Why do you spend what you do at Christmas and is the downturn affecting what you're planning to spend on Christmas?

[JustineMumsnet]

Hello all, I'm going on Radio 4's You and Yours this am to discuss Christmas spending. Would be great to hear your thoughts on what you are planning to spend this Christmas, how you got to that decision and whether you feel it's too much/ about right/too little. And also whether and how the recession is making a difference to your Christmas plans and expectations? Thanks in advance.

oh dear agreed, greed is not on the agenda very unseasonal

I have been saving my John Lewis reward vouchers so have a fairly large stash of them in order to buy a few goodies. We haven't had to change our habits too much but are paying more attention to what is really necessary and what is just frivolous and can wait. Most money goes on DS, but all presents are carefully considered and I try to make sensible choices. DH and I do buy for each other but I have been suggesting getting something for the house instead of individual presents to each other...we'll see how that works out .

Hi Justine - good luck. Well with the fuel tax threatening to go up we are feeling pretty skint. Dh drives 30 miles to work and back and gets no petrol allowance so we are spending around £40 a week at the moment on fuel. Our belts are quite tight.

I work as a copywriter now but work has slowed right down because internet businesses are also suffering. One gift site I do work for rely on Amazon and Ebay only now. So for me, finding work is a struggle. Therefore this Christmas I am shopping on Ebay for presents.

I have already bought ds some second-hand Lego Technic which I hope is ok and dd is getting a lava lamp (ebay) and a chunky knit cardigan (ebay). I used a Groupon voucher to get dh a wine aerator gadget, it should have been around £30 but I'm getting it for £10.

So it's very much a second-hand Christmas. Luckily the kids don't mind too much. dd said she would like an iPod but she knew we couldn't afford one so it didn't matter. She's right, we can't. I'll also get them a Nintendo game each though, from Ebay.

I've saved up Sainsbury's nectar points all year and now have around £50 on my card, that will be used for gifts for the family. I've told my family that I can't buy individual gifts now so they will get one gift for the whole family, like chocolates and sweets.

The recession has definitely affected what we spend. Last Christmas we were able to spend a lot more as dh had a works van and I got a Christmas bonus. But the van has been taken away and overtime at his firm has been cut, so we notice now that every month we get close to our overdraft. So I've been buying in advance so that it doesn't all come out of our account at once. I'm also selling stuff on Ebay to raise money. In fact dd is selling some of her winter clothes from last year so she has some spending money to get her dad and brother a present

We regret not being able to spend more. I'd love to give the kids what they really want and I feel bad that they are getting second-hand gifts. But luckily they are brilliant kids and they don't seem to mind (at least they say they don't!). We'll still have a great Christmas - we'll make chocolates and sweets and wrap them in gift boxes for them to give to friends and family, so traditional stuff like that will ensure that the magic of Christmas is still there and it's nice in a way not to be so caught up in the material aspect of Christmas.

In this house, it's less that we're struggling financially (at the moment, who knows what is round the corner). It's more that we're heartily sick of the orgy of consumerism and exchange of crap unwanted gifts. Our flat is small- we genuinely don't want any more stuff. DD(3)'s favourite toys are (cliche alert) cardboard boxes and off cuts of fabric anyway.

Explaining this to rellies and friends however, falls in deaf ears. My mother is constantly bleating about what we want for Xmas and totally refuses to accept the answer "nothing thankyou, please save your cash". BIL was also v offended by our suggestion of a gift amnesty -
so let the exchange of crap gifts which go straight to the charity shop/ land fill commence

Dh is a spreadsheet nerd so all budgets are planned including how much we spend on presents - it changes every year. Normally dh and I only spend £10 on each other but we have had a deliberately lean year to offset another financial risk which has now past (nothing to do with recession) and feel we are in need of some luxuries - so we are spending £200 on each other and £200 on the 2 dcs. We also have a Christmas food budget.

I've been squirrelling away bargains & special offers I've spotted for a while to cope - to spread the cost over more months and pay less overall. I am definately feeling the pinch financially, (from rising living costs, childcare and pay rises below inflation for a few years) and also running out of hiding space for pressies, biscuits, etc.
I'm still a bit nervous because there's the tree, food, more pressies to get. Also the house insurance will come out in December and I just got a massive water bill (must be from a dripping tap!?!) - so I hope that my dreams of clearing my overdraft don't fade like a distant shore as I drown in debt!

I'll spend about £20 each on the girls (2 and 9mo). They'll get masses of presents from family. I'm making presents for everyone else- raspberry vodka, crabapple jelly, Christmas truffles, etc. Spose I'd better get DH something too at some point

I've also got nearly £100 of Nectar points on my card so will have a lovely free shop the week before Christmas!

Justine sorry but it's AFFECTING not EFFECTING.

This is our last Christmas on our own, baby is due in March :) We will try to make it special, but won't be blowing our budget. We will not travel to see the family, but have invited my sister and her fiance over. We will do small gifts this year.
I don't think it will be much different to last year TBH. We didn't spend too much last year either. I'm thinking £200 for the whole Christmas, including presents.

We will be (hopefully) having a mostly homemade Christmas. Usually I go overboard with decorations, special "luxury" foods and gifts, but this year we are definitely tightening our belts. I made my own mincemeat at the weekend! Am planning to make decorations out of holly that grows in the local wood, and fragrance the house using slow cooking cinnamon and mulled wine.

