Managing money for Christmas

[angelinheaven]

Just that really, how do you all manage at Christmas, I’m just taking one day at a time as if I think too far ahead I will go into panic, it’s meant to be a lovely time of year so I don’t want to spend it just worrying over money and having to juggle everything from presents to food and still keep up with bills aswell.
How many children do you have and do you spend the same on all of them, I will be spending the same on the older kids but not as much on the baby

I have children 2 and 6 . I’m spending a bit more on the eldest as she’s getting a tablet . I’m not spending a lot on either . They get loads from family anyway .
Probably not that helpful now but I’ve been getting putting money aside since the summer which will cover all the presents which makes the money thing much easier .

I get love to shop vouchers from park24. I pay through out the year, I'm rubbish as saving in the bank. I pay weekly then end on October November they send me my vouchers.

As my children are getting older next year I have ordered the pre paid card which is like a bank card I will be able to use that in shops or online that accept master card. O have to pay a fee or 10% of the balance ordered but not when using the card. It means I save money in a way as this year o had to use cash for shops that didn't take the love to shop card.

I have 5 girls 2 of which are teenagers so for me they are ideal.

I have two boys 10,7 and a girl 4 . My trick is to start buying early . I had my daughters things bought in August / September , yes it’s seems ridiculous but as a single parent it’s easier to do it bit by bit , then I started on small things for stockings after that , watch out for poundshop home bargains etc depending on the age you can get away with things like this , don’t rule out amazon , I got 3 good flashing toys for pennies for stockings etc it did take a few months to deliver from China so you do need to be organised .be honest with your children , my 10 year old asked for a hoverboard and I felt he was old enough for me to say it’s rather expensive (£300 new!) so you might need to save up your birthday and your Christmas money for something so expensive, . Obviously the younger ones still think it’s Santa but they generally don’t ask for anything expensive . Make use of spend £50 get £10 off etc , go halfers with a friend if you need to , remember if you have anything you have lost the receipt for , most shops will still exchange for you for another product for example I had a pair of sandals from a sports shop that were too small and thought because I had lost the receipt I was stuck with them but was able to exchange them for credit towards a new scooter ! Lastly don’t be ashamed to buy on gumtree , my mum frowns upon me doing this but the hoverboard I mentioned above I got practically brand new on gumtree , the guy selling it said his son got it for his birthday played on it a few months and wasn’t interested anymore that was just over £100 I payed instead of £300 . You can also get cheap bikes / scooters / I got a brand new pair of heelys for £10 , so worth a look on there ! I can’t afford to take them to the switching on of the lights this winter in town so instead I bought a load of glow sticks from the poundshop and made necklaces and bracelets out of them, , we baked banana loaf and made popcorn turned out the lights and had a movie night , not the same but hey we were warm, we weren’t stuck in crowds of people having to wait and pay for buses etc so for me was even better ! My staple money saving tip is food shop carefully , write a list , don’t be tempted by offers or things you don’t need , I rarely buy meat full price , buy it reduced chuck it in the freezer , you can freeze cheese and reduced milk or bread even! I got 4 baking potatoes for pennies the other day, slow baked them in the oven on my day off , then froze them once cold , now I can microwave them in minutes instead of the expensive microwave ones you can buy frozen , any reduced veg can make soup , if you don’t know how to cook learn ! Google it or you tube it “simple Bolognese sauce” “easy veg soup” “what to do with leftover porridge!” Trust me there are loads of good money saving ideas online . Good luck !

Not everything has to be new. I think for little ones they like to see they have a pile of presents about the same size. Somewhere like the works well craft sets in big boxes for about £5, good to bulk out gifts.
Be creative with family and friends gifts, take a relative for coffee, not expensive but spending time is precious. Offer to do someone's nails, garden, dinner, babysit whatever. How nice would it be if someone offered you that 💟

I will have paid for all gifts by 30th November so that extra food/drink etc can be part of the December budget.