Paying for Xmas

[Empress13]

How do you pay for it? Credit cards ? Save throughout the year? Do you like me put it in your credi card and then spend the next few months paying the damn thing off ! It's a vicious cycle.

I save using Park and get vouchers for the shops I would usually pay cash. I get £200 M&S for food, and £600 high street.

DP has savings scheme at work, money deducted directly from salary then we get £500 vouchers at Christmas, bloody amazing

Out of current income, over 3 months (Sept to Dec)

Looking at threads here, I think our Christmas is way less elaborate than for many

Don't spend money you don't have. ie don't use a credit card to pay for things you don't have enough money in the bank to pay for. That way financial ruin lies.
Save enough during the 11.5 months of the year when it's not Christmas to pay for Christmas.

We don't save specifically for christmas but do save a fair chunk of money every month. Lucky enough to have one and a half decent incomes and a relatively small mortgage.
We don't go overboard at all, but dip into savings to pay for everything if we have to.

I put it on an interest free card and pay it but I have money to cover it in the bank. I have some weird idea from the days when you used to actually get interest on money in the bank that that's a good thing to do.

I save £100 per month into a separate savings account especially for Christmas, I start in the January with the hope of having £1200 but sometimes take some out if things are very dire this Christmas I've had £800, makes it so much less stressful and I've been doing it for about 5 years now so don't actually miss the money each month!!

Just out of current income but I appreciate that for many that isn't possible.

Like auntiestella out of our income over the last few months

On our old mortgage we could take a month payment break every 9 months so that used to cover Xmas.
Now I save with park mainly and try and save spare cash through the year

I usually put £50 a month aside and have £600 for Christmas. However that didn't happen this year, so we have cut back a bit and used money from Oct/Nov and Dec pay.

Will be more organised next year!

I had no choice but to put it on a credit card this year due to various other things urgently needing bought that goes with a separation/house move.

It didn't go overboard and spend hundreds though, it should all be paid by the beginning of January.

I usually buy in the sales/save throughout the year.

I don't go mad first of all. I only have a few people to buy for, eight in all, four of those kids. No one has any grand expectations so I'm not trying to do a mad dash for the latest gadget.

I tend to get things throughout the year. I do loads of shopping around online for the cheapest prices of the things i decide to buy. I love eBay for bargains, I use quidco, I always search for discount codes, I look at the hotdeals site. I go to places like B&M, The Range, Poundstrecher etc for odds and sods that can add up if bought elsewhere.

We don't snack so food shopping will just be a joint of meat, some extra veggies, a pudding. We have my Mum I've but otherwise it's just us with two little kiddies. We also don't really drink so no alcohol outlay

I guess it really does depend on how sociable you are and whether you go to town at Christmas or just get a few extras. I imagine it just cost us a couple of hundred quid do we don't have to save for it.

Park vouchers, and a mixture of £30 a month in either change or Morrisons stamps.
Usually gives roughly £500 by December.

This year has been tough financially and I've dipped into the change jar quite a bit, so I've got £150 left.
More then enough to cover presents but I will need to be a bit more creative to get my money to go further

I budget it out over the months once August is over. Try and spread big expenditure either side of different pay days for kids presents. I don't go mad on presents. Kids get loads, but we have stopped doing adults / adult siblings. Smallish and appreciative rather than lavish.

I use loads of vouchers carefully. The Tesco '£9 off when you spend £70' gets used to stock Christmas essentials, the tubs of Quality Street, the Lindt reindeers and buying wine and fizz when it is25% off when you buy 6 or more bottles. As well as stuff like toilet roll and detergent, or store cupboard stuff on special offer.

Nectar points saved all year and then cover the last grocery shop in December, or when we are brassic in January.

Some things might end up on the CC, but I will budget to pay that off ASAP and without doubt before Easter.
In the end, it's a budget for extra food, and presents. I don't go silly.

Out of the current income, over a few months - I usually start buying presents for the DC from August onwards! That said I don't spend vast amounts on them, maybe £100 each? But as I said that's spread over several months. My parents and siblings are quite 'inexpensive' as we tend to spend £20 on presents in my family; DH's side spend a lot more

Don't ever spend money you don't have - if money is tight, set a little bit aside every month throughout the year. It's much cheaper that way than paying interest on a credit card!

I haven't forgiven Tesco for cancelling their Boost promotion. I used to live using my vouchers got Christmas presents 😡

*love

This time of year is hard work as both DC's birthdays are in the week after Christmas. Costs us a fortune :( we generally pay for it from money we've saved over the year. I have occasionally put presents on my credit card too.

Out of income from Aug to Nov (just two or three gifts a month or a few vouchers for food). I work lots of overtime Oct, Nov, Dec so that usually pays for the rest and our summer holiday.

I'd be shit at saving - it'd get to July and I'd be all 'oooooh, Christmas is aaaages way, let's spend this money on a week at the seaside instead!'

We have a savings account. £40 a month, which sees us through. We also have one for holidays -£100 a month. Quite a bit to save but there is no way we could afford holidays or Christmas without it.

We put a lump sum away when DH gets his bonus (hopefully!) in Feb/March. It's enough to cover both children's birthdays/Christmas and parties.

We're yet to have a year when the bonus didn't cover it, if it didn't I'm not sure how we'd afford it? Probably tuck abit away each month. Both boys birthdays are weeks before Christmas so it's a very expensive time of year!!

I pay £30 a month to Virgin Winebank, which they top up with another £6 on top - and that covers 2 mixed cases a year, one in July (family birthday) and Christmas. I buy our crackers in the sales immediately after Christmas, and start buying gifts, table decorations, non-perishables etc. from the end of August onwards. Food comes out of our December income, and I don't go mad on it. I take advantage of supermarket special offers wherever possible!

We're big spenders at Christmas, but don't put it on the credit card. Instead, I

Buy bits as I see them throughout the year. Mostly the stocking fillers - like stationery my daughter loves.

I save all my reward points / cash back deals all year and cash them in before Christmas. This year I've managed to save over £300 in points / cash back.

I also save £50 a month all year, although sometimes that gets spent on other things

And finally, If DH or I get an annual bonus, then we put that into the fund too

£100 a month into our christmas savings account, we also cash in the change pot which gives us another £150 - £200. I feel so much happier knowing that the money is there rathere than plonking it on my credit card and worryingabout how long it will take to pay it off.

Cards, wrapping paper and crackers bought in the January sales. I'll also replace any "past the best" decorations in January - I have a feeling that our lights might not make it to Christmas 2017...

I start buying presents when I see something a recipient might like - if it happens to be in February then so be it

The Christmas Cupboard starts getting stocked around about mid October with wine, non-perishables and other seasonal stuff.