How do people afford Christmas?

[Poppets14]

Just been out Christmas shopping and have had to use my credit card and store cards.

We are remortgaging the house in February and paying off our debts so we are back at square 1.
We are in about 4K worth of debt so not a massive amount.

My question is how do people afford Christmas? Everything is just so expensive.

Do you save all year?
Buy throughout the year?

We are getting are finances in order next year and I do not want to fall into the debt hole again!

We do a secret Santa for the adults in the family so just one present to buy and just give to the under 18s. I’m a retired seamstress so the kids usually get things I’ve made - cushions, quilts, pjs, dressing up outfits etc as appropriate! Whatever I give comes presented in a home made tote bag or pillow case which can be reused.

I’m shocked at those saying £300 is too much for a child’s presents, for me it doesn’t seem much at all but after reading this thread I know that’s unusual.

Dd, nearly 11, is getting an iPhone 12 mini and probably close to £350/400 on other presents. One is a bag that costs around £90, a cosplay outfit and a few other things so not an excessive amount of items but they’re not cheap.

Ds is nearly 19 and unlike his sister he hardly asks for a thing so he tends to get clothes, a nice aftershave such as a Tom Ford one, trainers which tend to cost around £150 and a few other things. It really does add up quite easily.

Family wise we only buy for parents and stopped buying for each other a few years ago.

I spend what I do because I save every year in the credit union ( around £25 per week ) and I don’t miss it that way. I’m crap with money ( clearly! ) so wouldn’t be able to save myself without dipping into it.

The dc also have £150/200 for a nice outfit and footwear to wear on Christmas Day and Christmas Eve pyjamas.

I know people who spend way more than us and parade it all over social media. I’ve never posted what the dc have received or pictures of presents.

I always had lots at Christmas when I was a child, as did dp. Is it excessive? Probably but we don’t go without anything else to afford it and are in no debt.

we buy what we can afford and that's that.

We spend what we can afford, I can't imagine getting into debt for Christmas.

We had lovely magical Christmases even when money was really tight - because gifts are only a small part of.what we love.about Christmas. ... Seeing Christmas lights, baking, decorating the house, board games, seeing family, carol concerts, Christmas stories and films...

I also prioritise other life experiences over "stuff" so we will go to a pantomime etc each year,.and through the year our lives are busy and rich. I can't imagine saving for "stuff" at the expense of enjoying life.all year.round.

We spend about £100/child on gifts. Plus maybe another £50 on stocking stuff.
To be honest, no child has asked for anything specific apart from the 7 year old who would like a diary and a glittery pen apparently! I feel quite glad that they aren't avaricious and just enjoy all facets of the Christmas period.

We don’t spend much on presents anyway. The food is a little bit more, but not too much.

I budget £1,000 for Christmas - I don't even have kids and that is only for presents and wrapping paper etc! I hate it. I save from my Oct/Nov pay, but next year I want to pace it throughout the year.

We used to do Secret Santa with a price limit. Now there are GC , they get presents but their parents don’t. When we first got married we agreed with various adult relatives not to buy each other gifts and I have never bought any for nieces and nephews. My DC used to get useful gifts as part of their haul - stationery, pens, socks and underwear and really appreciated it. Don’t listen to what other people say they are spending. It’s a bit like people who tell you they aren’t revising for the exam. Spend what you can afford and educate your children to understand the value of what they have and the value of money. My DD saves every month in different ‘pots’ for Xmas, birthdays, car repairs, dentist etc.

We've never been big on Christmas spending, only for my in laws because they love fashion and branded stuff. So they'll get around £150 spent on them each.

I usually just put £300 in my parents bank at Christmas and will do during the year as well.

We have no kids ATM but we usually give out £10in cards to younger cousins as they are teens. And we don't buy each other anything?

To tackle financial anxiety- We generally don't spend that much during the year, have cashback credit cards paid off in full every month and mostly invest and put money into investments so it grows. That's how we buffer and not worry too much about Xmas money going out.

