How are you economising this year?

[yellowflowers]

We are:

Having pound shop crackers because everyone likes a cracker but no one cares what gift is inside

Making fudge and other presents

No Christmas tree

Smaller presents

and ps. the 3 dvds for £12 were not rubbish ones, they were really good!
and the wine was actually really good cava that was half price and the chocs were lindt no less! great little goodie bag for a young couple i think.

Second hand presents for DD and DP (and for me, I imagine).

Some regifted presents going to family members.

Budget has been cut from £30 to £20 for family we have to buy for, and from £10 to £5 for friend's kids (don't buy for friends).

Have enough clubcard vouchers to cover the christmas shop.

Wrapping presents in brown paper and decorating with bits and pieces I've found round the house.

Rather than photo christmas cards I'm sending cheap christmas cards with a printed off photo put inside for the family members who'd want one.

Dog will only get 2 presents rather than the four she got last year!

Ds and I have made a few decorations to add to our existing ones... We sprayed some giant pine cones we found on holiday White and covered them in silver glitter. I've been buying presents for the past three months picking up bargains when I saw them (our local Habitat closing down sale was a fantastic source of bargains) and I haven't bought for adults this year. I'm making my mum and dad a hamper of homemade things... I tasted the damson vodka I've made for them this morning and it's flipping gorgeous.

I've scaled back on the dcs presents too, just one from us and one from Father Christmas. Instead of buying a micro scooter I found an identical one in Halfords for £12.99. Instead of spending £30 on a wooden dolls bed for dd I bought a £15 one from ELC....neither of them will give a stuff.

Oh cards... Yes, ds and I have made some for immediate family. A couple of charity packs for friends we won't see over Christmas. Luckily I don't have to cater for lots of people over Christmas, my mum does christmas lunch and they're loaded so she won't even accept contributions from me, phew!

have bought cheap cards and wrapping paper, not buying gifts for adults in the family who have a DP, just those still single with no-one to buy them something, but even so just a very small gift, less than a tenner. Not buying for nieces and nephews, and have asked sis to do the same for my DCs. Got a voucher for £40 off Virgin wines so that will do Christmas and a gift or two, eg Secret Santa in work.

I've become a slave to my Nectar card - we get double points since we took out home insurance with Sainsbury's and I obsess over my points balance every week. Have been buying bits and pieces here and there since September and taking small amounts off it. Fortunately my mother is buying the turkey, so that's a major food expense taken care of and my sis and BIL will provide the veggies.

Presents-wise, everyone's getting home made goodies in a hand crafted bag, topped up with a £20 gift voucher, and DH and I have a limit of £50 to give each other. We've bought our DD (2) only one main present, but DH is allowed to fill her stocking with anything that catches his eye, as long as each thing doesn't cost more than a fiver.

DD has been helping me paint cardboard stars and make star-shaped biscuits for the tree and - apart from one new bauble - there aren't going to be any other new decorations. We're recycling last year's advent calendar

Everyone in my family is having to make economies this year, and having less money (I'm on mat leave) has helped me focus on what's really important and prioritise spending.

I always used to be a sucker for the Christmas magazines but I've found nothing in them to interest me this year - they all seem to have reduced themselves to lists of things to buy and the gift guides are all insanely over-priced. I think I'm past that stage in my life where being the swankiest show off is the most important thing.

We bought some Christmas crackers today (10 in a package) for £1 at Asda today (smart price). Nice simple crackers with a hat, joke, and sticker in it. Perfect! I hate those plastic toys as half the time the boys can't have them anyway and we find them all over the house. Nice and simple these are!!

We're also going for a less expensive Christmas, toning down the gifts and buying only for children this year.

There's no doubt that having less money and being more careful helps you to really focus on what's special about Christmas. We really didn't have much money growing up but I recall all my Christmases as a child as absolutely magical.

It helped that my DM is really creative and the home-made element became an important part of our Xmas traditions. DM is Czech and actually a lot of the things she made were driven by wanting to recreate things from home that you couldn't buy here in 1970/80s England.

DH and I are fortunate enough to have more money than my parents did (although certainly not rolling in it) but I still want Christmas to be about the magic and the traditions rather than the consumerism for our DCs. It is so easy to get caught up in the 'having' and 'wanting' though - and I agree with Treats that magazines encourage this.

I keep costs down by planning menus for the Christmas period. I know what and how much I need to buy, and am less tempted to buy things 'just in case' which won't get eaten. We tend to stick to wine or beer which will keep, and don't buy in loads of spirits and mixers unless we know we'll be entertaining, or fizzy drinks, because we just don't drink them routinely at home. A lot of groceries will be paid for by clubcard vouchers.

I have bought only three Christmas magazines this year, two of which are monthly mags anyway. I would use them for inspiration and recipes, but I agree a lot of the gifts advertised are way beyond what I would pay for anything! DH and I like a good root around in TKMaxx to see what bargains we can find instead, and the M&S outlet is a favourite too.

And the 'fashion' and 'beauty' in some of the magazines!! I've tended to stick to interiors and food magazines in the last few years, so it's a while since I last looked at a general interest women's magazine, but flicking through some of them in Smiths the other day, I was utterly stunned by the pages and pages and PAGES devoted to clothes and appearance, and the price level of the clothes they were promoting. Bring back the C&A twinsets in my mum's Essentials and Family Circle magazines in the 80s.....

Yes Treats, anyone would think that money grew on trees. Who wears all that stuff I wonder, not me obviously.

Although I'm currently 39 weeks pregnant so even Primark seems excessively glamorous to me atm

Great thread - making me feel a lot better about my frugal Christmas and lots of good ideas - thanks.

Me - no tree, no pantomime, scaling back of presents, simple Xmas dinner -DS is at his Dad's this year, cheap crackers ....

Also selling a few bits and bobs to help out and using vouchers, claiming cash back etc