christmas is depressing me due to gifts and money problems how do you all do it?

[24/7]

I start early too, and we don't have any LO's to buy for.
We have already agreed that one baby arrives in May we will start doing bits of christmas shopping as I won't be getting paid at all by christmas. xx

 

[babz1986]

due to me been on mat leave, and not having chance to save this year as we moved house, had Ellie, blah blah blah we haven't got any money for Christmas and to be honest with you we've said to everyone keep it as minimum as possible - luckily everyone seems a bit skint this year so are all in the same boat and they all seem pleased not to get a lot for christmas - we are all adults, apart from Ellie who doesn't even know what day it is let alone that its Christmas lol so its not like we'll be sulking when it comes to christmas day

so far i've got - 3 boxes of chocs - buy 1 get 2 free at morrisons
- I got 40 free prints on photobox, so got some photos of Ellie and buying 4 cheap frames for people from the good old b&m
- and I brought 6 empty keyrings off ebay for £3 and i've made my own inserts - one side is a pic of Ellie saying "love from Ellie" and the other side says "These keys belong to MY daddy/grandma/nan/aunty suzie/aunty michelle" - obviously it depends on who's getting the keyring on what name is on lol

Theres a pic on the cheap christmas gift thread of the keyring insert!

To be honest with you, i'm loving make all the little cheap gifts, as I think they mean more than just going to a shop and getting a gift voucher or something and my homemade gifts have always been more valued then the commercial stuff and this christmas its really taken the stress off not having to compete with people for presents, as they've been warned that we haven't got any money .

This christmas i'm just really looking forward to spending christmas as a family as my OH has been really busy at work!

For the first time in ages i'm looking forward to it! and I have no money literally lol

 

[cbmommy]

We keep it to the kids in the family. And our parents. We would never in a million years be able to afford gifts for EVERYONE in our families. I have a 5 month old baby now and we just picked out a few things for him. It's going to be tough as the years go on and he starts making these crazy wish lists for Christmas! Then we're in trouble.

 

[massacubano]

how on earth do you afford so many presents for everyone?


i only just woke up and realised i should get some presents but the best i can do is some body cream and candles for mil,aunt,mum and a few cheap toys for ari. and probarly nothing for DH

I guess you save money... pass up on that fancy coffee for a month, bring lunch to work, sell stuff online, have a tag sale.... aka make ends meet

Also know what you can afford and know that your never going to have income exactly like everyone else on this forum.

 

[EternalRose]

Im a saver anyway, but I wont go overboard. Saying that Ive just splashed out on my Matthew but he deserves it. He was my rock when I was pregnant.