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!

If you can't afford a £300 present for your child then they can't have one. It doesn't matter what other people are doing.

This is 100% true. Life's not fair sometimes, and trying to compensate by getting into debt doesn't help her or you.

We save all year so use savings. On one side of my family we do a Secret Santa as there are lots of family members, but we get "proper presents" not joke ones. My husband and I don't really buy each other presents, if we want something big we just buy it, we do buy little token gifts to open in front of the children.

Try and pick things up after each birthday - after last summer one for DC try hard to start finding things.

We do tend to smear the cost out - start in August and use credit cards to push some payments till Jan/Feb and have quiet months.

Usually have more chirstmas food put way by now - frozen stuff, things that keep.

Things they want tend to have to wait till birthdays/chirstmas rather than constantly pick things up - there's also a lot of clothes in there and there are seocnd hand items including from charity shops.

We do save every month for hoilday - but doesn't seem to work as well for Christmas. One year I left it to December having been coviced by others that we'd get less if we did that - well we got hit with lots of little bills that month that wiped us out- only thing that saved us was my parents giving me a cash gift that year.

Do feel behind this year - I think there's less being in shops and seeing and picking things up plus things have gone up and there's been situations that cost us more - bus strike cost us heavily in taxi fares - no other public transport that early.

We save a set amount each month for presents and also try hard not to buy excess food in December. It doesn't get eaten anyway so is just a waste of money.

My partner has an OK job wage and can pick up overtime but Im on minimum wage and only work between 15-30 hours a week (depending on if they've overspent on labour so cut down our hours) so we aren't well off at all and it is a struggle. Luckily I do get tips at work and I try not to spend them all year so that luckily pays for presents for my children, partner, nephews and neices but we don't spend much on them we have a max budget and stick to it. We do token presents for other adult family members, don't do famy outings like Santa's grotto/theatre/winter wonderland like alot of families so because we can't afford them and then the main expense is Christmas dinner which I admit I struggle to do cheaply despite it basically being a roast . Obviously my tips help but I would say if you can put away £20 a week it helps but its easier said than done if you aren't just handed the cash and able to then forget about it

I have savings for dc presents. Other than that, I only buy for my dad and we do a secret santa among siblings. Dh buys for his family, but he doesn't spend huge amounts.

Dh and I don't spend a lot on each other.

We do outings as well. They can be expensive tbh. We've probably spent as much on those as we have presents this year.

We save throughout the year. Although we don't have loads of spare cash I do splurge at christmas (mainly on the kids!). Not things like fancy advent calanders, christmas eve pjs or elf on shelf stuff but good quality toys they will love. We don't buy toys regularly so we save up to do it at Christmas. We also host which is costly but I love it. We split it between Nov, Dec and Jan pay (bit on cc then pay back). I'd never go into debt but its worth it for us :) Probs spend £1200 all in.

we tend to use our savings which we put away some each month.

I did go on the christmas activities threads & was quite astounded how many things some people had booked though.

I take a very cold eyed look at what we spend and I count in absolutely everything. Adding it up is very motivational. I think a lot of people have a tendency to fool themselves by not considering all the costs (and then give stupid advice about saving money by making hampers which disregards the cost of baskets, ribbons, containers, excess ingredients and possibly mistakes).

Then I look at what I can cut out of the budget. And consider what we can comfortably afford - not what bil thinks, what school mum spends or what MN claims they spend.

After that I divide by 12 and save that amount separately and I track each spend in a category (food, drink, entertainment, clothes, and each persons gifts).

I budget separately for things like school stationery and sports equipment so the dc might get some of those things at Christmas too. Or a branded version instead of decathlon basics.

I keep my lists and budget on my phone so I can take advantage of a bargain any time. Because I save year round, the money is available.

I’ve had bones of my arse christmases too, and I absolutely refuse to get into debt.

I save and whatever I've saved has to do.

Lots of different ways.

Never leave Christmas until the “Christmas” period, everything is in demand and expensive, plus too much to choose from is so easy to buy more than you actually need to.

Buy throughout the year, buy in sales (FIL got a beautiful wool jumper in his favourite colour, cost me £5 in the summer sales. New stocks of the same jumper, slightly different shade, have just come back out for £25

Buy as much Christmas themed stuff in January sales (decorations, crackers etc..)

Buy second hand if I can ( When DDs wanted Our Generation stuff I bought a bulk lot in August for £50, campervan, hairdressing chair, 3 dolls, loads of clothes. They had no idea it was 2nd hand. Even second hand prices jump up closer to Christmas.

Restrict Christmas list to 2 items. Happy to have a few extra back up gifts, but having just the 2 means I can get what they really want and anything else is a bonus.

Get Christmas list locked in early in case I do need to budget more.

Don’t buy the latest fad.

Sell old toys to buy new. Or sell old clothes to cover extra costs.

Christmas clubs are good too. I don’t use them but my parents always did.

Set reminders for sale dates for the stores your interested in buying from.

Use any kind of club card or loyalty card you can to collect points. My DHs last job had a rewards scheme for using certain retailers, I would build up points throughout the year and use as much as possible towards anything Christmas related.

I think a lot of people get swept away with the whole Christmas thing and probably spend way more than they intended to and it’s easy to do!
I’ve put a little bit of money away every month, not much but it helps. I bought their main presents earlier in the year (not easy to do once kids get older and change their mind!). And we don’t go overboard and spend lots on them. The last couple of years me and dh haven’t bought for each other where things have been tight. Last year taught us that the most important thing is to all get together as a family at some point over the festive period. Material goods don’t matter, family and loved ones do.

