the cost of christmas

[charliewarlie]

im must be getting older or more miserable but getting sick of spending all this money on christmas , so far have had to sell a bloody good saddle less than half and a habit i scrimped and saved for to pay for to fund my daughters christmas presents i dont begrudge her anything and how can you tell a 8 yr old santas been tight this year and not brought you anything you want. then my boyfriend insists on spending a fortune on things and i cant buy him the fancy things he wants, not playing the violins or anything but been a single mum i work hard all year to keep our horses with alot of help from mum please santa send me a winning lottery ticket or a wig as im pulling my hair out!!
rant over

[sageandonion]

Maybe we are in danger of forgetting the actual meaning of Christmas?

[bonnieheather]

I buy my presents online and over a space of time, it's very easy to forget/not realise quite how much you're spending, whoopssss!!!!

[starlight]

I agree s&o, christmas has become so comercialised and expensive!!!
I am not particulary religious but it was lovely to hear my 4yr old say that we have christmas day because it is baby jesus birthday. They have been learning all about it at school xx

[ladybird]

I totally agree too.

[proudwilliam]

Good to hear some schools are not political correct and actually tell the christmas story as it was meant to be not a commerical pig out!
In my professional career I saw so many vunerable folk who were totally spaced out by the hype at Christmas and it caused so many problems for their families.

[kates]

i'm really angry about xmas, i wanted a budget and limit for presents but that got turned down...i have brought as much of my stuff online and saved where i could and certain things just aren't happening because i can't afford them...simple....i'm not religious but christmas to me is about spending time with family...as far as i'm concerned that all that matters to me!

[lizzie]

We are having a very cheap this Christmas but I genuinely dont care Im looking forward to sitting eating my Christmas dinner and watching all the old Christmas films maybe with a bit of snow outside and that will do me nicely

[sageandonion]

I am having a bit of fun this year with my turkey, though I might get egg on my face. After spending £50 on the bird last year, plu about £35 on the ham I decided to try to cut expenditure, especially as there were dozens and dozens of birds reduced to less than half price in my local Waitrose in the afternoon of Xmas eve.

So this year I am buying my ham and waiting to see if I can get a half price bird. Apart from saving money, I will be giving some poor bird that has died for our plates a nice home in my tummy whereas he might have just been left on the shelf. So it will be a sort of rescue really.

I do have a freezer stuffed with other joints, but I shall be in a lot of trouble if I can't get the bird. It all rather appeals to my sense of humour.

[Milliesmum]

You could always get one of those three bird roasts from aldi, then you would have saved a chicken, turkey and duck from being left on the shelf!!!

[kelliwic]

I started early this year, made a huge difference got everything without a huge chunk taken out the bank!! xmas is as expensive as you let it be really.

[charliewarlie]

I did buy some bits early but my daughter goes on and off things at a alarming rate did get some good bargains though on the internet, my mum and i also decided to do xmas food shop on xmas eve see whats on offer then decide what where having on the day, were all veggies so no need to worry about a turkey.

[starlight]

The trouble i find with buying bits and pieces early is that i end up eating them and having to go get more !!!!

[hs]

children do not need vast amounts of money spent on them at xmas time and they have to learn that wanting things and getting them are two different things all together.

I did not get expensive presents as a child and do not remember feeling sad or deprived in any way. I did have a pony and my parents always explained to me that was a very lucky girl to have a pony when children in many countries do not even get enough to eat and I accepted this.

Perhaps you could explain that Santa is more generous to those who are not as lucky enough to have a lovely pony. I would not feel guilty about not being able to buy things she wants as if you are spending money on keeping a pony for her you are already spending more on her than a lot of other parents.

Also if she gets bored very quickly with her toys could sell some of them on ebay to fund new ones?

Xmas can be expensive and i appreciate we all want to show our love for our family by buying presents and forget that love can be expressed in other ways not just by buying expensive things.

My sister has very little money but she often makes beautiful things for us or gets bargains from charity shops. Last year she took a lovely photo of my pony and photo-shopped on my parents' computer it so it also had her dog in it and framed it in a frame she got from a cheap shop and I loved it. My mum also made me a lovely patchwork quilt and xmas cake neither which cost lots of money and I love them too.

[Julie(luke3)]

My boys write xmas list of 7 items that they would like. They know that they are only going to get 1 or 2 things off that list as Santa has to give to many children.
Also the school that my eldest goes to knows about poor country's as they have to do a xmas box to send abroad.
My boy's are spoiled in some ways but also know that there are a lot of people worse off than them and so are grateful for whatever they get xxxx

[kates]

i think its hard with kids...me and my OH had this chat last night, the way we would want to bring kids up....no doubt they will have horses...kinda comes with the deal if your my child...so therefore they are lucky, aswell to have a nice house, and loving parents etc etc...but we agreed spoiling them is not the way to go...OH was a only child, and at 25 he is just learning (and thats only threw planning our wedding) that not everything has to cost a fortune...you can get what u want for a fraction of the price providing u look in the right places...and his parents are the ones to blame...they know this aswell....

when i was growing up, i stopped writting christmas lists very young, as just wanted to have a good horsey year...we also did wish lists...that didn't involve presents...for example...i wish that we have good weather for the showing season..etc...sad i know...but it meant if i did get presents at christmas it was a bonus (of course i always did) but my best gifts were ones i needed...ie...travel boots...used them for ten years! now thats a present!

[bundle]

Dec 15, 2010 14:57:21 GMT said:

Maybe we are in danger of forgetting the actual meaning of Christmas?

Couldn't agree more and all an 8-years-old really wants is time - if you can give them that, you will be doing OK.

[charliewarlie]

its very true that my daughter doesnt need as much spending on her at christmas a the wish list is a great idea i think next year i will take these great ideas and use them,its very sad but i think her dad and i compete every christmas with presents as were not together, i am very careful with my money and buy almost everything second hand this year ive asked for a second hand showing jacket from my boyfriend as it is something i will use all year and need a new one as the one im wearing now ive had since i was 14!! so i think ive got my moneys worth out of it.