Not Long Till Christmas OMG! The Cost.
It’s 62 days until Christmas. I love this time of year. The shops are filling up with Christmas decorations. The supermarkets are filing up with toys and the spirit of Christmas is beginning to appear. No, wait a minute. OMG! It’s the cost of Christmas! I have five children and a wife, and the cost is astronomical! Through the roof.
Here are my tips in helping towards the cost of Christmas…
1. Planning in advance is vital, as is deciding exactly how much you are going to spend on each child. Of course this depends on how much you favour them against the others. Only joking!
2. Look out for sales. A great example of this was recently when Sainsbury’s had a half price toy sale. A couple of days ago my wife went in store and still managed to spend £200 on our twins! Yikes! Toys ‘r’ us have a toy sale coming up this week and I know she’s planning on spending some vouchers there too!
3. With my older children this may surprise you, but they want money! Decide on how much and then go and buy some small gifts as well. Well you have to open something on Christmas Day!
4. If you have family members who are buying for your children try to get them to spend as much as possible! A sure fire way to save you money!
5. Christmas dinner is always an expensive business with all the food we buy and we would never consider eating that much in one day normally. A good tip is to consider charging your family for food. This might not be totally acceptable, but hey Christmas dinner is like a restaurant meal right?!
Should all of the above fail then you can always go to bed early November and sleep until February. Hibernation is a great way to save money!
The only problem with hibernation is that you get to miss out on the annual tradition of the Christmas jumper. Which I love so much so here are two modelled by moi. Do you prefer me in a cardigan or jumper?
On a more serious note Christmas never ceases to amaze me how much we spend for a 24 hour period, but it’s Christmas time, family time and why not make this day a very special day!
Enjoy Christmas, your pocket will be considerably lighter at the end of it!
9 Comments
jeremy@thirstydaddy
October 24, 2016 at 1:07 am
I’m one of those that has no use for Christmas anytime before December. That being said, I have a good start done on my shopping for a change
John Adams
October 24, 2016 at 7:35 am
Right, first things first, no jumper, no cardigan Nigel. Just no,no,no,no,no. As for charging the family for a meal, interesting concept. No surprises that your older kids want money though, I was just the same.
The Tale of Mummyhood
October 24, 2016 at 8:21 pm
Haha the one about getting family members spending their pennies made me giggle!
#bigpinklink
Busy Irish Mammy
October 24, 2016 at 10:58 pm
I feel your pain, 5 kids here too. Costs an arm and leg and most of the time they’d rather play with the boxes #Globalblogging
Rhian Harris
October 25, 2016 at 9:20 am
Definitely cardigan! I think the costs can spiral but personally I LOVE Christmas, always have and always will. It’s not the presents (although I love giving them most) – it’s the family time and memories made. I have plenty of my own from childhood so make it my job to give my daughter and nephews the same! I hope you and your family have a wonderful one #globalblogging
This Mum’s Life
October 25, 2016 at 7:17 pm
Totally rocking the Christmas cardy there!! I love a good Christmas jumper! Our two children are still very small, and for the last couple of years, haven’t really understood what’s really going on at Christmas, so we’ve got away with not spending too much on them! I expect we will spend more this year-that’s some good tips you’ve got there. My mum has always made Christmas dinner, but has, for the first time ever, said she wants to go out this year-I think I need a second mortgage just for the cost of that!!
#bigpinklink
Ellamentalmama
October 25, 2016 at 10:20 pm
Haha, some good tips. I get stuff from freecycle and the charity shops for my little one…. he might complain a bit once he’s older but for now it works a treat 🙂 #globalblogging
Jeannette
October 26, 2016 at 11:34 am
I prefer the cardigan! 😂 Very glad Christmas in South Africa is summer time, so I don’t have to buy my husband an ugly jumper . I can buy him a ugly T shirt. a lot cheaper 😉 #globalblogging
One Messy Mama
October 26, 2016 at 2:57 pm
Whahaha! Oh boy Nige. You make me laugh! I also have 5 kids. Well, pregnant with the 5th and Christmas give me heart palpitations. Not to mention the fact that we have a birthday in November and January as well! Great tips! I think i’m going to post my kids Christmas lists to family members 🙂 Thanks for the laugh and for linking up to #Globalblogging