Credit-crunching Christmas - please may we have your survival tips?

[AbbyMumsnet]

What with the end of the world being nigh and all, it's struck us that what the cosmos needs right now is a selection of your finely-honed tips on surviving Christmas during a financial meltdown. Obviously, we don't mean we want your tips on how to save the banking system- although Gordon might - but we are after ideas on how to make the most expensive month of the year slightly less painful.

(Don't worry about suggesting swapping Krug for Prosecco. We've already got that one covered.)

Cheers all.

Nothing wrong with buying a goat imo! (we have done this for adult family members who live abroad, and who are considerably better off than us)

Make your own Christmas wreath (wire coat hanger, ivy, bit of holly and some red ribbon or similar), tree decorations from saltdough or make pomanders, get the dc to make cards for close family and friends. You can also drape ivy round picture frames, clocks etc. Our table 'centrepiece' is basically a red pillar candle with ivy round it and some Christmassy pot pouri type stuff bought in the January sales!

Also, use 2nd class stamps for sending cards, and use economy class for sending presents abroad.

do secret sants amongst adults in the family, so everyone gets one decent present instead of lots of crap ones e.g. 8 adults (parents, siblings) £10 per person = £70 (as you don't buy for yourself) bargain

Agree about pants - ds was 3 last Xmas and got some pants with rockets on in his stocking. He was beside himself.

This year we are saving money all over the place (isn't everyone?), buying early to spread cost, looking out for vouchers for toyshops/freebies/leaflets, doing secret santa within group of friends so everyone knows to just buy for one other and everyone gets a pressie, and this year although I am utterly rubbish at sewing I have made a very rudimentary set of dressup costumes out of some old clothes and sheets for ds (4 this year), so now he will have a pirate costume, a mediaeval knight and a superhero cape. The pirate hook and cutlass, and the sword and shield I got from the pound shop. Luckily ds isn't a world expert on sewing techniques so I know he'll appreciate them and hopefully enjoy them!

I always put pants, toothbrushes, flannels, hair accessories, socks etc in the stocking, my mum always did too, even when we were at uni

I have been buying stuff for christmas for ages now and I am nearly finished. The kids get stuff they need rather than want from me.

Dd will be 6 months at christmas and she is having a cot from me. Its not highly exciting but she needs it and I cant afford a decent one on top of christmas prezzies. I have got both kids nice pjs to wear on christmas eve and a special decoration for the tree. dd also has some new clothes from me.

Ds has stuff that I bought in the sales. I got him a trike from wollies!!! It was a total bargain. £10 down from £50. He has a new In the night garden bag for his over night stays at his dads. I bought him load of clothes. I have got him some stuff on ebay that is for the fun factor but it was all fairly cheep. He has a lovely tea set which i know he is going to love, a dollies pram and a fisher price vintage record player. I have his stocking fillers, they were all from the £ shop. Just some bubble bath, a few choccys and some glow sticks. I think the whole lot has cost me about £60 and it perfectly enough for a child. As children we were spoilt rotton and had a "main gift" which usually cost about £60 and then smaller gifts and a stocking. I cant afford that extravigance and although £60 is quite a lot of money because I have been collecting things for months and scouring the net I have got some real bargains and spread the cost.

I'm with MP - I buy essentials like knicker sets, vests, socks and pyjamas for Christmas and my dd loves them all. She knows that in her stocking will be a new toothrbush,paste etc. Father Christmas likes nice teeth! She gets most of her clothes for Christmas or birthdays as well as the plastic tat - I've picked up generic games in markets before now and she's just as happy. Although this year she wants a DS Lite or some such pink handheld computer game .

Last year I dished out the smaller school photograph of my DD that you get with the standard packs as presents to my aunts/uncles, partly to save money on more pressies and partly to get rid of them plus they all adore their great-niece. Can't do that this year as she was off sick the day of the photograph. Darn .

When I was with exdh and had money we used to go to town with the boys. One year we bought loads as usual and ds2 played with the stocking filler pound shop soldiers ALL day!

Pound shops are great for stocking fillers. I also bought a friend who has everything one of their smelly candles and a photo frame = £2,last year and she was over the moon.

I agree re: dinner is just a roast. You can go crazy but it's the add ons that make it.

Don't buy crap for the sake of it, just because it is christmas.

The best economy I've made was to cut people off the pressie buying list - Don't buy for siblings, neices, nephews etc by mutual agreement, or buy for friends. I only buy for my husband, my children and my Mum now. Sounds a bit joyless, but how often do any of the presents we give or recieve really hit the mark anyway? Saves a LOT of time and money.

With my antenatal friends we pick one family's name out of a hat and then buy one present for the child and one for the adults.

This worked really well last year and I was really pleased that everyone wanted to do it again this year.

I have bought a set of books from The Book People for our DC's birthdays which closely follow Christmas. I think each baby will get 3 books with a couple spare for DD.

OK we are tight this year, so I have been buying pressies for the boys throughout the year when on Sale and they are all things they will love or need ie globe £6 in woolies is DS1's main pressie.

I also bought for Neices and children in the sales.
We dont buy for Bro, BIL, SIL et all

Look out for the promotions on here - I got the photobox collages 4 cost £6.99 so that is parents and godparents sorted.

I have made christmas puddings and small christmas cakes for the adults in the family and we will make fudge near the time for teachers, toddler groups etc.

Brown paper (99p in Tesco) and glitter or christmas confetti (pound shop) makes great wrapping paper and the children love it

Same for christmas cards

Make your own crackers

I have bought games etc for stockings - tiddlywinks, pens etc (small items).

