Shall we have a reminder about things we are doing differently this year?

[BeamingBrenda]

I know we had a thread about this earlier in the year but I thought a recap closer to Christmas would be helpful.

So this year I won't;

Be sucked into buying stuff from the bargain thread just because it's cheap. I have a list and I'm sticking to it.

Overcook. We do not need leftovers hanging around for days that I have to turn into weird combinations we wouldn't normally eat.

Buy lots of treat food. We don't need mountains of it and I only regret it come January when I can't do my clothes up. I will focus on quality not quantity.

What about you?

This year we will be in our new home....I'll be thousands of miles away from my own extended family and it will be cracking 40 degrees outside.

I will (possibly) have inlaws over at some time but ultimately we'd all (DH and two DDS) like Christmas on our own....in which case I will start as I mean to go on and let them know....then invite them for Boxing Day. I plan to get both DDs one big gift each and then stick to around 10 smaller things rather than giving them 40 cheaper things each.

We've been doing it our own way for years - it's great. We've done everything from having baked beans on toast to having the family over for the full works. We decide in November what we'd like to do and go with that.

ChristmasShouldBeFunTiggaxx

Oh, I think I started that thread What went well and what we'd do differently.

I'm definitely sticking with buying less tat for the dc's and only buying things I know they really want or need.

The last few years I have always ended up buying last minute gifts for them to bulk them up and they end up shoved in the back of a wardrobe somewhere.

Our plans have changed quite a bit this year. Previously we have always hosted buy due to my gran's ill health we will be going to dm's instead. So this year I need to be a good guest!

I am not going to buy as much.

I am not going to buy as much.

I am not going to buy as much.

Yes I need to keep telling myself that! I've cut back a bit over the last few years... I plan well-thought-out presents very early but still get sucked into last minute bargains.

I am also keeping a spreadsheet where I record every Xmas-related spend, even stuff like giftwrap. We've never set a proper budget before so the plan is to see how much we actually spend this year and then use that sort of amount (but round it down) for next year.

And I need to figure out where we will be spending it as I haven't a clue.

I am not going to buy as much
Yes, I'm going to have that etched on my debit card .
It seems to vanish when The Twitch arrives .

My changes this year:

Plain simple foods. My family are pretty much standard food types.
I'm not going to make poncey cupcakes.
I'm going to cook a couple of good solid fruitcakes -one iced/marzipan. One plain.

Things to go in sandwiches (when there are diabetics in the mix you can't make them wait 3 hours or fob them off with a cake)

We're going to arrange things so that we can commandeer DS room (he has an ancient TV ) as a second sitting room. He has a sofabed.
For when we want to watch the Eastenders Christmas Special and DS and Dad go

We only buy presents for the DC . Not for adults.
My 'present' is I do Christmas. Then I can concentrate on that without buying a load of things that I don't know if they like.

And make sure I have my haircut,dyed, sort out what I'm going to wear well in advance.

Ooh - don't buy 20 types of cheese. It sat judgily in the fridge for weeks.

I have already bought personalised labels to give to my DPs - every sodding year they wrap all the presents without labelling who they are for, or if they do put a label on, it's the wrong present for the wrong child. There's a lot of snatching presents off child X who has opened it and then giving it to child Y. Or Child A (girl, 12 yo) being given blue duplo, more suited to Child B (boy, 2 yo) Well not this year. This year they are being given a set of labels "To child X from Granny and Grandad" in October and they had damn well better use them

I made a list of these for myself in early January!

It's never too early to buy presents, wrap presents, stock the freezer, order the turkey, book shopping delivery slots. Don't leave it til December to make it feel more festive - it will only feel more stressful

If you open a Sainsbo's order and don't make any changes, you still need to checkout again or THEY WILL CANCEL THE WHOLE ORDER and you will find yourself in an empty Saisbo's at 11pm on Christmas Eve on the verge of tears

Write cards in the first week of December, post in the second week

Send card/biscuits to nursery in second week of December.

How about Not Planning Christmas To The Nth Degree For 3 Months? that would be a different way of doing things for some of you nutters .

Yes Yes to less food.

I used to be able to gorge as unpleasant as it sounds it was nice at the time but I can't even gorge anymore, my body can't handle it.

No extra food just nicer food! A few packets of pretzels and thats it.

YES to NO extra cheeses!

Last year we veered off usual dinner format and had a new starter which was a disaaaaster darling!

Without doubt sticking to old starter this year but perhaps upgrade quality of it.

Although I have done 80% of the main present shopping I am leaving some Amazon stuff for December this year. Then if it doesn't get delivered Christmas will still happen, but I missed that door knocking delivery buzz last year as I was too efficient.

Gonna try baking on xmas eve this year, dh is off for a change, its always a bit .....flat....gonna try maybe local small show, childrens carol service then baking....make ginger bread house...

70

Another great idea, to do hair before, I have never done it, maybe I will visit hair dressers on xmas eve too!