Thetrainisinthestation - I don’t like to judge but Christmas Eve boxes is the personification m of wasteful unnecessary spending

I don't like to judge - but watch me ignorantly judge something I don't understand... hilarious

Christmas eve boxes are not remotely wasteful, they are full of stuff you HAVE to buy anyway... I'm not going to send my kids to bed naked, unwashed and hungry and the fact it's in a box with a bit of whimsy doesn't change that ffs.

Our Christmas eve box has:

• PJs (not 'Xmas' PJ like people like to wrongly assume either)
• a bedtime book (should always encourage reading)
• body wash/soap (for their bath before bed)
• toothbrush
• hot chocolate and a small gingerbread man ... epitome of wasteful unnecessary plastic consumerism right

I usually spend around £300 per child .Also something small for one another. About £30.00 for our Nieces . Also fair amount on meals out! Food at home and so on .Try to save about £50 to £100 pm through the year . Sept to Dec paydays buy something each month ,and food /Booze as well . Have free Council Tax Feb /March so offset a little if we go over .Dont have a Credit Card ,so cant spend what we dont have! I think with young DC its very hard though

My mum did it by buying things all year for Xmas the mistake some people make is leaving it all until December then wondering why their broke

I don't save money as such - I tend to go out each month on a 'reindeer day' (I'm a Christmas planning nut and a few years ago on the Christmas board here I found out about these)
I buy gifts for people through the year- and spread it out that way. I do have quite a few people to buy for - so I find it better to do this way. It also means I can target certain things in certain months- wrap, decorations and festive stocking bits in Jan sales for example. I also squirrel away long dated food like crisps and nuts and chocolates when they first start coming out (normally Sept ish)
I would say I probably spend about £15-£20 a month on these gifts, then when Dec comes I normally only need to spend about £80-£100 on the last minute bits

Welcome to mumsnet OP

Half will tell you they spend £30 and that's for gifts for 4 kids and 7 neices/nephews.

The other half will be agog at your tightness and say they spend 5k.

£300 seems a fairly average amount to spend on your DD. The real question I suppose is what can you afford.

I try to save throughout the year for Xmas so I don't end up in debt. But the amount of gifts I buy seems to 3ver be increasing and this year I'll bd popping around £200 on a credit card.

I don’t think £300 on her daughter is bad . Things mount up very quickly . The only issue is that she cannot afford it

We save generally every month, December we put a little less into savings that month than we usually would to accommodate Christmas, we both also have disposable money each month which doesn't always get spent so that mounts up into separate money that we use for each other, holidays etc. We're not wealthy especially by MN standards, but very debt averse, so save rather than get into debt for household things and have an emergency pot in case the boiler breaks out the car needs repairs etc. I also use our Quidco/cashback money on nice things for Christmas as that feels like free money.
I think you need to look more widely at your financial management skills if you are remortgaging to clear debt and still spending like that on Christmas. I'm not against that amount if you can afford it, but you can't and you need to accept that and cut your cloth accordingly.

I put money away through the year and start shopping early to spread it out. Bought my DDs both a small mirror with their initial on from Sainsbury’s for 50p after Mother’s Day for example. I also don’t spend a fortune. DD 11 wants jeans and a light for her room, DD9 wants a board game and then I get bits and pieces as well

I actually start in January sales , I get all my friends children in the Jan sales for the following Christmas, I start properly buying in July , and the entire year I search toy sale at least once a week it may seem crazy but it allows me to have the Christmas I want it's so unstressful too and allows me too just enjoy the season

Watch all the low spenders come out! Watch Martin Lewis. We used to get into debt buying for DH big family. No wonder there are so many entitled kids around. Nothing will ever be enough. Christmas if you believe is a saviours birthday,! No I don't,but it's turned into a competitive greed fest. I've got 2 disabled sons on long term sickness benefits. A DD who suddenly lost her job,and a DD single parent,and a tiny pension. Bloody ridiculous that we should get into debt for one another.

