Frugal Christmas thread

[ThisisCollie2022]

Anyone up for a frugal Christmas thread?

Homemade crafts, gifts, decorations, gift ideas and frugal festive food etc

Also ideas on how to keep the children busy would be great!

I know it's August but the best frugal tip is to be prepared so am thinking ahead now :)

Show me the headphones collie please?

@lifelongfrugaleer here we go www.primark.com/en-gb/p/coloured-rubber-earbuds-999179470308 just tested them with the Xbox One Controller and they're fantastic! So possibly a good stocking filler for kids, teens & collies alike

So have to buy for:
dp (23)
me!!!!! (23)
dd (4)
df (60)
dm (60)
dneice (13)
dsis (40)
dbil (38)
ddog (2) (couldn’t care less but will probably get her a new chew)

i am thinking half (£100) for gifts as we have all decs already actually (just checked) and an artificial tree so that is covered

And have you any ideas about how to divvy up the £100? Dd also has a stocking but I reckon I could dip into the £100 for food as it’s only us on Xmas day, we see the family on Xmas eve at dms house

could probably do food with around £50 as it’s only us and we’re veggie so no turkey. That’s also including baking ingredients for me and dd to do. So £150 budget for gifts.

oh crappety crappety crap. Forgot about dmil and dfil and dsil so need gifts for them as well (dsil: 30, dmil 50, dfil 53)

deck I'd divvy up £150 like this. But where possible I'd try and get each gift for about £7.50. I know that sounds precise but there's a lot of offers around and 2 for 1 gifts etc

dp (23) - 15
me!!!!! (23) - 15
dd (4) - 40
df (60) - 10
dm (60) - 10
dneice (13) - £10 note
dsis (40) - 10
dbil (38) - 10
dsil: 30, - 10
dmil 50, - 10
dfil 53) - 10

Or would the couples understand if you bought them a bottle of nice ish wine to share?

The sisters and mums may enjoy nail polish, stationary sets or books?

Men are bloody difficult! Shower gel, socks, chocolates?

@Deckthewallswithpaintandplaydough

www.boots.com/christmas-3-for-2 the 3 for 2 gifts have started already and there's some nice stuff in there!!

Sainsburys had a pretty bottle of £12 gin today! I gazed but didn't buy 🤣

For DD use this for gifts & stocking
Something she wants
Something she needs
Something to wear
Something to read

And if you start looking now you can get some absolute bargains! Amazon have some of the girls Lego for £16 reduced from £25.

Primark had notepads, pens, socks, fleece throws, bobble hats earlier. All pretty and character stuff!
😍

Thank you sooo much!!! Probably I will get the couples a bottle of wine and a small token gift. And for dn I might get her the primark wireless keyboard thingy as I know she wants one (also thanks for the primark link! I need some new ones) And then spend a little more on dd, dp and dniece. Dd is still at that age where she doesn’t understand why me and do don’t get stockings so I will wrap up some cheap things that are essential and stick em in a pillowcase so she sees us get things. Thank you again!!!!

Wow I love the look of the ted baker amber gift set for dp!!!! £14!!!!! He will love it I think

Fucking hell, love the boots 342

The boots 342 is a success. I got
1x ted baker vintage amber gift set
1x cocomelon bath colour thing
1x llama bubble bath
1x unicorn shower gel
1x swirly soap thing
1x Disney princess lip balm set
1x mini makeup brush set
1x nails and lip set
1x champneys little awakening duo
1x hand lotion (winter spice)
1x hand wash (winter spice)
1x joules soap stack

all for £43 delivered

only need to get some more things for dds stocking, cheap essentials for mine and dps, something for dfil (socks?) something for df (socks?) something for dniece, some little thing for me and a few bottles of alcohol for the couples and I’m done!! Any ideas for the last few things?? @ThisisCollie2022 rhank you SOO much you literally just saved Christmas I’m not even joking.

Omg @Deckthewallswithpaintandplaydough! You did well!! That's exactly what this thread is for :)

Men are SO bloody difficult to buy for!! Beer? Lol!

