How are people budgeting for Christmas with rising costs this year?

[Hotmessmum31]

I know its not even October yet lol, but I'm already thinking about the cost of Christmas and wondering what everyone else is doing this year with the cost of things.
The christmas activities are going to start creeping up... adding up the food, presents e.t.c.. its scary.
Does anyone set a christmas budget and stick to it?

Do you have a set amount you spend per child/family member, or are we just buying things and hoping for the best lol?

Has anyone started saving a certain amount each week or month until nearer to December? Would love to know everyone thoughts as I am feeling financially pressured this year.

Why are people demanding new i phones? My phone is ancient, it does the job.

Because everyone is different and value different things?

If we ( humans) keep going like this, there will be nothing left. Never mind 1k phones.

Same as previous posters. I put an amount into a Revolut savings pot monthly and then by this time I can start spending when drinks offers come out or if I see something at a good price for gifts.

I realised I was a bit short when I did my budget this year, so the last few months tend to be a bit more into the pot but I'm not looking for £2000 out of one pay packet to finance it!

I save during the year so I’m not caught out and I also pick things up during the year too and put them away. I’m nearly done for this year thankfully.

We started saving weekly from January onwards. Dh used to get paid weekly so easier to manage and somehow didn’t seem as much as a monthly savings amount. Fast forward 30 years, our children are grown and next generation here and we’re retired. Still save weekly and makes such a difference. I can usually buy all the presents, food treats and turkey from the Xmas pot without the stress of little money and no dreading bank statements/credit card bill in January.

I tend to collect gifts over the year when I see a deal eg rituals sets at the outlet etc. I also buy the supermarket meal deals and save the wine for gifts. I keep stuff in my Amazon save for later and check them out when they go on deals. Kids want crocs this year so I’m watching them like a hawk everywhere. I buy stocking fillers as I find them all year. Eg. Grabbed 2 bars of chocolonely as they were on offer last week.

i also don’t need anything so said no gifts this year for me.

I’m not sure this is the right thread for you

I'm not sure I need to be policed.

I hunt for bargains- the Christmas bargain thread is amazing for this. I normally do Christmas stockings and small gifts in September as and when I see them then one child in Nov pay month and the other in Dec. We do one family outing like a Christmas theme park day or Warner bros studios in the snow but we pay for that in July. So it does kind of spread out. We also make stuff like paper chains with the kids, fudge for gifts for grandparents, painted mugs etc. cheap, fun and a Christmas activity to do and the grandparents love it! We do end up spending a lot but it is our favourite time of the year and I do try to keep costs low by shopping around. I also start putting Christmas food into my weekly shops like tubs of Pringles etc and a bottle of baileys (the essentials 🤪).

I've done this with my Tesco vouchers this year. Also saved my Nectar points (for what they're worth) and Boots points.

Everyone is different and does what works for them. Some spread the cost all year, some have big lavish christmas' and some low key. I start looking around the end of August. I don't go OTT with presents and food, we prefer going to Christmas fayres and shows over loads of presents. The best present for us being off for whole two weeks to chill and do what we want 😊

I quit buying turkey and buy marks and Spencer chicken instead. The cost of the turkey was extortionate (cheap turkey is just too dry). That saved a fortune.

We pretty much do the same traditions every year, but we're definitely more focused on experiences than buying lots of things for the kids. We don't feel the pressure to go overboard with presents.
We love:

• Listening to Christmas music while decorating the tree and the house.
• Visiting Santa's grotto, which has lots of activities like cookie decorating, shows and rides.
• Decorating a gingerbread house.
• Each child gets one present from Santa, then two small gifts from us and each other.
• Watching Christmas films together.
• Having a lovely trio of roast dinners (duck, lamb and rack of pork) and a few desserts.
• Going ice skating and having a Boxing Day woodland walk.

The kids also get presents from relatives abroad, which is a lovely treat for them. For us, it's really about keeping the traditions going and having lovely experiences together, rather than spending loads on presents. We keep family gifts modest and focus on making the time together special. Keeping things simple also takes away some of the pressure around Christmas, whether that's spending too much on presents or feeling like you have to cook an elaborate Christmas dinner. We just want to enjoy the holiday.

For as long as I can remember I've saved every month of the year for Christmas. (And other entirely predictable expenses like car insurance, birthdays, holidays, none of this should come as a financial shock)

Things get more expensive year on year so the standing order goes up each month.

Then have a look at all the stuff you feel you have to do. It's mad - when my kids were little a trip to the shopping centre to see father Christmas was pretty much it. Nowadays my colleagues are spending £30pp on Christmas lights experiences, £50pp on pantomime tickets, coordinating outfits, all sorts of bs 'experiences' that it's seemingly impossible NOT to do. Just don't do them!

Buying ALOT less...

Id like to start doing something like this. Have you set a basic limit on presents per kid? What did you decide? I suggested this to DH and he was funny but now he might see the point of it.

I try and save during the year, some years it works some it doesn’t 🤷‍♀️ This year I have about £400 put aside. The car repairs wiped out a lot of my savings, and I just haven’t had a chance to put it back. DH wants a warm coat so I have offered to pay half. I normally pick up my own presents and give them to be handed back, my husband as generous as he can be is absolutely shocking at buying presents…better and easier to choose my own and give them to him to give to me!

Teens have been given their budget £250 each for their main presents and the requests will start to trickle in over the next 4-6 weeks. I will use money from my next 2 pay checks to buy them what they want.

Stocking are done during the year - it’s mainly socks, perfumes, random things I see and know they will like/find funny, nothing expensive and both normally come in around £200 each (teens are expensive…)

Food wise I order a hamper from the butchers which is around £120 but that will feed us for 6/7 meals (probably more as I always end up with a turkey that can feed 10) all together. Then budget around £150 for all the other food bits.

I thank Covid a lot as we do not host anymore - we have literally us, no one else! I love it we stay at home lock the door and just spend time with each other unwinding.

I usually pay for presents on Pay pal credit. It gives 4 months to pay it off interest free.