Stop falling for the hype! My kids (now grown up) never EXPECTED anything (single parent) so were grateful for what they got.

Christmas is on 25th December every year, it doesn't creep up on you unexpectedly! Plan. Plan in January for the next one, either by buying or putting money away.

And never try to keep up with the Jones'

Whywouldntyou, well done,you are exactly correct!!

I’m a single mum to 4 and work 20 hours a week. I literally have to save all year, no way could I afford Xmas if I got it all in one go.
I remember my old neighbour used to get a provi loan to pay for Xmas then by the time she’d paid it off it was Xmas again and she’d have to take out another one. This is one of the reasons I am not a huge Xmas fan.
It is so much pressure just for 1 day.
I’m sure social media has a lot to answer for by fuelling that pressure, photos of the perfect family with piles of presents under the tree, a lot of us can’t live up to that so feel inadequate and it’s just not right.
Sorry I went off on a rant lol, it just gets to me.
So yeah I save basically and it’s the only way I can do it. If you’re able to save then look at videos on YouTube about…I can’t remember exactly what it’s called but you basically withdraw the money and put it into saving envelopes. It actually works really well

I don’t save through the year (have other stuff to pay / save for) but luckily have enough spare each month to eek it out from sept onwards. We spend:
£200 / £250 max on each dc (3 teens)
£50 on dnephew
£150 on present of each other (Dh and I)
£20 on small gifts for bff dcs

That’s it. We don’t buy for adult family members, although I buy my dbro a bottle of booze as he doesn’t have dc.

The rest of our Xmas budget goes on food and drink and hosting (which is why we don’t buy for adults as we do all the hosting).

In total, food, booze, presents, tree etc I think we spend about £1500. It’s crazy when you think about it. Dh and I budget about £200 each a month from sept - Dec to cover it all.

I've spent about 2 grand this year. Three children...the two eldest about £500 each. The youngest (aged4) about £300 cos it looks more at that age! £100 on new winter coat for hubby. 70 pounds each for all parents and in laws. 40 pounds each for my two nieces and two nephews.
60 pounds on presents for my team of three. 30 pounds each on gifts for my three closest friends.
Token gifts of 10 pounds each for my two siblings.
100 pounds on food for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. £40 on a few new lights and decorations for the house. £30 on advent calendars. A load more on meals out, new outfits for us all, Christmas cards and postage.
Then my husband has spent about 100 pounds on me (joint account). I could easily have doubled it!
Christmas is expensive if you have friends and family. We spend a lot on the kids but that amounts to an x box to share, a tracksuit each, a new cricket bat each, football shin pads and chocolate...it soon adds up!
We pay over 4 pay packets...two before Christmas, then 1,000 on the credit card to be paid off in Jan and Feb. Not a competition...I'm sure I'm extravagant to some, mean to others.

I find not spending £300 on a single child helps.

Learn to say "that's too expensive, we can't afford that."

Never been in debt. Spend only what you have and save. Be careful without being miserable (again, easy if you have no interest in the baffling things people spend money on, like £200 tracksuits and £150 footballs.)

I put aside £50 pcm which gives me £600 for Xmas spending - this is loads. I usually get a little bonus from work around Xmas and so I will use that to cover increase in food budget for Xmas day and a Xmas treat - my kids love Winter Wonderland (which is super expensive) so I will splash out on that this year.

If I couldn't afford to spend this much I would spend less - but I can comfortably do this. I don't buy my kids that much during the year outside of Xmas & birthdays.

I don't buy gifts for many other people - I don't much like receiving gifts. I've been shouted at on MN about this for many years now but personally I think our societies rampant culture of gift giving is hugely detraimental to the enviroment and our homes. If I do give a gift I try and give something I KNOW the person needs, a consumable item or a plant or sometimes something I've made.