Is anyone else worried about how much christmas is going to cost this year

[Wicca123]

I love Christmas and have made a start already....but can't help wondering how much more expensive it will be this year, with the cost of living the way it is. Is anyone else slightly worried?

What do we all think Jesus would say about this?

Well, if he can turn my lottery ticket into a couple of million pounds, he can say whatever he likes. (Not that I’d be listening).

Not worried at all. Food is just a big Sunday dinner. We'll buy whatever meat we can afford and then it's just veg and potatoes. If we can't afford presents for adults, we'll just discuss this well in advance and agree not to do adult gifts, or do a secret santa, so only one gift to buy. We don't go mad on children's gifts either so definitely don't have a past to live up to of the mountains of presents that I see plastered all over Facebook.

I LOVE Christmas, but we've never spent lots of money on it. Don't save up especially or put anything on credit cards. Just buy a few things from September onwards.

Not worried as food wise we have to eat all year round and Christmas doesn't add much to the bill. A couple more bottles of wine and some buffet bits. Present wise we never have gone mad and I buy over the year when I see things or make things. More worried about heating costs

Why would you be worried, don’t people just spend within their limits anyway? This is something you have total control over unlike say food bills where you can cut back a bit but still have to eat.
If you can afford £100 per person you spend that if you can only afford £1 per person so be it.
No wonder so many peoples personal finances are so dire if they spend beyond their means.

It depends what's "within" your budget really doesn't it? My income hasn't risen this year. So normally I would put away £20-30 a week to cover absolutely everything but this year, with price rises for food, electricity costs etc I will struggle to put aside £5-10 a week even if I cut other expenses ( which I will do).

So that's less money going into the economy, more chance of a huge recession.

I'd like to get my lovely sister a gift, she is single so she doesn't get partner gifts. She is a super sister and I would like to do something special. Other than this I am cutting back all over the place. My family are absolute bonkers at Christmas.

I'm not overly worried. We don't buy gifts for adults and don't buy our own dc that much either.
We do visit family and take simple gifts and just spend the time relaxing and going out. We'll go to an outdoor ice rink, watch films and go to the panto. We'll get lots of snacks in but dinner isn't too expensive as we tend to contribute to a big family buffet.

Nope... my christmas budget is my budget regardless, cant have more money than you have.

So each kid is still getting £130 in presents/stocking/xmas eve box and xmas dinner will still be about £30 (Seen people saying they spend £500 on just the meal and I honestly dont know how, its just sunday dinner basically. Veg, mash and yorkshire can't possibly cost that much, granted we do pasta based main instead of meat but even with meat I cant see how its £450+ more).

I do wonder how much gas for heating will cost come october/november/december/january/february/march time but thats a 'winter' issue not a 'christmas budget issue' and we are barely using gas right now (only to heat water) so its hard to judge.

Jesus probably wouldn’t think much of about everyone having a good time at Christmas.

but he’d be really pissed off that someone dragged his name into a conversation about being frugal in December. Because being judgmental isn’t very Christian, is it?

🤣

No, because I plan on largely ignoring Christmas. I will put up fake tree and decs that are 15 years old so they will cost nothing. I will cook a nice Christmas meal but we have to eat anyway and unless I pick up a small cheap turkey in Tesco, I usually substitute for chicken instead and serve it with the rest of the Christmas dinner. My kids are not little so nobody is being let down in my grinch version of Christmas.

No, it'll be costing me zero like it did last year, but the post-covid holiday fund will be increased, depending on gas bill.

No I am not worried, as others say, it's important to keep within your budget and not spend excessive amounts 'just because it's Christmas'. I know it sounds corny but focus on what's important ... whether that's Church activities, family time, relaxing at home, nice winter walks etc rather than spending money. I've long stopped buying presents apart from for my DS and all my family and friends seem relieved and have done the same.

Not really. I only buy gifts for 3 people now and as neither me or DP are bothered about Christmas (we have no small children and DD and her DP will probably be working so won't be visiting), Christmas dinner will consist of whatever either of us can be arsed to cook.

No I always snap things up in tkmaxx etc throughout the year and my budget is always fairly low and I'm not fussed about the food. After the rubbish lockdown Christmas I'm genuinely happy with a pizza.

yes - started putting few things away earlier but we tend to do this anyway and tend to start food shopping in September as well.

So starting earlier and they will be less and more practical stuff - clothes, warm stuff etc.

I've got school trips between now and then to pay for and get equipment for which isn't going to help - though I'm very pleased they've started back up at all.

£50ish o

I am going to bite the bullet this year and cut down the list and explain why. I am sure everybody will feel the same. I'd rather spend the little money I have on my kids. I am trying to save a little each month but it's difficult so will do my best. I am fed up of the stress of it all and trying to please everybody. That's not what it is about.

Ff, as I was saying;

£50ish on DS
£50ish on DH
£20ish on ILs
And however much a turkey costs.
All the rest of Christmas lunch food can be bought with the weekly food budget.

Obviously if money gets very tight then I won't be spending the above amounts on presents.

He was always one for a party. Right?

Not really. Only buy for family children and dh now. That’s Ds and x2 under 1 this year. Dh isn’t bothered if we can’t afford.

Ds will be 2 1/2. So he has no major requests, and will be happy with anything and some biscuit decorating afternoons

The financial crisis is the golden opportunity (the only upside I can think of) for anyone who's wanted to scale down on the number of people they buy gifts for. So many people will be doing the same.

This year I have started to put an amount aside each month to cover all birthdays and Christmas including food and extra expenses by working out what we would spend and dividing it up into 12 months. We usually look out for the half price toy sales and get a lot of Amazon purchases on Black Friday week too.

I'm worried about money this year in general not just Christmas. So yes and no.

As someone up thread has said, this is a chance to be honest and cut out presents you buy every year but feel like you don't really want to.

We're lucky our children are still young so don't expect much as gifts or in the run up to Christmas. I LOVE Christmas but tbh will just be happy to have everyone round on the day, we will share the costs of food and instead of our classic M&S turkey I think we'll go somewhere cheaper or even a different roast meat.

I like reading the bargain threads on here too for bargains for gifts for close family. My mum has already said about scaling down for gifts so we're all on the same page.

Small or spectacular is fab, I love that.