Only buy what people want or need.

Dont overdo it. It is only one day a year and you dont need to stuff yourselves

rip long strands of ivy out of the hedgerow, and spray it a little bit gold (a dusting of colour, leave some green showing) - before it dries scatter with a tiny bit of gold glitter. Do this outside
This looks really lovely on the tree - in long swags it does what tinsel should have done - ie create some swirls among the baubles - but isn't nasty in the way tinsel is.

Similar thing with pine cones, teasel, seed heads from plants - the trick is to put the pine cone (or whatever) on a stick - like a lolly pop, and push it into the branches rather than hanging a pine cone from a string.

join a wine club - I just joined the national trust wine club (which is a spin off from Laithwaites) and with the discount for being a new member I got 15 bottles of decent stuff for 39.99 - which is 2.67 a bottle. On top of that you get as a new member a 29.99 snazzy corkscrew thing that is a nice gift in itself. I now have 16 presents for 40 quid

If you are so inclined, make sacks/bags of varying sizes in jolly fabrics - old charity shop clothes are ideal, particularly trousers as you just need to sew up one end and hem the other. Tie the top with beautiful ribbon. Not only can you use these forever as wrapping paper, you will come to love them as part of your celebrations rather than resent the wrapping paper. Its a darn sight easier to plonk a gift in a bag and tie a bow with glass in hand than to faff about with sticky tape, which makes Christmas eve wrapping not only possible but rather enjoyable. Its more like looking through the things you bought than messing about with scissors. There is an outlay in work and cash this year, but you will never have to buy wrapping paper again - my mum did this and there was always a bit of holly or a bauble in the ribbon - we loved it.

i started buying DD her prezzies in august and have gone for bargains and poundshop stocking fillers. she has asked for a baby annabell doll which i have found in B&M for 29.99 so that is the most expensive item i am buying her kids are just as happy with cheap pound shop toys than the expensive ones andwouldnt notice the difference until they are much older
TBH i was a child that got next to nowt at xmas and always felt left out as my cousins got loads but i remember one year my mum and dad got me and my sister a sackful of toys from the poundshop and pjs and knickers and it was great
pjs and pants are great for stocking fillers and i will be getting some for dd as a nice chrimbo eve treat
xx ei xx

if you are buying second hand toys, set it up ready to be played with in their room while they are doing something else christmassy then send them upstairs to get something. a second hand scalextric might look a bit mean without its box - all ready to go on the floor surrounded by chocolate coins is a joy

it goes without saying that you should keep anything that you are given thats all 'added value' rather than real value - packaged bath stuff for example. Send it on next time you need a present.

With your friends and your kids friends, agree to not buy presents for eachother or their kids as it just gets out of hand. Offer to have their kids for a play date or babysit for eachother instead. You are then offering something worthwhile that everyone will enjoy and it's free! Let's barter!!!

Last year it got a bit silly, with all my and dh's uni friends having had children and us all giving and receiving presents from each other. So this year we have agreed no present pacts with most people, so the dc's will just be getting presents from extended family, and we just give to extended family, not all and sundry.
We started a tradition a couple of years ago of going to the beach (about 40 mins drive away so a treat but do-able) on Xmas Eve, all wrapped up warm - costs very little and is great fun, and then come home to mince pies and bed time.
We also started going to the (local) panto in the few days after Christmas; costs about £10 a person, so not too bad, and extends the Christmas season into the proper 12 days of Christmas, rather than it all being over on the day - there is still something to look forward to iyswim.
Agree you don't need much more food than normal - its just a roast,with maybe one or two more veg dishes than normal, and if you add those little sausages wrapped in bacon its very special without costing a fortune. We've never bought boxes of chocs, twiglets, nuts etc - just normal food for normal mealtimes.
Last year we had a party in the evening a couple of days before Christmas, and invited all the neighbours, just for mulled wine and mince pies. EVeryone was rather surprised but loved it, and it didn't cost much. We're going to do it again this year - gave a very warm Christmassy glow!
On Christmas day itself, it works best we've found if you can make it not all about the presents and food (and if the presents aren't the sole focus , it doesn't matter that they are all unwrapped within an hour). We've found what works best is stockings before breakfast, breakfast, church, lunch, presents, dinner.

Re: inviting family. tell them all that no decisions are being made about Christmas until around mid December.

By them they will have all made other plans, and then you can say, 'well, we were going to invite you (and all 15 children...) for Christmas dinner, but understand that you've made other plans...' That way you get all of the credit and none of the hassle.

We do Secret Santa for the adults in my family and dh's; we do buy for the children though (four nieces/nephews), but I've bought books from the Book People for two of them to keep costs down.

I'm always astounded by how much food people buy at Christmas - it's as though a siege is about to start! Turkey will be from the butcher; last couple of years we've cooked our own ham in the pressure cooker - much cheaper; veg will be whatever arrives in the veg box; Christmas cake was made this weekend; dh always makes fudge for ds's teachers (wrapped in cellophane and tied with Christmas ribbon - looks very festive); dh and I used to make wrapping paper from brown parcel paper with potato printed stars or Christmas trees.

Christmas decs will be last year's - I do not understand the need to have 'this year's' - surely the point is that you get the same ones out each year (including the glitter covered fir cones made by the dcs)?

And the dcs always get pants in their stockings - I thought this was the law at Christmas??

We have decided to postpone Xmas Day (as far as presents go) and spend the money that we WOULD have spent, at the sales afterwards.
Not sure that pants will be any cheaper then though.
Baaah Humbug.