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.

I always have a bag of chocolate coins and a satsuma in my dcs. This year I have just bought a cookie cutter each for other small things (I’m also trying to use that as motivation to make me commit to baking Xmas cookies with them before xmas!)

Try rocking deals uk on FB - let’s you know when items are on a flash sale on Amazon. Can get some things very cheap!

I want op to come back and tell us all her fb mp bargains.

The 2 year old won't know much about what is going on. Wrap up some of the older kids old stuff for DC2 they just like unwrapping things

I was looking on shpock today and there were loads of very cheap toys and books etc, a lot of seller post items too so doesn't have to be local x

Another Christmassy sensory play idea - play snow. Recipe: 1/2 cup of the cheapest white hair conditioner you can find and 2 cups of baking powder. Messy but lots of fun.

Also festive sensory bottles, plastic water bottle filled with glitter or whatever you might have spare in your craft stash. If you can fill them white and draw a snowman’s face on the front it’ll make it Christmassy.

Decorations - if your children’s bedroom doors are white you could cut out a few shapes and decorate it as a snowman for them to find in the morning. Have a look on Pintrest for the idea.

Sorry I haven't RTFT but if you're on Facebook join a group called Preloved to Reloved for Postage UK. The idea is that people give items away free and you just pay the postage. Lots of children's toys and clothes on there, and you can ask for things you're looking for too.

Free cycle is also an option

Join Facebook and join your local area group. From there write a little post describing Christmas being a bit difficult this year and ask if anyone had any second hand toys, Christmas decoration etc they were thinking of getting rid of that you'd be happy to pick up etc and I honestly bet you'd get loads of offers.

@crochetmonkey74

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

This is brilliant!

I remember at 7 or 8 getting a box of mom's scarves, partially used makeup, etc was thrilling. Dress-up kit!

They didn't have much $$ but we never realized it.

Please contact your local Salvation Army- they will help you out

@Wellyscooterwalk

Thank you so much- these ideas are brilliant!

It’s also a nice (well needed) reminder that others have been in this position.

Dough decorations, homemade playdough, chocolate hunt, homemade dolls clothes all added to the list.
Cinema evening also!

I have been trawling the charity shops but we live in an area with a predominately elderly population, they’re not well furnished with children’s toys and are quite expensive! I will keep looking though. Thank you.

Look for the charity shop superstores they always have massive stock

@HelplesslyHoping

Facebook market place could help you find one big present for each of them, and then their little presents can be homemade or craft items. Scooters and bikes if they're able (People often get rid of them in winter so you might find a bargain). Things like sand/water pits, outdoor table and chairs etc sell this time of year too.

You could look into making a doll's house- even if it's just a cardboard box on it's side, they can make paper dolls and furniture.

If you have an Emmaus near you, they will be able to help and often sell large children's toys in good condition for very cheap.

You can also make a dolls house from a small book case

Gumtree - Freebies.
Could you get help from a food bank at Christmas? - you might get a few treats in there for the children.

I think this is such an honest post. So many people are working non stop yet not able to scrape by. I’m one of them! We have a nice car yet I don’t get paid until Thursday so I literally filled it up with the change that was in my purse today because I have no money in my bank, already at the bottom of my overdraft. I think everyone likes to not mention money and when they do it’s just a vague comment because it’s not something that’s spoken about. Only once ever can I remember that someone mentioned being in their overdraft in a conversation. Everyone wants to give off the impression things are fine when they’re literally skinning themselves to be able to afford basic things. I had to go to my mum and dads for dinner one night recently because I didn’t have enough money to buy food shopping. I’m an adult with a child! People are just too proud to admit it.

Definitely second hand toys! Give them a good clean and they’ll love them, especially the younger children. I’m a teacher and I buy my class of 5/6 year olds some of the most rubbish toys ever for a pound, yet you’d think I’d just handed them something worth 100 times that! The more weird and wonderful toy the better it seems 🤷🏼‍♀️ They would be good stocking fillers

When I was a child my dad used to get a new motorbike every so often and it came in this huge box. My greatest childhood memory is playing in those boxes. My cousins and I would get pillows and make them into bunk beds and all sorts with the mr blobby cd playing in the background on repeat 😂 Simple but so fun!! You could decorate them with them

For the 2 year old, fill a huge box with inflated balloons and wrap the box.