Probably beer and a book. And for Dneice I think I will get her a octopus fake Oodie thing from primark. I am going to primark anyway to get dd stocking fillers and a gift for me

Well done collie
I had some thoughts but as you are sorted then whoo hoo

@Decafflatteplease Oh my... that hot chocolate recipe.. I think we'll have to try that.
We mull cider in the slow cooker (ideally setting it off before we go on a walk so we come home to the house smelling of the spices). I don't have an exact recipe- I think it's about 1 cinnamon stick to 4 cloves, plus brown sugar to taste.

I love this thread! Reading it is cheering me up after a frustrating day, so thank you!

Didnt read the whole thread but:
Poundland sells nice wooden ornaments that would be fun to decorate
bake cookies
Take contact paper and cut into tree shapes, let the children add bits of tissue paper to decorate (if you put some masking tape underneath it will stick to the table to make it easy)
handprint art on Christmas cards (keeps kids busy and are cute to send)
salt dough ornaments (easy cheap fun)
shaving cream with peppermint oil (smells good and keeps the littles busy! works great on a cookie sheet)
Marble painting a Christmas tree (cut tree out of paper and let the child roll a marble in paint and across the tree or ornament. Works great in a old pizza box)
open a see through ornament, let child dump in paint or glitter, or both. Put lid on and shake. tip upside down over a cup to dry. Works wonderful over a disposable cup so when it dries you can toss the leftover paint mess)

Oh and for the big people: think baskets (again poundland is a good shopping spot)
Im doing a towel basket for my aunt, been picking up two towels per month (usually the themed ones). So at the end of the year she ends up with 24 towels. I plan to do 24 towels rolled up nice with ribbon and then put them around a flower pot with some double sided tape. Inside the pot I plan to add a couple cheap muffin mixes, and some poundland cooking tools. So basically it should come out looking like a diaper cake style basket.
another great basket was BEER! I bought a couple types of beer and stuck in a basket, then filled the basket with snacks and a couple beer taps (vintage shopping)
poundland has some of the cutest holiday baskets that can be decorated and made cute. A plain basket could be full of goodies and decorated with a childs handprint (covered with some acrylic sealer) for a grandparent.
(sorry used to work with kids lol)

@Liorae bah humbug to you! 🤣

liorae - I'm guessing you are entirely missing the point or spirit of this thread with an entirely needless comment.

@Liorae uncalled for comment there.

We'll be doing a Secret Santa gift exchange between the the extended family mmbers and bying gifts for close family only. Also Secret Santa for the friend group.
I'm making a 2023 wall calendar on my own, everyone in the house loves them and having homemade calendars with photos of family is a more creative and frugal middle ground imo. Also I'm doing Christmas themed collages that'll be used as decorations. We've already had them years ago but kids loved them and took home last year .

@Deckthewallswithpaintandplaydough for the alcohol, you could keep an eye out for a laithwaites (or similar) offer. They often have introductory deals with quite nice wines around £5 each and you just have to ring up and cancel the subscription after. They make useful gifts because they’re not the usual supermarket wines where people know what they cost

Some people here will know that I actually wrote those bucket lists when I was on maternity leave and very poor, 9 years ago! As I posted them on Mumsnet back then too. They've been added to over the years & I'm always happy to share them. I had terrible PND and it helped pull me out of the darkness.

Anyway, if anyone sees Gordon's Cherry Gin on offer please let me know.

@BeastOfBODMAS such a good idea about Laithwaites or similar. Might do this for my clients to say thank you at Christmas. 😊

I think I definitely want to make something for family that I only give a token gift to. I also will cut back on food as it often doesn't all get eaten. I think I'll make some mince pies/biscuits instead of buying them. Chocolates and sweets for the DC I will cut down as they always get too much. I will only get them a cheap advent calendar - a picture one as I have bought them more expensive ones the last couple of years and their dad gets them a chocolate one anyway. I will also simplify the 'extras' I do for them like their stocking and CE box. The elf will reuse all props I already have.