How do you pay for christmas?

[polo_princess]

How does everyone pay for their christmas?

Do you put some money aside into savings throughout the year? Are you a member of a catalogue/supermarket savings club? Or do you just blow November and Decembers wage packet?

I save all of my Tesco's vouchers up throughout the year and use that to come off my christmas food shop, ive got £50 so far throught the year so that will take a nice chunk off the shop.

Present wise i save half by chucking my loose coins into a jar, and put the other half onto my credit card then spend the next 6 months paying it off. I dont like to leave it to drag throughout the year so try and pay it off as quickly as i can

 

[CountingDown]

We use our tesco vouchers and also save 10p, 20p and 50p in a jar throughout the year so that those combined will pay for our food.

For presents for Olivia and everyone else we set up an ISA just before Olivia was born and transferred a set amount into it each month. I also set up an online savers account and whenever we had any spare cash just transferred it over. xx

 

[louise1302]

every year up to now ive got into debt but this year i didnt want to so ive got park vouchers i started paying for them in jan i pay £40 an month and so did oh, we've got £800 worth of vouchers coming next week and that will pay for everything including food

 

[whiby]

saving tesco vouchers is a good idea - I'll do that next year I think.

I have a Christmas savings account, and a standing order that puts £50 into that account every month from my main account. that way I can just forget about it and by the time october/november/december comes round I have around £500 I can spend totally guilt free

 

[brownhairedmom]

I save money throughout the year or start picking things up in like July so I can get it gradually. HOWEVER, that didn't work very well this year and my credit card is seriously racked up.

 

[Vickie]

usually we pay straight out but with Stan's paycut we're going to end up a bit in debt this year. will hopefully be able to pay it off quickly in the new year

 

[helen1234]

i just get bits and bobs starting from august, luckily we dont have many to get for. i wont go into debt for anything i have overdraft for emergencies only. i've used boots advantage for alot this yr
x

 

[amylk87]

Im a student, and my loan comes in around September so i just put money into my savings from my loan to cover christmas i take advantage of offers especially 3 for 2 boots lol

 

[babybaillie]

Not sure where money is coming from this year, as ive had to stop work because of the pregnancy. Thinking of doing the park vouchers from april, so im organised next year

 

[mrsraggle]

I put aside money every month into a savings account (direct debit, so I don't miss it) and have enough to buy 1 nice gift for each family member and close friend at Xmas.

We usually get vouchers from work as a Xmas present (between £100 and £200 depending on your position) and that usually goes towards any extra gifts. But I'm not sure the company can afford it this year.

For food, to be honest we don't really get that much extra in so the extra coming out of December pay packet isn't too upsetting.

 

[starbucks101]

its going to be out of our wage packets this year! however for next year i'm definatly going to be saving! probably through tesco's i figured if i topped up a pound everytime we shop or pop in store it will add up!

I think we'll also look at saving with Park for the vouchers but after the other company went bust im a little dubious about those type of schemes...

 

[Kimboowee]

I have a money tin where I put 50ps upwards in throughout the year. I normally get about £200 in over the year, I use that for food and drink.

For presents I'll just get as I go along but mainly use the last couple of paypackets towards bigger pressies.

Next yr Im joining Park, gonna save £10 a week for 45 weeks and get £450 in vouchers

 

[booflebump]

We have a change jar as well, but usually just spend out the Oct/Nov/Dec paypackets xx

 

[Pyrrhic]

Everything just comes out of my bank account. We don't have savings atm, so I start shopping in October and just buy things when I get paid straight away.

 

[nessajane]

I normally blow Nov and Dec Pay but this year ive been abit more organised and started early

 

[embo216]

I haven't got a lot to spend but started buying little bits and bobs very cheap from the summer so now I have a nice little stash of pressies for Lily. Food wise I can't really go overboard but I'll get a nice turkey and treats n stuff, most important thing to me is making sure we have lots of fun which will be lots of xmas music, films and games! All free

 

[Squidge]

We always leave it till the last minute then wonder why we're skint....

Although this year, again, we've left it to the last minute but we've had to buy loads of baby stuff so it's a bit different. Will have to work out a way to start saving soon!

 

[country_girl8]

wage packet least its payed for though i suppose

 

[asacia]

I usually pay for presents out of my savings. OH gives me an allowance, and I don't spend much of it, so always have plenty for Christmas. OH sometimes buys presents just out of his wage, so would save slightly less that month than normal.

I'd never get in debt to have presents/decorations. Some family members aren't well off and don't give us presents, which is no problem at all. I'd rather have no present than someone get in debt to get me one!

 

[Jkelmum]

start in august and buy bits each week