We don't have a budget, but less is definitely more! DD is only just one, and so not old enough to appreciate the significance of presents - she'll be quite happy playing with all the coloured paper, and won't worry about what's underneath.

I would prefer to save money and spend it on things we need, like refurbishments to our house, and ongoing costs, rather than frivolously spend on unnecessary items just because it has the word "Christmas" attached to it.

PS - Justine, please can you change your title to "Affecting" not "Effecting" :o

The last year has been a little difficult, dh has taken a significant pay cut, I took on a second job but having a flare up of an existing back problem and also having fractured my spine I've been unable to work at all for the last 2 months.

Usually we spend about £50 per person but this year each couple ate getting a homemade hamper and a token gift. There are no kids in the family - just a small number of adults and we're all extremely close.

We would desperately love to have kids ourselves but simply can't afford it. We just can't justify going mad with buying presents when we need to keep our rainy day fund healthy. And if we don't need to rely on the rainy day fund then perhaps it will help if we are ever in a position to ttc

Oh SayCoolNowSayWhip - oranges studded with cloves and then tied up with ribbon and hung up as decorations give a lovely smell to the house and the kids love doing them!

Thanks Rhubs :) Sounds lovely. Will give it a try.

Our present budget is £250 total which is more generous than usual which means we've splashed out on ds a bit. We are eating out on christmas day which is £80 (dd is free as under 5yo) plus drinks (around £20 or less I reckon as I don't drink alcohol and dh will have maybe 2 pints). Eating out costs more but at least costs are spread out amongst the family plus noone has house big enough to fit everyone for sit down meal and its nice to spend it together.

Christmas decorations we have plenty and I don't do cards. I'll buy some nibbles for xmas day evening but have £12.50 in nectar points that will cover it.

I save all year round to cover costs of christmas (and birthdays, holiday etc) plus we were already poor not hugely well off so not particularly affected by downturn. But then when I see what others spend I don't think I would ever spend that even if I had the money. Plus I am quite strict on who we buy for, finding that more distant relations/acquaintances are just grateful they don't have to buy you anything either.

And trimming the gift list this year too - which will save a few £££'s but has more to do with avioding tedious shopping for crappy cheap presents that no one really needs.

I have a tight budget and stick to it rigorously! It's not the downturn, just that I'm on maternity leave still. I spend max £20 on DM, DMil, DB, DBil, DSil and DN (was £30 last year), max £50 on DP (he spends the same on me) and have spend about £30 on DD (as she gets second hand stuff - this will be higher in the future). I also spend £10 on DDog (yes, I know it's mad) and £5 on 3 friend's kids. So that's £275 on presents. I've been saving my clubcard vouchers for the food shop, should cover nearly everything. I normally save £300 for christmas over the year, but will have to save more now we have DD I guess.

It's out 1st Christmas with DS so we're very excited :) We will spend about £100 as he will get loads of presents from family. We buy him clothes as he needs them. DH and I normally spend £250-300 ish on each other. We spend £500 on family presents (although I would like to reduce this). Probably another £100 on tree/decs/cards/wrap etc and an extra £200 on food/drink than normal.
So, around £1400-1500. Actually that's a lot- I think I will try and cut back but it is hard as we entertain a lot and have quite a few to buy for.

We haven't changed our spending but I am more aware of the cost of items.

I'm a bit of a spreadsheet nerd too when it comes to Christmas shopping. I usually budget about £100-150 for the 2 DDs inc all small stocking gifts etc. They usually get about 10 gifts plus their stocking with about another 10 little toys/crafty bits in. I spend another £50 on the OH.

I have always budgeted about £50 for parents because they get quite a lot for us and our children, and because I like getting things that put a smile on their face. :)
All other close family members are £20 and not so close are £10.

In previous years I've always gone up to the budget and got boxes of chocs etc to bulk out their present if there was money left in their budget.

I've still used the same budget. We are both lucky enough to still be in work, but have both had a pay freeze and prices have risen lots.
This year I have been able to stick to the same budget bacause we save through the year and use that for gifts. I can't think of many gifts on my list that were full price and I've got plenty of pre-owned but lovely stuff for people.

ive probably spent around 150 on my two children but it could be closer to 200. The stocking cost about 15-20 each.

I buy throughout the year, couldnt consider doing it in one month as i cant afford to and I will never get in to debt to pay for xmas- goes against the whole point.

the recession hasnt really changed anything, ive always done it month by month.

We spend roughly £100 per dc (2dd's and 3 step dc's) but they have around £200 worth as i got most of it in sales half price or used the tesco voucher exchange. We dont spend much on family ,£10 for parents, £10 each for 2 neices, £5 each for a few friends and friends children.

we probably spend around £800 on everything.

Justine was going on radio in the morning and decided to canvass opinion at 7:17 of said morning - did she really want to present feedback actually given?

Do you know what?

The past 12 months have ben so shit and I've been so skint I am determind to really splash out this year because we deserve it damnit. I've saved up hard, anything we've got extra that hasnt gone on the essential repairs and the kids, is going on christmas for them. Last year christmas was shit because of stuff that was out of my control, and like hell am I letting the kids have another one of those.