I am so skint, I am seriously considering cancelling Xmas!!

[lucysmam]

Someone please help me see sense & tell me all the good things I'll miss out on if I do

christmas isnt about money .your lo will be happy with a colouring book and cheap pencils or crayons.make presents for others-close family etc.

lucysmam- you have mail xx

and make sure that you make lots of fabbo stuffing....onions and breadcrumbs dont cost that much, and will bulk out the meat.

Buy a pack of gummed strips and get the kids to make paper chains, they will love doing it.

Have eggy bread for Christmas morning breakfast, we do this, and mine love it!

Look out now for good offers on treats...there are lots of things half price in Tescos atm

My extended family is huge and several years ago the whole family made a pact to only do pressies for the children. It's such a huge relief and makes Christmas much less intimidating. And DH and I just do each other a stocking with bits and pieces; maybe one pressie for under the tree but only a CD or DVD or something. It doesn't need to be fancy or expensive. A bottle of cava and some great crap Xmas TV is all you need for Xmas night

thanks for the tips on cheap places to get stuff, I will scour charity shops for bits & pieces at the weekend.

cherrychapstick, I'll check mail when the lo goes to bed in 20mins, easier when she's not running round like a nutter

MartianBishop, is that really all stuffing is? I wish I'd known that ages ago!

Just a stocking for oh & myself would make life easier than gifts for sure.

My dark cloud mood has lifted after all this & I'm actually looking forward to getting creativ this year!

Exra special stuffing.

Fry some chopped onion in butter until it starts to go transparent. add breadcrumbs, and sage (not too much sage). If yuo like add chopped apple and dried apricots and if yuo want to really push the boat out, a splash of wine or brandy. Stuff in the chicken. Marvelous!

i'm not cherrychapstick by the way.

I once got a packet of crisps for Christmas as a child. They were bombay mix though .

Haven't read the thread but Christmas is about a lot more than presents. It's about walking in the streets looking at the Christmas lights, Salvation Army bods signing carols.....all those sort of things that cost nothing.

When my DS was two half his presents came from the charity shop. His favourite present was a big green plastic crocidile you pull along, cost about 50p.

My dc's love the Christmas lights. We're planning a trip to Hamleys on christmas eve to see the tree outside it as we've been told its lovely (even though we can't afford to buy from the shop!!!)

Have you registered with Freecycle. Lots of folks with dcs will be doing clear outs of outgrown toys, books, etc.

Tbh my dc's have most fun unwrapping their gifts and so we wrap everything including silly things like bubble bath, pens etc and cos it takes longer for them to see whats there they think they have loads when in effect the whole stocking probably cost less than £10.

Another good place to get cheap toys is a church or school fairs. Most will have a Christmas fair. Plus you are raising money for a good cause !

We've decided to make Christmas as cheap as poss this year. DH's family are not buying any presents for adults, and are getting second hand toys for the DCs. My family are doing a "secret santa" and the suggested budget for each present is £15.

I'm sick of the ridiculous spending at xmas, and feel utterly relieved that we've all decided to "downsize" the present buying..

sorry cherryliquor, was trying 2 type, read, and sort lo at same time She's now in bed sock on & I have peace!

Will read mail now . . . ok, in a mo when I tear myself away from MN

I Know exactly how you feel lucysmam.Like lots of others at the moment we are skint and looking for ways to make xmas cheaper this year.
I have got a card for Asda that i put some money on each week which is for our xmas food shop.That way i wont be tempted to eat any of it as we're on budget meals at the mo.O.K but not very appetising iykwim .
I like the idea of making your own decorations with things like pine cones etc.The little ones enjoy it too as it helps get them excited and involved in the preperations.That's half the fun of christmas isn't it the getting ready for it.
Some excellent suggestions on here shall keep it on my watch list.

Charity shops get some really good stuff in if you have time to rummage.

Hi Lucysmam if you are struggling for smas mention it to your HV they usually have a lot of donations and give them away at xmas I had 2 black bags full of toys when we were really struggling 5 years ago and there were books and lovely toys inlthe bags.
Also shop at poundland for stuff like character bubble bath and art things as xmas pressies for dd she will love them.

Waswondering, she's not quite 2 yet. If we asked her she'd probably say a "beeble" table or a "deedee" which is what she calls nannas dog

I will keep in mind for when she has some more, less irritating, words in her repertoire & the same one's aren't repeated a zillion times a day!

I will mention it to HV next time we see her.

TBH from reading some other threads everyone seems to be in the same boat more or less this year, which is made worse when you get people asking if a 9yo is too young for a Wii or something like that when we're struggling to stretch say a tenner for something for ours. But after a bit of reading I'd bet I'm not the only one who feels like this. I just let it get to me this afternoon

At 1 she'll probably be as interested in the wrapping paper as the present anyway . Would second poundland and if you have one near, Home Bargain, they can get some surprisingly good cheap toys in.

We have 2 poundlands, & they're just starting getting stuff in now. Usually packed to the rafters in there around this time of the year.

Home Bargains will go on my list to check out at the weekend, thanks TotalChaos

that's about an hour or more away on the bus, more than lo would put up with I think, she struggles with the half hour or so into town sometimes

Will ask my dad to have a pop in next time he's out that way though, he can ring from there and let me know what they have