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 ?

I buy my decorations after Christmas in the sales.
Dont buy outfits
Food probably main expense

This. I haven't bought decorations and lights for over 10 years I use the same ones. I make my own wreath you don't even have to pay to make one. I just go and forage for the things to go on it. If you have bought one before you will all ready have the base for it.
Why do people need a new outfit just for Christmas. I can understand if the kids have grown out of something.
No one needs Christmas jumpers, matching pj's or Christmas eve boxes. Everyone seems to go over the top now which I assume is because of social media.

So up until now you've not had money to spare and you don't know that you can buy cheap decorations in cheap shops.

🎵It's beginning to look a lot like bullshit.🎵

We’ll be spending about £300 this year - £200 on presents for the 2 x DC, and £100 on food, won’t bother with presents for each other or adults in the family. We’re teetotallers, it’ll just be the food - starters - melon, roast cooked from scratch and trifle from M&S. I’m counting on veg being 10p a bag like last year. Might get some schloers etc. Not going to bother with santas grotto, matching pjs, Christmas Eve boxes, Christmas markets etc but we’re taking part in a charity Santa run, and go to the local light switch on where we’ll only buy hot chocolates from Costa. Reuse all decorations that we have from over the years, it’s an artificial tree.

Who goes to expensive shops to buy Christmas decorations. I'm 60 and never have.

but the problem is when you can't afford it.

If you have the funds, you can spend a hell of lot more than £1000. Include Christmas holidays, Panto, Theatre bookings, and you can buy your partner a jewellery gift costing the price of a medium car.

There's no reason or custom stating that you should spend any amount on the Christmas season, you can budget £50 all in if you are tight, or £15,000 + if you include a luxury Christmas holiday in there. It's still Christmas.

It does sound like the OP is spending way more than she can afford and that she should. A lot of her spendings seem completely unnecessary, and she could have the same result for a lot cheaper.

it’s your choice to spend an absolute fortune on people. I’ve done Christmas shopping for two parents, a brother and four nieces and nephews for under £250.

We are spending just over £1000 for us two and three kids. That includes presents and food. We may go slightly over because we always go to a local pottery shop and paint something there for Christmas, plus we need to buy a real tee (so £25 on that). We budget for it and can afford it but Christmas is expensive! Even if done tightly. We could of course do less for Christmas but it wouldn’t be as much fun for us or the kids if we did.

To me this sounds a lot but if you’ve got the money and it’s what you’d like, then go for it.. Everyone has their own way of doing Christmas but I just couldn’t afford all the things you mentioned but also am not too bothered about them. We don’t buy new outfits for Christmas, although my mum will likely buy a top for my DD etc as a present. We have a tree in the loft and decorations we’ve had for ages, most of which have sentimental value. So just pressies to buy in the main. I think if it’s feeling stressful to spend that much, then don’t. If you can comfortably afford it, then enjoy in whatever best works for you.

How do you not know that? If you’ve been “poor” surely you’ve shopped in places like Home Bargains and seen what that have around Christmas?

Most of mine have come from
poundland over the years even the battery lights.

This is the whole answer.

I have got decorations from Liberty previously but I could afford it and didn’t go into debt or take from savings to do that. The decorations are very beautiful and treasured (not something that I would throw away after a few years).
Have you been at Christmas?

We're doing a cheap and tacky christmas this year.

Paper chains, paper stars, those cheap horrible 80s foil garlands, tinsel on the fireplace, fairy lights.

I don't think you need to spend £1000 on decorations, and I think making your own decorations with the kids can be fun and make christmas exciting and memorable. It's what I remember from christmas when I was a kid, I don't remember the tree very much except the incandescent lights which are hard to source these days though I loved them so much, it gave such a nostalgic glow.

We will be getting a cheap christmas tree in the new year for next year instead.

OP at least you know how much it is going to cost - which is more than me!

Are your kids younger / older?? Id definitely get them involved with helping. I think if you apply some energy you can make the house look festive and make the season special without throwing tons of money at it. These are things I do and you can take or leave any of them. At the beginning of December we go to a Christmas tree farm and chop down our tree and have lunch in a pub nearby ( it’s a beautiful village…and by lunch I mean fishfinger sandwich not a huge affair). We have to listen to certain Christmas songs on the way. I get Christmas tree trimmings for free and make some decorations with other greenery ( holly, ivy from my garden / nearby woods ) and add some cheap baubles and ribbons and hang those or place in old vases and jugs. You could find old fallen branches and paint them and put in a vase and hang decorations. I have made a door wreath from scratch but if I don’t have time I have a cheap plastic one that I upgrade with a load of real greenery and ribbons. We also take a trip to buy a fancy decoration each every year and we add them to the mish mash of home made decorations that we’ve gathered over the years. Add some fairy lights and candles and everything starts to look pretty magical. My daughters asked for a ginger bread house to decorate again - last years was from IKEA. Im pretty sure that was an afternoons entertainment. We’re seeing a show but I booked and paid for that 6 months ago so I don’t consider that an added expense. We don’t do Christmas Eve boxes or matching Christmas PJ’s or matching anything really. The food will be good that’s for sure. If I was going to throw money at anything it would be that and some nice things for the kids. You deserve to have a nice time OP and I’m sure you will make it special but you don’t have to spend a ton of money to do that.

I have a large family so birthdays and Christmas were a challenge. Then one year I added up in January what I wanted to spend altogether on both, divided by 12 and put that amount away each month. It was life changing!!! And unless all your family birthdays come in January and February the money you’re putting away for Christmas should help you cover those in the early months even if birthdays come hard and fast at the beginning of the year.

When I buy a tree I always buy a real tree on Xmas Eve - we get a sad Disney-orphan leftover tree at a bargain price, take it home and make a fuss of it.

Oh and to clarify we go to Liberty to buy the one special bauble each and have done that for 10 years.

I wouldn’t do this but that’s definitely a choice. You don’t need crazy expenses to have a nice Christmas.

Spend what you can afford and want to spend, but I wouldn’t go into debt/use savings for Christmas. I understand you want a nice ambience, that doesn’t need to cost lots. Look at home bargains, check out Martin Lewis’ website for his Xmas deals predictor for when decorations, gifts etc. get reduced. Outfits - Primark, Vinted, Asda, lots of nice clothes around, esp for kids who grow quickly. Presents - you can wrap things up individually to make it look more, mix in things you’d buy them anyway (underwear, toiletries, chocolate etc). Spend time having hot chocolate with Xmas movies, living room discos, a walk to look at the neighbourhood lights. It will be special because you’re together x

Wow that actually sounds inexpensive to me. Xmas costs a fortune.

It was a few years ago now but my Christmas budget was £100 and included a real tree, presents for my 2 children and all the food
Obvioulsly food like meat is more expensive but the veg is literally pennies
Dont spend a £1000 from savings that does seem bonkers

OP, if you're funding an excessive Christmas by using savings then you really can't afford it.
You don't NEED to spend over £1000, you are CHOOSING to spend £1000.
There are so many cheaper options out there.

It can be as expensive or budget as you make it. We like to splurge on food but balance it out with most festive clothes from vinted. Ive picked up some books that my son wanted from there too.