The cost of Christmas ...

[Ghosty]

Hello ...
I am beginning to get a bit stressed about the cost of Christmas and everything leading up to and after it ...
This is how it stands ...
At the end of this month we have a Rates bill ... and we have to renew our house and contents insurance (premiums went up due to claim earlier this year due to burglary) ... then, at the end of November it is DS' birthday, then we have Christmas - MIL, SIL and BIL coming to stay for xmas and New Year (so we have to feed them for 2 weeks) ... then in January our new baby is due ....
I am not sure how the finances are going to stretch. DH will get a bonus in December (don't know how much) ... that will help but we really want to put that into saving for our house (which needs extensive work doing) ... and so don't want the bonus to be swallowed up but other things ...
Not to mention the credit card bill ...
What tips????

Ghosty I was thinking more in terms of your rellies coming from overseas thinking how cheap NZ is compared to home although I also know the US is cheap compared to the UK .

KWYM about food imports. One of the dogs went mad at my bag when I arrived with 11mo DD over a marathon trip with 11mo DD. I was asked if I had any food in it but had to tell him that I didn't believe I did but I'd rather he checked as I was so sleep-deprived I wasn't even sure what month of the year it was....! Turned out that there was nothing in there but he asked if I usually carried fruit and yes, I almost always had a banana in there and sometimes they used to get a little ripe!

Hope you have a fantastic Christmas and your guests come laden with goodies.