Thrifty christmas

[Elainey1609]

Hi ya everyone

I am sure I'm in the same boat as many other people this year we no money.
I know I am starting to panic already about Christmas
I like many have been glued to the bargain christmas thread and have bought some small bits already but I can't seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel

I have already told many family members that I won't be able to afford buying them Xmas presents this yearned am checking boot sales, free cycle and nearly new sites

The whole thing is just very depressing

So i wanted to start this thread to get people's ideas ideas or tips so we can all help each other to the best of our ability as I know I'm not the only one in this situation

A problem shared is a problem halved and all that

Last year people gave links where free Xmas decorations and samples that can be used as presents were being given away free.
Links to christmas sites with free downloadable things

Just share anything that is free or very low buget that can be used over the Xmas

Hope this helps

Yay, glad people liked the idea, was worried you'd think I was nuts :)
In my ideal world I'd have a Christmas freezer in the shed, so I could buy more :)

Terra my DH has just emptied out our chest freezer in our garage .

I have you permission to start filling it with Christmas food don't I

DH will have the face on.
Shame I can't freeze beer.to stop him drinking it

strike out fail

Lunar1, excellent finds! My dd age 5 loves anything pirate. I shall start stalking eBay to see what I can find.

I agree with looking on ebay now for toys. Take advantage of people being away on holiday or those who don't think about Christmas until November at the earliest! You could get some real bargains, especially when the closer to Christmas we get the higher prices go when people get desperate and try to out-bid each other.

My mum used to buy things all year at sales, craft markets, school and church fairs etc because she'd never have afforded presents for all our relatives otherwise. As a kid I used to get gorgeous hand knitted dolls clothes in my stocking from church fairs.

Think I. Gonna do secret Santa with friends this year if I can get them to agree
Gonna wrap up depgrant and toothbrush that's a good tip
Keep them coming everyone

Church fairs and craft shows are wonderful places to look for creative and usually inexpensive gifts. My daughter still wears a jumper I bought for her two years ago at such a sale. It is better made then anything I could buy in the shops. Still looks lovely after many (hand) washes..

All those with pirate mad DC: in Tesco I spotted McVities Pirate Crew mini choc biscuits, a quid a box containing 6 packs of 2 biscuits, was originally 1.69 a box. Similar to the Cadbury choc animals but a bit bigger. Also available were jungle animals. Nice stocking filler, also McVities multi packs of mini gingerbread men (festive!) choc digestives and also choc chip cookies, again a quid for pack of 6 each variety.

To go with them for DC who can boil a kettle themselves or teens, Cadbury instant hot choc or Galaxy or Maltesers sachets 32p each or 4 for a quid (think you can mix and match these.)

Another thing you could do is buy a bag of popcorn on offer, and divide it between smaller polythene food bags, tie a Christmas ribbon bow around the tops and use as stocking fillers.

I buy presents throughout the year when sales are on. For example, uniqlo have some half price scarves for £5. I going to get one for Dd's nursery teacher. She gets a nice present and I save money.

The children's stocking fillers are things I would buy anyway, like toothbrushes and pjs. I get books, chocolate coins etc. everything only costs a couple of pounds each.

I only get token presents for adults. I fact, my sister and I agreed not to get each other anything. Suggest it to family members - I bet they will be relieved.

If hosting Xmas dinner, ask guests to bring a dish. In my family, the host normally does the meat, guests bring veg or pudding. Saves money and takes some of the stress away.

I plan on doing cheap/free activities with the children like making cookies, seeing the Xmas lights in town etc. I do snowman soup and reindeer god for Xmas eve, which is I nice treat.

I'm making some Xmas decorations like spraying pine cones gold (£2 for the spray) and crochet candy canes.

OH and I don't get each other presents. We do stockings for each other and I get presents throughout the year. Last year, OHs stocking cost £60, but the original price was over £100.

All in all, I don't see the point in going overboard. Yes, we will have some nice food an drink, but Xmas dinner is just a roast.

70 I am so jealous, you have an actual Christmas freezer
(Wishes she knew how to make a 'tm' symbol on the iPad)

I shall just have to be satisfied with my Christmas cardboard box :(

I love this thread..

I've noticed several of my local garden centres have sales on at the moment - one of them had lots of giftware and clothes reduced (really nice hats/gloves etc, Emma Bridgewater stuff, well I'd like it ) and I did think "I should be doing my Christmas shopping now". You could do nice pots and plants in the event you are greenfingered enough to keep them alive - aren't hyacinths meant to be planted in August for Christmas IIRC?

lurkety lurk :o

Woo just done a pick up on eBay so free delivery of a load of Xmas decorations
I'm well pleased with them , I expected the majority of them to be rubbish being the glass half empty kind of girl that I am
But I was presently surprised
I paid £1.99 and I think there is about £50 worth here
Can't believe it

terra in my house it is also a cardboard box....I want a Christmas freezer!

I just bought a ton of headbands for little girls. I decorate them for each different holiday throughout the year. My 5 year old loves all things sparkly, so many of the bands have sequins and fake jewels. Some go in her stocking, some go to my little cousins.

Just seen this free sample from Liquitex on MSE, they don't send to where I live but it might be a nice stocking filler for someone creative.

Sign up to Costco and buy food / drinks in large wholesale multipacks as that will keep costs down.

JJWholesalers is alsi good and you do not need to register beforehand. You buy & pay online and just collect at your specified time slot.

There's an ap on money saving expert that searches eBay within a certain radius of you, so no postage charges, there is so much on there and it saves a fortune on postage and less bids due to pick up only. I've had some fab 99p bargains.

Ragbag thank for that eBay thing will save me loads of time as i normally go through the site manually .
This is a great tool and find thank so much

Secon the eBay advice! I got ds the happyland pirate ship complete with 6 pirates, map and treasure cheast for under £10 and its like new!

Also got some gap clothes for 99p

Probably not very helpful to most mumsnetters, but we have a 1 present policy. The dc have an additional present to share between them from us (to encourage sharing) and one each from Santa. I don't see the point of giving things just for the sake of it and I think the kids get overwhelmed anyway.

Actually dd an I are havin a clear out of her toys and books. Most are like new as she has been very spoilt. They usually go to a charity shop however I did consider postin them on here somewhere to see if they coul help make xmas a bit easier.

Would anyone be interested?

That's a lovely idea FairyJen and I am sure that lots of people would be interested. Maybe a new thread which other people could add to, or you could save them for the Christmas Appeal nearer the time. You let HQ know what you have and they'll match you with someone who has a DD your DD's age.