I am skint this year, there will be very little in the way of Christmas...

[SimpleAsABC]

Unless I can get a job / win the lotto / ebay myself :) (or everything else I own, probably more realistic too)

I am skint too. But have already put away quite a bit for Christmas. Do you have a Boots nearby? I got some amazing stuff in there today for 75% off, some Thomas bits for ds and some aquabeads and disney princess for dd. I bought them with my advantage card points so didn't cost a penny. Mine are only 6 and 2 and it will be harder as they get older but charity shops are my saviour. I have a few good as new books put away, as well as some very decent toys.

poundland
start going every week. the stock turnover is really fast so even if it's all shite today, they will have some good stuff in between now and Christmas.

same here.

baby due xmas eve so last thing on my mind is shopping for others.

Thankfully no DCs, had expected to be back to uni so to have ££ but it wasn't to be, very little saved.

However, I shall find away!

Def can try boots & poundland, good ideas :)

Instore and BM have some nice bits too.

you have 2 and a half months yet, surely thats enough time to save some cash?

If you have no dc you are laughing. Pretty sure I'd spend all day either in bed or pissed if I didn't have children. Buy everyone a lottery ticket and have done with.

Same here, mine get mainly second hand toys Primark stuff and things from poundland, they are always thrilled. We do Primark PJs the night before they were £3 a pair last year. We never buy more food than usual or new decorations or anything. Things come home from school anyway. It will be fine

A mumsnetter with no dcs?

It would be if I didn't have bills, rent, car etc to pay Cherry.

Everyone will get something, but it will be small!

Trying not to think of people being disappointed or I told you so's....

if no kids then no problem really. people shouldn't expect gifts anyway, and if they do they ought to understand that you are skint

make some cookies/fudge/peppermint creams.

Oh yes I missed that !

I agree that not having kids makes it easier but being without them has it's own expectations tied to it too.

I.e. I don't have them so what's the problem? Why CAN'T i afford nice things for friends and family?!

charity shops

car boot sale too!

The NCT sales are coming up shortly. My area - Wanstead in London has theirs on the 9th October (as I always help and sell at those events).

You can pick up some really good toys / books and even clothes at these sales.

Check out your nearest branch thru the NCT website.

Set yourself a saving target of £5 per week between now and the beginning of December for pressies. Should have around £85 I think by then if you can manage that & then split what you have equally between however many people you are going to buy for. It might not give you much of a budget per person if there's lots of people but it's a start.

Also agree with the idea of picking something up in poundland every week (I've been doing this all year for my kids & have a HUGE santa sack full already! & I have a fiver each week saved from the end of January (although I don't know how much there is because my maths is shocking & it's in one of those tins you have to undo with a tin opener). Should hopefully mean no struggling when we get to Christmas if my dp is not working because there haven't been the contracts coming in that there usually are so there's no work

FattyArbuckle not everyone on MN has dcs!

It's horrible isn't it? Luckily I was a teacher in a previous life so many re-gifting opportunities even when I was working all week for about £20 more than it cost me to afford a roof over my head / bills / food / transport.

Miserable days

Hope you get some good ideas as all I can give is a bit of sympathy.

Apart from my DC I spend a fiver maximum per person or couple. Work out how many people/couples you need to buy for and multiply that by 5. Divide that by how many weeks it is til beginning of December (or later if you won't find it too stressful waiting closer to Christmas) and you will know how much you need to save per week.

Its so hard not having much for christmas. A nice and cheapo present I have both given and received before in lean times is a self-composed CD. Basically I have hand-picked songs which I think a particular friend or relation might like and burned those onto a CD then personalised the CD cover. If you buy a big CD pack from PC world or Rymans you could get lots of presents done for pennies per head. Perhaps not suitable for your grandparents but certainly possible for younger recepients.