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.

Look on the app "Olio" as people give away non food items as well. There's always loads of toys on ours and as pp have said, the 2 year old doesn't really understand yet so will probably be happy with something to unwrap and play with.
Also, check out any church Christmas fairs near to the time it ends. We always end up selling things for next to nothing just so we don't have to take it home again.

Have a look for school and church hall fetes as they often have a jumble table . Or car boots maybe?
A good tip for stockings that I heard is to put a bag of their fave crisps in, it fills space and is quite cheap, likewise those little cereal selection boxes

Also tokens for the older two to use through the year ugh go down well. EG a "yes day" token, or a no homework day token or an unlimited screen time day. The sort of thing that they'd see as a treat.

Thanks for having the courage to make this post op, I remember feeling like utter shite when faced with the same predicament. Its quite reassuring that I'm not the only one, and there are some excellent suggestions on the thread for paring stuff down even now my kids are almost adult. I loved to read that some pp have said that the skint christmasses are the ones their dc remember with love, and that mine aren't the only ones that still get the same kinds of things even in less brassic times.

For stocking fillers try Poundtoy.com.

For £25 you can get 25+ items from the 'toys under £1' section and free shipping + the regularly put up deals like 2 for 1 etc... and that should cover stockings and maybe Xmas eve type things if you do them.

Bigger gifts try places like home bargains and B&M.

With the 2yo it should be easy to get things that don’t cost, I’m a huge fan of homebargins toys. I got my 4yo DD a big unicorn thing, I think it’s called ritzy roller for £6, last year I bought her cheap Princess dolls for 50p & 99p from the clearance bins, the boxes were slightly damaged.

You could probably get lots in home bargains for the older 2 as well. One of my DDs favourite gifts a couple of years ago was a bloody ruler with a calculator in it, cost me 89p. I also discovered a pencil case that was the exact same as her ridiculously expensive smiggle pencil case for like £2.99… ive just bought all mine raindeer onesies for £6 each.

Definitely keep up with the charity shops, I’ve managed to get some good Christmas gifts in them over the years. Last year my then make up obsessed 6yo got a make up case for £4 (one of those big metal cases) I put lots of bits of make up, glitter, brushes in it, all cheaply bought from home bargains.

Also look at free gifting sites in your area. At times when we’ve struggled they have been a godsend. Things I’ve got from them, football boots, toddler trampoline, go cart, piano, tv with DVD player, roller blades, dining table the week before Xmas last year…. A friend of mine who manages a care home was looking for baby dolls for some of the residents, I asked in one of our local groups and lots of people offered lots of good quality dolls. Never be afraid to ask if you need help, you can always pay it forward when you can. Where I was living last year there were a lot of families hit hard, lots of them had never needed to ask for help before and were embarrassed. There were community groups set up to make sure all the families from the local schools didn’t miss out. See if there is anything in your area, even if it’s you go along to a free Santa event they might be hosting for the kids it’s something.

Also, you could dress things up to look more than what they are. Aldi crisp box’s are fantastic. I occasionally grab an empty one just for my DDs to sit in and watch telly lol the love playing in them, I keep saying one year I’m going to wrap the boxes up to look like giant gifts and fill it with gifts, put lots of paper in it and the DDs can go hunting through them for gifts.

Definitely sign up to Facebook and join the freebay/whisking groups, you'll definitely be able to pick up some free bits.
The pound shops would be worth a visit. My local charity shops are too pricey but if I go to the bigger town nearby I can get some much better deals.
Raid your house for bits to sell on Facebook, I find this much easier than eBay as people collect from you and pay cash.
Could you Magpie DVD's and cds?
Go through your wardrobes and drawers and sell bundles of clothes.
Sell old toys.

A 2yo can't tell the difference between new and second hand.

I get as much as I can from charity shops/ school Xmas fairs (even go to other schools' ones!!) Even when we're not broke as it's much more economical.

I'd also ditch getting any adults gifts to prioritize the DC's.

Try car boot sales too

Roughly what is your location?

@felulageller

A 2yo can't tell the difference between new and second hand.

I get as much as I can from charity shops/ school Xmas fairs (even go to other schools' ones!!) Even when we're not broke as it's much more economical.

I'd also ditch getting any adults gifts to prioritize the DC's.

