We’re on a budget. Its’s not a disaster. We’re by no means on the breadline, but do need to be a bit careful if we want to continue to do some of the things we love.
It’s not a disaster to cut back a bit at this time of year anyway. I feel quite strongly that I don’t want my daughters to see christmas getting bigger and more extravagant each year. I want them to enjoy the small and beautiful things in life. They will not be getting expensive presents.
Christmas for us is not about religion. Neither myself nor my husband come from religious families. We are open minded though, and as with many families, we love tradition and are welcoming Christian traditions into our home at this time of year. I am not anti-religion, it’s just never been part of my life. My big daughter, who is five, is fascinated by christianity. And both kids love the story of the nativity. They would love to go to a church for a children’s service and I think we’ll try to arrange it this year.
Last year, we made our own gorgeous Advent calendar, which will be used throughout my girl’s childhood’s. This year I’m going to fill it with a mixture of chocolates, tiny gifts and activites. for instance, ‘bake some mince pies’. ‘Make some Christmas-scented playdoh’. ‘Print some home-made wrapping paper’.
We’re also planning on making a tiny Fimo nativity for the starry scene area at the base. The blank box cost us about £20 last year and the decoration was all bits and bobs we found around and about.
We’ve also made some lovely baked-dough decorations and plan to make more and more. Last year, a friend gave us some massive sparkly stars from her husbands nightclub! Its amazing what you can get if you ask around (try shops too - they rarely use last years decorations, so they go begging). We also plan to make our own stockings (one of ours has gone walk-about). Our stockings are actual welly-boot size and they wont be increasing.
We’re saving a whole heap of cash by going to Nana’s for Christmas lunch! But Nana’s pretty thrifty too and we have all agreeed that turkey isn’t ‘all that’. We all love a bit of pork, and its so cheap that we can afford to go full-on organic. My kids also love duck, so that would be a great alterative too, and is a more manageble size.
Other than the meat (and don’t buy a ham - it’ll be in your fridge for weeks, its costs a fortune and its so uneccessary), a roast can be very cheap and very easy to do with a bit of planning (always give everyone in your household a job - Christmas is for parents too)!
I feel I have to mention Aldi in a write up about thrifty Christmas shopping. They continue to win awards from Which and Good Housekeeping amongst others for their offering of traditional Christmas foods and wines. I have been very impressed with the shop around our corner in the very up-and-coming Portslade. I regularly buy their little free range chickens that come in at just under a fiver, and easily feed our family plus a big pot of chicken noodle soup the following day.
I’m planning a big toy swap event in the run up to Christmas (crumbs, I’m running out of time for this), where our kids can swap great quality but lonely toys for others that they’ll play with. They could be ‘shopping’ for their siblings at this event too.
I sold (with the kids blessings) some old toys, and the girls plan to buy each other a gift with the proceeds. They are really keen on this idea, although I’m dreading the actual purchase (its not so much the choosing what to buy, its the deciding what not to buy that they find tough)!
I would love to tell you that my girls will be getting no plastic toys. But that would be a lie. I did a hit of the Sainsbury’s half-price toy sale around a month ago. At this sale, I stock up on presents for all the parties coming up throughout the year too. Luckily, the girls have recently asked for something I bought. Brilliant!
Stocking fillers will range from new socks to mugs for hot chocolate and comics. Some practical stuff and some stuff they’ll love. I’ll also include whoopie cushions, chocolate (thought not too much) and aliens in slime. Some of which I bought wholesale for party bags for a business venture. They love things to make too, so a wooden peg, some material scraps and sharpie pens will give us ‘elf and fairy people’ that can be pegged up around the house in a game of fairy hunting.
We’ve cancelled Friday ‘treat day’ throughout November and December in readiness for Christmas. We still watch a film, but eat fruit and homemade popcorn instead of bought treats. Its a small thing, but means we’re being mindful of ‘saving’.
We don’t buy for all the grown-ups in our family (we already have enough to buy), but we do do the grandparents and the children. We will be making soaps, fragranced with hibiscus and rose or cinnamon and cloves. As well as chocolates, made in silicon ice-trays with cheap choccy, pistachio nuts and fudge and decorated with edible glitter; and homemade cards and gift-wrap.
We do buy for a few people, but not for each other. We never have. we’re not a ‘presenty’ couple. We look after each other when we need to, not when it’s dictated by tradition/religion/hallmark! Also, I have been known to take unwanted gifts to charity shops on boxing day, so i’m not much fun to buy for. I hate waste so much and would rather someone make good use of something.
Finally, I just have to add this plug. Check out these gorgeous cake stands that Emmaus, Brighton have been upcycling from pretty plates. They are simply gorgeous, thrifty, and supporting a fabulous charity to boot!
Picture via https://www.facebook.com/Emmausbrighton
Do you have some thrifty tips for the festive season? Please do share them with us - we’d love to hear them!
Nancy Carter is a mum to two little girls who loves to cook, craft, garden and muck around in the mud. She also runs Wildplay in North Portslade (and starting in Worthing in 2014) www.wildplay.net
