Skint Christmas for three children

[Wellyscooterwalk]

Please help me with some DIY/ very very cheap ideas for Christmas.

We are in the ‘both working full time but barely scraping by’ bracket this year.
We can only find £100 to cover Christmas for our three children - stockings and gifts and other- and I’m trying to make the most of every penny. (£100 all together not each). I’m willing to spend every spare evening making/baking/searching for things.

I’ve already put together an advent calendar using Christmas themed books we own/craft activities we already had the materials for/‘activities’ such as a walk to see Christmas lights.

I will try to bulk out stockings with primark socks etc. and toiletries such as toothbrushes/bubble Bath which would normally fall within our groceries budget.

Any ideas of age appropriate gifts/stocking fillers that I can make please? Or things to buy cheaply which would be worth while?

Children are 8,6 and 2.

Thank you.

Flying Tiger is great for good quality cheap items from 5p upwards.

@EuromamaAussiekids

Thai thread is so helpful and positive I would love to see it in the classics section.

Me too!

I’d love this to go in classics too. Anyone know how to tag mumsnet headquarters to ask?

I came on less with ideas and more with reassurance. My parents business was very close to bankruptcy when we were children. They had very little money for presents for me and my two brothers. My mum worked so hard to find second had Lego bricks and my dad built a wooden box out of plywood. On Christmas morning, we had stockings and a lovely shared gift to play with. I promise it was really magical and it wasn’t until years later that my mum filled me in on quite how broke we had been. My parents have a completely different financial reality now but that Christmas reminds that it really, really isn’t about stuff it is about being a family and making the most of it.

Cardboard houses and castles they colour in are cheap and kept mine happy all day one year. They are £10 in hobbycraft. I've seen them in argos too.

www.hobbycraft.co.uk/colour_in-cardboard-fairy-playhouse-88cm/578508-1002

You’ve had some brilliant suggestions - love the balloons!

We had a very skint Christmas in 2018 and the charity shops were a life saver. We got all our stocking presents from the charity shops and your money goes a long way there! You may be able to sell some stuff to build up your budget too.

One tip I have is to check every source of money that you have. All your bank accounts, PayPal balance, old purses and pockets and wallets and handbags, change jars, the back of the sofa, vouchers, supermarket loyalty cards…you may find you have a bit extra lying around that you overlooked. I did this as an exercise with a group I was coaching recently and almost everyone found that they had more than they thought.

One tip I have is to check every source of money that you have. All your bank accounts, PayPal balance, old purses and pockets and wallets and handbags, change jars, the back of the sofa, vouchers, supermarket loyalty cards…you may find you have a bit extra lying around that you overlooked. I did this as an exercise with a group I was coaching recently and almost everyone found that they had more than they thought

This is really good advice. I did this one year and scrapped together an extra £30.

Also, have you got stuff you no longer need that you could sell off via EBay, Vinted or Music Magpie etc? Might help you rustle up another chunk of cash.

I just sold two old bikes and a train set for a total of £150. So have a look round your house and see what can be sold online for extra cash.

If you near the West Midlands area I'd be happy to help you out. Have a few things my children don't play with anymore.

I forgot to say that when we were skint, we made a big deal out of setting the mood - decorating brown paper with potato prints to be wrapping paper, putting Christmas music on while we decorated the tree in our Christmas jumpers, making gingerbread together and taking it round to their friends houses in little gift bags, candles and carols on while the Christmas dinner was on, watching a charity shop dvd with popcorn on Christmas Eve after a walk out to see all the Christmas lights round near us...

In the end, your little ones will remember how Christmas made them feel, more than the individual presents they get, and the mood setting and the fun is what will make those memories for them more than a pile of presents will. The Christmas we were skint was one of the best we ever had, because we were so determined to make it amazing - I hope yours will be too. X

Just been in home bargins and they had some great stocking fillers for under £1-£2. They also had some good toys. There was a globe light for about £8 which looked fab x

Also don't be persuaded to give money to the school fundraisers.

@Nc123

I forgot to say that when we were skint, we made a big deal out of setting the mood - decorating brown paper with potato prints to be wrapping paper, putting Christmas music on while we decorated the tree in our Christmas jumpers, making gingerbread together and taking it round to their friends houses in little gift bags, candles and carols on while the Christmas dinner was on, watching a charity shop dvd with popcorn on Christmas Eve after a walk out to see all the Christmas lights round near us...

In the end, your little ones will remember how Christmas made them feel, more than the individual presents they get, and the mood setting and the fun is what will make those memories for them more than a pile of presents will. The Christmas we were skint was one of the best we ever had, because we were so determined to make it amazing - I hope yours will be too. X

Exactly.

Haven't thought of potato prints so long. Could use any food coloring on hand.

One of the best gifts I ever received was a pack of straw flower seeds, some potting mix and a plastic plant tub. I felt like such a grown up and even now, thirty years later, I still get a warm glow whenever I see straw flowers. When I look back now I realise my parents were skint at the time, but it never felt like it.

