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!

[cookiemonster2468]

What a load of rubbish “it’s the way you think about money”….err no it’s about how much money you have

... which comes down partly to how you think about and manage your money.

If I was £4k in debt there is no way I'd be spending money on Christmas.

[whiteonesugar]

Save through the year, plus credit cards if needed (paid off within a month or so usually). We have a large family, 4 kids between us and host christmas. It does get expensive.

[lockdownalli]

How old is DD? I think you could probably cut back with her presents.

I save every month for Christmas and also buy presents throughout the year so when it comes around, I only have DNs to buy for. I have probably saved too much this year so will be able to give DC money for a splurge in the sales.

I know it's not wise to save when you have debt to service though OP, so try not to be hard on yourself. You are doing what you can to sort that out in the new year. Don't see it as a green light to go crazy now though.

If you say what age your DD is, and what her interests are, I am sure the hive mind will come up with some great bargains for you.

[ssd]

I save a bit each month for xmas but am finding my ability to save less and less each month

[2bazookas]

When we were young parents every penny counted, and I bought christmas and birthday presents/stockingfillers throughout the year to spread the cost. I still do the same because its much more relaxed and pleasurable (even easier with online shopping). All done and dusted by the end of November.

I don't go shopping in December; total escape from all that santacrap, recorded carols, seasonal tat and frenzied crowds.

We're an extended family of recyclers/upcyclers and are all , including children, happy with presents that are home made/ crafts/bargain vintage from charity shops etc. There's no need to spend a fortune on Christmas.

[suspiria777]

Easy for me: I'm Jewish.
You don't have to buy loads of stuff.

[TangoWhiskyAlphaTango]

I also save each month £100 so by Christmas I can relax a little, but I also have DS birthday on the 27th too so a double whammy. Always take the dc out for a fancy meal of Xmas eve, somewhere like The Ivy. I also save Park Catalogue vouchers for M&S so have £150 to spend on nice food. I have done this for years now and whilst I am not flush with money it makes Christmas more relaxing and i can enjoy being a little frivolous.

[ADreadedSunnyDay]

I look for details from about October onwards and spread the cost.

Expensive things are joint presents from Grandparents / other family members for eg or people give him vouchers towards the cost of things so he can put these with saved pocket money to buy things.

[MadMadMadamMim]

@Turtletastic

Those who say they only spend £100-£150 on their dc, what age are they?

I know my dd is 9 and one of the things shes asked for is at least £50
Ds11 has asked for some games for his playstation and most of them even if secondhand start at £30.
I don't go overboard but things are getting more and more expensive and will only continue to do so as they get older.

DS is 17 this year, and we would spend this amount. Certainly not more than £150.

You get one 'big' present - generally around the £50 - £75 mark and then some smaller things. Socks, chocolate, aftershave, a book, maybe. If he wants (as he probably does) FIFA 2022 - or whatever we're up to - for the XBox then that's his big gift. When he got his XBox about 2 years ago it was 2nd hand, from Game and GPs and older siblings chipped in to make it a joint present.

I think you have to make it clear to children roughly what the budget is. There's no way any of mine would have expected a new Playstation at £300 or whatever they are. With games, similarly, as they are so pricey you can have one for Christmas (and maybe a second hand one) and you need to save your pocket money to buy other stuff throughout the year. That's how life works.

The idea that children just get whatever they want for Christmas is very modern and some people seem to spend ludicrous amounts that they can't afford. It's setting DC up for a life where they expect everything handed to them, in my opinion. Our DC knew that money was quite tight and are grateful for a nice Christmas without feeling cheated that their mates got £500 spent on them.

[tabletennistop]

@psuedocream3

I'm planning on playing the Squid Game

I do surveys which has mostly covered the cost, my husband hasn't contributed a single penny which would have been a huge help. Problem is if it was left to him, there would probably be no Christmas presents as he isn't very fussed about celebrating anything, so there isn't much choice if I don't want the kids disappointed.

Previous years I have had to put it on the credit card and just try my hardest to pay it off as quickly as aI can, which isn't the preferred option. I had considered a 0% interest free credit card but my application seems to be lost in limbo somewhere

I think that is utterly horrible of you H. Its not about what he feels like celebrating - its about the fact that it would be important to the kids.

He sounds utterly self-obsessed if he thinks christmas celebrations are just about how he feels about them.

[SmallWaistFatFace]

I save £50 per month and its more than enough. I can't imagine I'll ever spend £300 on one person though, that's a massive amount!

[FlowerArranger]

£300 for a child is ridiculous.

There is no need to buy stuff for adults and other people's children, or at least buy token consumables only. Or make handmade presents with the children.

Everybody has too much stuff and no one really needs any more stuff. Getting together with the people who matter to you should be what Christmas is all about.

That's my take, anyway. YMMV, and that's okay too, but getting into debt for Christmas is not a good idea.

