Christmas for the totally skint...

[wheresmymojo]

I'm feeling very sorry for myself as both me & DH love Christmas, we even got married on the 1st December to have a vague Christmas theme (not in a cheesy way, I promise!).

Anyway we have been hit very hard by COVID financially. We can't afford a tree or presents.

Thankfully we have no DC.

If you were in our shoes what would you do that doesn't cost very much money to make it enjoyable?

Thoughts so far:

• Swap one book on Christmas Eve as presents and spend the evening eating chocolate and reading our new books (apparently this is a thing in Iceland?)

• Making extra Christmas decorations from natural stuff (I have a Pinterest board of ideas)

Christmas dinner itself will be with PILs so we're lucky that it will be normal for that bit...

What else?

Will definitely look into a volunteering opportunity but we live in a very posh rural area so there aren't any homeless shelters or such like and I'm guessing care homes won't be inviting volunteers in during COVID times

@RB68

I would ask on local groups for older fake trees, even if they are a bit bare they can be rescued with decorations and tinsel etc. which can also be requested. Any reason you don't have decs from previous years?

How about challenging each other to come up with free gift ideas - so you could take finished with books to a book swap phone box/shelf etc, you could bake something like shortbread (limitd ingredients most people have) or ginger bread cookies etc, make or upcycle scrap things with scrap paint etc - again freecycle or gumtree, find an old jumper and make mittens or wrist warmers if no longer useful. FOld some cranes for good luck, junk modelling - so a la blue peter for pen hlders and drawer tidies etc, can you sew? sew something small from scraps of fabric. Scrap book of photo memories t tell a story of a holiday or time away or family etc,

Home made decorations are great too - paper chains, popcorn, dried orange slices and cinamon sticks. You could locate some free baubles and peronalise them or paint to be unique.

We do have some decs from previous years but always had a real tree so no tree to put them on is all...

@KeeefBurtain

PM me If you’re anywhere near Monmouth - I have a fake tree and decorations in the loft going spare.

Bless you! We're not near you but bless for offering!

I picked up a bargain real potted tree from b&q last year it was reduced from about £20-25 ( can’t remember exactly) down to £7, was about the 17th of December.
Popcorn for garlands.
Foraging for pine cones, church yards are great for holly and evergreen greenery or ask a neighbour if they have any you can take.

DH and I when skint in our early years would go for a long beach walk, or forest, play cards or scrabble, watch tv, cuddle the dogs and spend what we could on cheese and wine.

Some great ideas on here. I think I'm going to make an advent calendar of ideas

Swapping a book and eating chocolate sounds perfect.

I know you said you couldn't afford presents but even small or cheap things can be fun. Books and DVDs in the charity shop are dead cheap. Do you like colouring? Me and my DP love it. A shared colouring book (you can pull out the pages) and pens or pencils would be nice and very cheap. Some cheap crackers and mini cheeses to snack on? Cheap but still might feel special?

Oh and play charades - so funny!

Can you bring in a tree from the garden and put fairy lights on it? Or some holly sprigs?

freecycle
pinterest is your friend with ideas
& if its open (which most are they you may have to do click & collect invade your Library - they have music films & books ...
nb not just fiction (obviously!) but recipes decoration & books & stories (short stories!) on Christmas -think Charles Dickens!
hmm perhaps you could both dress up for your dinner
as for food
Roast Chicken (small frozen) roast pots veg & stuffing
make some biscuits together & make pudding
If you get tin of mangos & plain greek yogurt you can make lassi for breakfast

Typo have a mini decorated tree for £4 and a few stocking fillers for cheap too.

Every classroom in the country will be decked out with a fake tree and decorations which will all have to be put away again at the end of term... know any teachers or TAs? Bet they will lend the lot to you

@wheresmymojo

Pretty much zero sex drive from my medication, I'd rather read a book!

Shame, as it is free!

Take it in turns to read each other a chapter of a shared book every night.

PM me if you're in or near South Bucks, I have a 5ft spare tree 🎄

I would go for a walk on the beach with some hot chocolate in a flask and then drive the 'rural ' way home to see all the lights. I know that will still cost petrol money so may be out of the question.

Board games are always great.

A walk to see all the lights is one of my favourite things.

Keep an eye on selling sites as people give things away for free all the time.

A good one is to have a budget of about £2-3 each and buy each other a gift from a charity shop (i guess this is only able to happen if they are able to open though)

Do think this thread might prompt a lot of spare trees & Dec's knocking about to be put on freecycle?!!!

On a more serious note, do you have anything you could sell to generate cash for your Christmas budget?

I've sold 4 bikes that were gathering dust in the garage for £300. My neighbour sold her broken washing machine for parts for £40. Go round your house & see what you can put up on ebay/local fb selling sites. You might be surprised how much you can generate from old things no longer in use. You might be able to raise some cash to buy a decent bottle of wine for the Christmas meal contribution at your parents. Ebay/local selling sites are very active in my area as everyone is looking for a bargain.

A Christmas smelling candle if you can afford it. Tesco etc usually do cheap ones.