Or, is there anything of yours that they love? I used to love picking through mum's jewellery box and especially coveted this ratty old papier mache bangle. I would have been thrilled to receive it for Christmas (and will be checking for it when I'm home this year!).

I may be a bit late to this thread but I thought I'd just add that my DC are now 12 & 9 but the things that we repeat year in, year out are the things we started doing when we were quite skint one year and I realised we needed to focus on free fun wherever we could.
This week we're off to the Christmas light turn on. We'll actually go out for dinner afterwards this year as we're in a much better position financially but when they were younger it was the idea of having tea and then wrapping up warm and going out that they loved. In a couple of week's time we'll go to carols in the town centre despite none of us being religious or the DC really knowing what any of the songs are. We also need to visit three different garden centres as well as The Range and B&Q to see what Christmas displays and things they have. The DC still love looking at the mini houses from the Christmas village displays where they might have a little train or some moving ice skating figures. They always ask if we can get one and the answer is always no. On a couple of occasions, they have seen something little which I have nipped back for for a stocking filler for them which caused much excitement on Christmas Day when they were younger - and actually will do so again this year as the plastic snake, mini snow globe, dancing santa and a couple of other bits of plastic tat get put away each year with the decorations and re-appear in their stocking. We also have to do various "tours" of Christmas lights.
Then there will be some Christmas baking, a few movie nights, a couple of craft sessions and, drum roll time, our Christmas party which is when they each get to have half a dozen friends cover from 2 - 4.30 (no time for real food!), play musical bumps, musical chairs & other games each with the prize of a
mini bag of Haribo, throw balloons around and generally go crazy. They think it's the best party ever and the parents of the guests love me as it's a couple of hours break for them in the madness of the run up to Christmas.
And to top all of that, there's advent calendar chocolate before school each day. What's not to love!

One of my favourite presents ever was a craft book and then a huge selection of things to use - tinfoil, cotton wool, egg boxes, matchboxes, cotton reels, pipe cleaners, glue etc. Add in some craft bits from Poundland etc and that could be a lovely gift for a crafty kid

Haven't RTFT only bits, so please don't shout at me. Asda are doing small selection packs for 89p each.
OP. Do you have girls or boys ?
I have cardboard puzzles (kids colour them in) I have Santa /Elves. There are 3 of each, if you want any. Might want to exchange the felt pens for crayons for the little one. I have various bits and pieces so let us know. Depending on ages might have suitable things for yours if you like. Happy to post or if not too far could maybe drop off.
Being skint is shit, especially when you work. Keep posting, we can help you 💐

I pad a stocking out with sweets. Chocolate Santa (Aldi), a can of fizzy drink - coke is a brilliant treat if they're not normally allowed it.

The Christmases I remember as a child werent the ones where I got something like a bike or a CD player (happened a couple of times), they were the ones when I got a few small bits - chocolates, stickers, fun bubble bath, a set of paints etc. Its the feeling of how special the day is that made it for me.

I already posted earlier but just wanted to say that, thanks to this post reminding me, I've posted a load of my children's old (but good condition) or unwanted toys on Olio & Freecycle. I already tried giving away stuff on FB but I think people are often hesitant to ask publicly.

Anyone struggling this year, please sign up to all available freebie apps & sites. And don't be afraid to ask for stuff.

There was one Christmas when I was very young, maybe 3 or 4, when I woke up on Christmas Day with a bottle of bubbles (the kind with the wand) in my hand. God knows how my parents managed it without waking me 😂THAT felt truly magical to me.

My best Christmas memories are actually things that when I look back now must have been moments of worry for my mum (think missing the last bus home and having to walk 50 mins home in the dark with 2 kids and shopping) yet somehow she turned them into the best times - singing carols and letting us sneak a chocolate out of the quality street tin on the long walk home.
Also one of my fave presents was actually a totally free hand me down from a cousin that she wrapped up (found out later)
It really isn't about money AT ALL when I look back

A few years ago I got some great Lego gifts and Sylvanian family items on Facebook.

A few bits missing and no box but I was able to find a pretty box for the Lego and order spare parts or find from existing Lego.

Home made vouchers for use during the year. A cinema trip, a beach trip, etc etc. No cost (at the time) and let's you budget for them happening later on (or use offers/freebies)

Are any primary schools local to you having Christmas fairs? Some great items at a great price can be found there. Maybe visit as many as you can. Car boot sales?

Your DC are young enough not to notice the finer details and will get swept up in the magic created by you.

Both my children, when small, got a giant box of inflated balloons for Christmas. It was so exciting for them. They were toddlers and loved unwrapping they big box, pulling out the balloons. Playing with the balloons making a castle or fort out of the box. Hiding in the box. Drawing on the cardboard inside the box.
Honestly an inexpensive gift that the 2 year old will love and play with for ages.

Do you collect Boots points? They tend to do 3 for 2 at Christmas. I save my points all year to spend at Christmas.