[EveningOverRooftops]

I buy all my toiletries and medicine through boots (same price as supermarket if using own brand and chemist is near me so makes sense) and make use of advantage card points and booster vouchers by saving them up all year then use that when the 3 for 2 gifts start to get DC soap based gifts.

From sept I keep a box under the stairs and buy a festive food item or two with every shop. One week it might be a bottle of alcohol or fancy soft drinks or crackers and biscuits etc. This year my box is already full with our Xmas treats inc alcohol and I just need the fresh food. I do the same with my freezer and have a drawer I start adding items into from November like frozen veg we eat, butter for baking etc as it all freezes and just reduces how much I need to get the week of Xmas.

Save throughout the year. I do a couple of methods. My standard direct debit to savings account, this is general purpose savings and will be used for any emergency too.

Savings tin and the end of every week I empty what’s left in change in my purse into the tin. By the end of the year I have close to £100 in it that pays for DCs presents.

I also buy early, have a rule that DCs don’t get extravagant Xmas gifts to keep their expectations reasonable iyswim. That DC knows that Xmas gifts will include some that are second hand as well as new items. And they will get most of what they ask for. DC put five items on this years list. One item was 0.25p the most expensive is £30. Total for what’s been requested is about £60-£70. I’ve of course added a little more fun things and consumable things to that like nice hot chocolate so in total it’ll be around £150.

TLDR: I save, save and use points schemes and vouchers and buy secondhand as well as spread the cost out over a number of months.

You really need to start doing what you can afford and budget and plan. It’s not too late now.

I got all my gift bags from the charity shop last week for 25p each. Usually they’re around £1-£1.50. Picked up DC a couple of jumpers too in a style they love for £3 each and they’ve been laundered and wrapped.
Most charity shops get their Xmas stuff out now so you can get some fab decorations, wrappings, Xmas cards etc for pennies.

[FoxInABox]

I have a savings account I pay into all year. My DH also has a business that is always very busy at this time of year so his income increases for Nov & Dec which helps a lot.

[Winterfairy23]

I put money away every month and this year I’ve landed with £500 so far. This is for presents and food but I don’t have children. That money covers presents for my side of the family (not many of us) and a contribution to food for the family Christmas meal. My other half buys for his own family so that comes out of his own budget. I would probably too it up a bit nearer the time if I need to but would just take that out of my November wage.

It must be a lot harder for people with children and or big families and single parents.

[ivfbabymomma1]

We save £100 a month from January - December every year! I've done this since becoming debt free which took A LONG TIME! 😣 & I refuse to get back in that situation again!!

[XiCi]

@Frederica852

You spend £300 on your DD?! 😲 I spend less than £50

There's always one 🙄

[Disfordarkchocolate]

We save all year.

Buy as we go from September or earlier.

Reduce the number of people we buy for.

[godmum56]

@TangoWhiskyAlphaTango

I also save each month £100 so by Christmas I can relax a little, but I also have DS birthday on the 27th too so a double whammy. Always take the dc out for a fancy meal of Xmas eve, somewhere like The Ivy. I also save Park Catalogue vouchers for M&S so have £150 to spend on nice food. I have done this for years now and whilst I am not flush with money it makes Christmas more relaxing and i can enjoy being a little frivolous.

do you get more in voucher money than you put in in cash?

[theleafandnotthetree]

@Hexenhaus

To add that we spend virtually same as usual on food, perhaps with some extra puddings-we are normally on a budget, but we choose more favourites and eat round the table with a tablecloth and candles and music to make it more of an event.

That's lovely. I think there are ways of making things feel more special that don't cost too much extra. When I was on the bones of my arse a few years ago, we used to have afternoon tea once a week or so. The same cake or biscuits anyone might have but tea out of a teapot and china cups, the cake on one of those tiered stands I got a present of and a little candle in the middle. The same goes for festive things.

[Marmite27]

I put money aside each month to cover school holiday spending, actual holiday spending, birthdays, Christmas, birthday parties for the kids, Easter and Halloween, our anniversary and Mother’s and Father’s Day.

Over the years it has expanded to cover more stuff, originally it was just birthday and Christmas.

From the monthly amount that goes in the account, there is a strict budget for everything. I have a spreadsheet.

[onelittlefrog]

There's always one 🙄

@XiCi True, however in this situation justified. I'm also shocked OP will spend £300 on a child when they are already in £4k debt. And that they see that as non-negotiable.

I wonder how they got into debt in the first place

[UltimateBugKilla]

I save throughout the year using an app, it takes the big hit off presents, and use a bit of credit and pay it off quickly.

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

We are very lucky in that we haven't really had to budget for Christmas. But we have never spent £300 on one child. When they wanted expensive gifts such as playstations, they were expected to save half or know that money given by grandparents / aunts & uncles would go towards it.

As a parent of adult children, I'd be really sad if they spent £50 on me when they were struggling.

You could get some really decent gifts for £20 for your nieces and cut back a bit there.

Budgeting monthly is a good idea if you can, so if you see suitable gifts in a sale you can buy them early.