If you can, tie some of the balloons together in a bunch with a ribbon to tie them to the ceiling and ribbons to tie them to the big box.

Voila! A hot air balloon to play in all day!

For the 6 year old. If you have a table you could buy an old plain sheet from a charity shop to throw over the table as a den. Use felt tip pens to decorate it with a window, doors etc. Depending if it's a house, maybe draw a flower box or bricks if it's a castle, cardboard drawbridge, cheap bow and arrow set? Write their name on it and spend the day decorating it?

Pigs in blankets Christmas pic nic on the carpet with Christmas rubbish on TV in your PJs all day!!

Make proper popcorn, it's great fun!

If you do join Facebook, there are local free sites where there’s lots of great stuff going at the moment as people clear out. Ours has one day a week where you can ask for stuff.
Also, for stocking stuff, Amazon has a fair bit of packs of cheap stuff so they can get one each. I was looking for a torch for a stocking the other day and could only get the one I wanted in packs of four. Think they were £7 for four. Mind love a torch! It’s the same with fancy rubbers etc.

Your Christmas sounds lovely OP - so many activities and lovely family time experiences for them to remember, I bet those will be the traditions they take to their families when they grow

I don’t have much more to add but the Xmas gift threads on here often find crazy bargains but be careful not to get sucked in! I second eBay and Facebook marketplace.

@sarah13xx

I think this is such an honest post. So many people are working non stop yet not able to scrape by. I’m one of them! We have a nice car yet I don’t get paid until Thursday so I literally filled it up with the change that was in my purse today because I have no money in my bank, already at the bottom of my overdraft. I think everyone likes to not mention money and when they do it’s just a vague comment because it’s not something that’s spoken about. Only once ever can I remember that someone mentioned being in their overdraft in a conversation. Everyone wants to give off the impression things are fine when they’re literally skinning themselves to be able to afford basic things. I had to go to my mum and dads for dinner one night recently because I didn’t have enough money to buy food shopping. I’m an adult with a child! People are just too proud to admit it.

Definitely second hand toys! Give them a good clean and they’ll love them, especially the younger children. I’m a teacher and I buy my class of 5/6 year olds some of the most rubbish toys ever for a pound, yet you’d think I’d just handed them something worth 100 times that! The more weird and wonderful toy the better it seems 🤷🏼‍♀️ They would be good stocking fillers

Couldnt agree more. Very well said.

@S0upertrooper

For the 6 year old. If you have a table you could buy an old plain sheet from a charity shop to throw over the table as a den. Use felt tip pens to decorate it with a window, doors etc. Depending if it's a house, maybe draw a flower box or bricks if it's a castle, cardboard drawbridge, cheap bow and arrow set? Write their name on it and spend the day decorating it?

Pigs in blankets Christmas pic nic on the carpet with Christmas rubbish on TV in your PJs all day!!

This is a good idea and a sheet "fort" is easy to store. Get one at a charity shop or ask on Freecycle.

My local adventure / outdoor pursuits centre is doing a black Friday sale where you can buy eg archery, abseiling or bushcraft sessions for £10 (usually £18). Would work for your oldest if there's similar near you.

I'm pretty sure mine who are 9 and 6 will be most excited by the chocolate in their stockings they will be allowed to eat for breakfast!

Don't know if it's been mentioned but look at Vinted. I've bought a game for Christmas eve off there that you wouldn't know was second hand.

Party Delights do loads of little toys and stocking fillers including lots of Christmas themed stuff from about 30p.

There is postage but you can buy stuff individually rather than in multipacks that you won't use and could probably cram three stockings for a tenner.

www.partydelights.co.uk/Christmas/christmas-toys-and-stationery.aspx?pmo=ch#TOYS

If you look at party nag fillers there will be loads more generic bits and bobs.

Fab balloons too!