmas this year.