We save every month for various things, rainy day, Christmas, birthdays, holidays etc.

We also tend to buy during the year. And also put things on credit card - for the protection and for the cashback. But we almost always pay it off in full every month. At Christmas we don't always pay it off in full, though usually could if we wanted to, I just like to have cash savings.

Wow some people spend such a lot!

*I spend probably about £300 on my dd
£50 on my mum
£25 for each niece
£15 on my friend

and then my husband will spend
£50 on his dad and stepmum
£15 nephew
£15 niece

This is us being as cheap as possible*

It's really not. It's not a bonkers amount compared to others but when our finances were really tight (when the kids were younger - childcare costs), we would spend £50 on each child, £10 on each niece and £10 on each of our parents. Amounted to about £150. Then maybe £25 on each other. So £200 on presents in total. Presents can be a token gift which show you've thought about what the person will enjoy (nice bubble bath, book, candle, gift voucher, foodie item). You're spending more than twice what we would have. We spend more now as we have more. I'm not saying there's any right or wrong, just that it's a matter of priorities (and we can't tell you which is the right priority for you)

@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.

4K On a credit card isn’t that bad- obviously comparative to how much people earn but even with debt I don’t think many parents would cancel xmas for their DC.

I’ve had 2 jobs in the past which paid 13 months, basically a years salary was split into 13 instead of 12 and I’d get a double salary in December.
It was brilliant!!
Wish all jobs did this.

Starter putting 700 a month away in September and that covers Christmas for us. Next year I’ll put a smaller amount away from January.

Could you cut down on your parents presents, I'm sure they wouldn't want you to spend that much on them , we always tell DS not to spend much and hint at about £5-£10, I would hate to think of him spending £50 each

I will be totally honest, we moved house. We needed to move for space and another bedroom therefore we moved to a much cheaper area, have a mortgage that is much lower than the banks were willing to lend so that every month we have excess money to do with what we like, not just Christmas. It has less prestige than where we lived before but what we have here size wise we could never have afforded in the previous area. It is just a few miles away.

We have also moved for jobs and have lived in different areas so this wasn't daunting for us having relocated hundreds of miles before including moving North for cheaper housing and looking for jobs up there. We are also not swayed by trends or fads or having an Instahouse. My Dad worked in marketing, I have had it drummed in me all my life.

We used to save some money every month for yearly stuff such as car insurance and Christmas. But we don't spend big at Christmas. From mine and Dh's siblings my children get either £10 or £20 each, they often club that together to get more expensive items. We don't buy for siblings as agreed a long time ago, we only buy for their children and vice versa. We do give beloved items such as a Chocolate Orange. Small, but appreciated. We don't pile presents high at home. It isn't about quantity but quality.

To keep spending at a reasonable level, the answer is almost always to manage expectations and live within your means. We don't have to spend £££ just because other people do. Children have to learn this and adults have to live by it.

I've always been annoyed by ads for "stocking stuffers" that cost as much as the main gift would, in my family. It's ridiculous. But it's up to me to decide what I can/will spend and stick to it.

If you can't afford gifts for everyone on your list, there are two options: Save harder through the year, if at all possible, or pare down the shopping list. Agree to stop exchanging gifts, or put a limit on how much everyone is 'allowed' to spend.

One thing I wouldn't do is go into debt to afford Christmas gifts, and I'd be mortified if someone spent money they couldn't afford to buy something for me or my family.

I'm another one that thinks £300 is too much for your DD. We set a budget of £100 per DD but admittedly they are little. I think this will probably increase to £200 each when they're teenagers.
DNieces and Nephews also get £10 budget only. Chocolates and a book usually and DH and I are reasonably comfortable financially but I think this is the key, you don't overspend and don't get into debt to buy people presents that they won't even remember this time next year. Small, token gifts are fine as is not buying everything on your DD's list.

As for the mum spending £400 on two tracksuits....well frankly she sounds a bit of an idiot and not someone you want to copy. Not really for the spending, although I do think that's absolutely ridiculous but more for the sounding off about it to other parents....most of whom will likely not have that sort of money to spare.

We don't most years do a lot of christmas activities- in primary schools always seemed manic just before - it used to be one of the few times a year we actually stopped and relaxed and just hung out together.

Not sure if that will work this year - did last as we got streaming services with things we wanted to watch as family - as we've spent so much time in the house and they've got to the age they do spend a lot of time in their rooms though at same time there are covid passes here so what options there would be to do stuff is difficult to forsee.

Just buy presents for DS, nieces and a couple of close relatives/friends. And don’t go mad!

Don’t buy new outfits for myself to wear over Christmas.

Think carefully about what I’m cooking & when to maximise use- e.g I cook a ham on Christmas Eve, so we eat it hot that night, have some cold for tea on Christmas Day and the vast majority is eaten at the Boxing Day buffet.

Don’t buy loads of booze- only what I know we’ll drink, plus a couple of bottles of wine for unexpected guests.

Remember the shops open back up and everything is back to normal after 2 days- so no need to do an insane huge shop, except for entertaining.

It’s still a struggle and we’re quite sensible really.

I hope ‘Father Christmas’ isn’t getting the credit for the presents bought with that £300 while your family slides into debt.