I'm going to ignore those who comment negatively on Christmas threads in the Christmas section

Definitely less for DD

Do baking the day before Christmas eve, it gets manic with the food prep, panto, walk in local town to see Christmas lights and Christmas eve drinks

Get some nice little craft bits for DD

Do a list for DMIL to keep her busy and out of my kitchen

Buy less nicer chocolate instead of bucket loads of cheap ones so we eat less

And meal plan so we don't gorge on rubbish food too much

Seriously Mintyy it's well known you don't want to talk about Christmas in September, it's so well known it's very very boring tbh. Let people do things their way and you do yours. It's not harming anyone to think about or plan Christmas now.

I'm not going to get drawn in to the bargain threads, it's only a bargain if you need it.

That's it I reckon.

Lol Mintyy! Your disdain is palpable!!

Not to be nasty to miserable none Christmas people who don't appreciate that some people can't afford not to plan in September.

To not buy or request as many books this year. I LOVE books but I just haven't had time to read and nor has DH and DS has billions from last year. Which makes it difficult. And we over spent too, so keeping the books down should help.

We are also not doing a real tree this year, which I will find hard as its one of my favourite things to do in the year. However we have a one year old who likes climbing everything so its really not an option. We have a cheap fake one in the loft that DH bought for a work christmas contest (which he may have gone completely overboard with)

To plan what we are doing in December more so we aren't running around like lunatics and have time to relax and enjoy as well.

To make a list of what to buy people before starting shopping rather than impulse buying. I've made a good start and have started checking prices everywhere so I can make better use of deals/discounts.

I've already been looking at the Christmas Deals predictor for last year to plan WHEN I buy, as well as what I buy. I hope to be done more or less by Black Friday so we don't get caught in post Black Friday delivery hell, but I may hold on for one or two specific items I definitely want because there were more discounts after Black Friday for certain items/places.

To think more of NEED/WANT/WILL USE for everyone rather than just going 'that's nice - BUY'.

To use the MN bargain thread BUT to be selective and not get sucked into Tatmas overspend.

List, list, list! Don't buy immediately. Walk away and return later (even if its the next day) having thought about whether its really a good idea for that person or just a good deal from that store.

Remembering its quality not quantity. Use family traditions to fill stockings rather than just tat.

I wonder if such comments should be allowed really this is a separate topic, you don't have to come here at all, there are many corners of mn I would never venture....and certainly not to pour disdain on the folk gathered there

Just wondering if comments are reported they get dealt with at HQ....

There is simply no way, we could pay and do everything in December, we always have shocks and surprises that rear their ugly heads, I like to have xmas in the bag so to speak then if a crisis occurs, at least xmas will go ahead!

One year, ( one of the lesser problems we have had) we crashed our car and it was in a garage for weeks, and we had no car over xmas!

Argos 3 for 2 sale is on now.

@Mintyy

How about Not Planning Christmas To The Nth Degree For 3 Months? that would be a different way of doing things for some of you nutters .

AHEm Minty
this is the Xmas topic you know.

@autumnintheair

Just wondering if comments are reported they get dealt with at HQ....

In answer to your question, any thing you report to MNHQ gets looked, at and assessed and 99% of the time answered by email by one of us here at the towers
Please don't hesitate to report anything that you think we ought to see. Sometimes we post on the thread, for more serious matters, we email behind the scenes and for people truly here to make trouble we show them the door (not very hospitable in the Christmas topic but there we go)
HTH
hohoho
MNHQ

thanks Olivia.

I'm baffled why anyone would come onto the Christmas thread to insult people for talking about Christmas.

And we're the nutters?

I'm normally in the "Christmas happens in December" brigade, but due to being off work with a back injury and the combination of both a loss of income and too much time on my hands, I have resolved to get Christmas all planned, bought, wrapped up & hidden away well in advance this year .

I have already bought a few presents which is practically unheard of for me in September!

What I won't do this year is buy lots of extra things for the teenage DSs just "to give them more to open". The things they actually ask for may be small in size (PS4 games etc.), but cost plenty as it is. Last year a lot of the little extras sat unused for months. I need to teach myself it's OK to only have a few presents to open when those presents add up to £££ anyway!

Yes yes planning ahead! Do the boring stuff in November (card writing, present buying & wrapping) then you can enjoy December & fun Xmas stuff.

Also the cost - so much easier to bear if you buy some in September, October and November. Then you've got December paycheck for the booze fun stuff!

I am not doing Christmas cards but a donation as I no longer know anyone who does cards. My family and friends all donate to a favourite charity this has replaced card sending.

We are repeating last years buffet dinner, it worked great we all ate our favourite little bits of food and the clean up was minimal.

I'm going to buy stupidly posh crackers again as it was lovely to get a nice item and not plastic tat.

We are not seeing family. We see them in January it's way better.

I'm not buying alcohol I'm buying non alcoholic stuff I've realised being a bit hungover all through December isn't that great and there are actually lovely non alcholic drinks out there.

I'm almost finished shopping too. Planning ahead is great I want to be done by October. Buying an app has helped keep a track of spending.

The one thing I will definitely do more of is indulge my family, we will spend more time doing things together on the December weekends. It's a time to be grateful for each other and I need to focus on that.

I love Christmas.