No, don't do that. Save a little for yourself. It was always awful at Christmas seeing my mum get nothing.

@Wellyscooterwalk I have been into The Works today. They had some great toys and craft sets 2 for £10. A couple of them would be good for the older two and are quite substantial!

Didn't have much growing up but was never aware of it. My Dad made me a very simple dolls house and a fort for my brother out of chipboard and painted them up. My Mum used to knit and sew clothes for my dolls. My brother had a homemade shield and sword (it was a long time ago). All our bikes and scooters were at least 2nd hand but very well cleaned and polished. On our local FB village page I often see parents offering toys and clothes for free. Charity shop puzzles to do together. Books which you read together and do all the voices. Drawing and colouring.

Bubble blowing kit would be very cheap and a hit in your 2 year old's stocking. Is your little one into pretend cooking? There are lots of instructions on line for making felt food ( The Range sells felt sheets inexpensively). I've made some of these that have gone down very well with this age group! Also blankets, pillows etc for dolls you already have.

I'd go for the Argos 2 for £15. There's a great range of stuff in that such as play doh, craft, Lego..etc. you'd still have money left for a stocking each too.

Hi, i would concentrate on the oldest 2 as they will be more aware ,
For the 2 year old i would look in somewhere like home bargains for a few toys , split the packs and wrap things separately to make the pile a little bigger , but really 2 year old aren't that much aware of stuff anyway.
Could you make some biscuits and decorate them ? , put all the kit in a box and open it together and make a big thing of how much fun it will be to do it
Far to much pressure at christmas , and when we look back on our own childhood i don't think its the presents we remember.
Don't beat yourself up about it , you will have fun no matter what , its just a day and you have so many more Christmas's to come .

Also look on oilio app.. all free and people just want it to go to good homes. My grandmother got ( obviously for the four great grandchildren) a dolls silver cross pram, was beautiful! But I see books and games and dolls and cradles a lot. This is free and it's hoping someone will get use and save from landfill. Also .. don't judge but I love the tip shop near us ! So the large recycling Center has a shop ( all funds to local charities) and it's pretty decent stuff for a few ponds. I got an amazing wooden dolls house, painted it and cleaned it for £5.

Good luck I think it will be fine !

Absolutely recommend facebay! DD is two in a couple of weeks and pretty much all her toys that we got for Xmas are second hand (I have stretched to a few new clothing bits too, but I'm not against getting those second hand too!) also recommend baking and cinema night, a walk to view Xmas lights and flasks of hot chocolate, chocolate Hunts and bulking out stockings with things they need too.
Also check all your voucher schemes etc - I went through my purse the other day and found I had a fair fee gift cards with a few quid on this one and that one that when I added it all up has paid for all the chocolates and biscuits etc for Xmas.

I've read on threads like this an idea which is filling a big box with blown up balloons!! Sounds so much fun, first discovering/playing then the popping!

I just hopped on to say I’ve been there. £5 could do the 2 year old and concentrate on the older two.

I would look Facebook marketplace for cheap bikes or scooters; and really fill your front room up so it looks busy on christmas morning after santas been? Like loads of red balloons, red paper streamers on the ceiling, etc so it might disguise any ‘bareness’? Also for the the older two could you create Gift day vouchers for things you will do in 2022 i.e. Harry Potter Land, Theatre, weekend stay somewhere, etc that they’ll enjoy as a big computer made ticket? Then book it afterwards? Saved my bacon a few times! Didnt put a date, just the month or summer for example.

Also a xmas morning or eve tea party - food dye into cheap lemonade, cheap bowls of crisps, etc

@Capricornandproud that is such a great idea about the gift vouchers !

[quote Erinrose82]@Capricornandproud that is such a great idea about the gift vouchers ! [/quote]
Thanks!! I let on it was booked, and then made sure I got it sorted in the new year when I could afford it!!

Does your local refuse centre has a shop? Ours if fab and full of cheap toys - can pick up scooters and ride ons for a few pounds.

Also have a look of there are any of mum2mum markets on - essentially table top indoor car boots of just baby and child things - have had absolute bargains on happyland sets, figures, doll, soft toys and books.

@Wellyscooterwalk I've got a £5 off £30 spend at Argos code you can have.

It expires tonight. You could buy some 2 for £15 toys, which can be a great deal!!

Tag me if you want the voucher code