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Christmas, what are your plans for this year?

edited Sep 23, 2019 9:28AM in Family finances
Sorry everyone if i’m missing a Christmas thread or offending anyone using the C word!!

New to Made For Mums (gone part time so I have more time for chats.)

I just wanted to start a chat about Christmas- budgeting, plans etc.

I’ll start 😁
I am Susan and I love Christmas.
It’s important to me this year not to spend too much money (having gone part time, we’re on a budget) or create too much waste.
We’re on a journey like so many of us towards using less waste and in particular less plastic. So far, my Christmas plans include:
-collecting fabric scraps, old scarves etc to use for wrapping presents instead of paper
-collecting loo roll middles so I can make my own crackers
-trying to minimise who we buy gifts for via things like Secret Santa
-trying to find plastic free gifts or gifts that I think will be used lots to add to my boy’s wish lists (suggestions welcome- they are 5 and 2!)

Anyone else care to share their plans?

Replies

  • Bumping! Any other Christmas lovers out there?
  • Me!!! I love Christmas but I’ll be honest- I tend to go waaaay overboard... on everything!!!!xxx
  • I LOVE Christmas! And so exited for it to be my first Christmas as a mummy. 
    This year will be a bit different for me as my daughter will only be 10 weeks old. 
    So im getting her either a bumbo or a jumperoo and that’s it. 
    And for family members - my daughter is having a newborn photo shoot at 10 days old. So I’m paying the extra £100 to get an additional 7 different photos and all family members etc.. will get a framed professional photo of her 😍
    This is my first baby and I’m a single mum who lives alone so i am trying to budget as much as possible! 
    I already have all my decorations which did cost a fortune. I’m getting my mum and dad a present but that’s it as we have no children in the family other than my baby!

    With regards to next year. Not sure if you have heard of parks Christmas savings? I’m signing up to this. My mum did it this year. You put how much you want to save. They calculate how much a month and they direct debit it. And you end up with vouchers of your choice at the end! I think it’s brillaint. You can’t take it out of your savings, if you start in January it isn’t a huge cost and it’s not a big scare at the end of the year 😊
  • I’m definitely going easy on the baby’s presents this year but I have a 7 year old and 14 year old. The baby will need to have a decent amount of pressies wrapped up so my 7 year old continues to believe in Father Christmas!
    I’m thinking of getting a highchair and walker because they’re things she’ll need and we’d have to buy anyway and then maybe just wrapping up clothes and some soft toys too. 

    The vouchers sound like a good idea- i think I’ll do that next year too.
    xxx
  • edited Sep 23, 2019 11:41AM

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  • Ooh my post was deleted, sorry MFM if I broke some rules!!
    I’ll repost without the link, think they thought it was advertising.

    i have heard of Parks vouchers and they sound good. Might look into it for next year. Only thing putting me off is, didn’t they nearly go bust a few years ago and people lost their money? Or am I thinking of something else?

    I’d recommend jumperoo over bumbo. We didn’t use our bumbo much but the jumperoo was great; and it held it’s value well so we sold it on. I don’t know why we didn’t really use the bumbo but if I needed to keep ours still I tended to use the high chair. I found it better because we could put toys on the table to keep them busy.

    We’re asking for contributions towards a bell tent this year. We want to camp more and tbh i’m being a bit vain about having a pretty tent, but I also prefer them because you can stand up in pretty much the whole tent and they’re so roomy. The snag is they’re expensive! Over £500. So we’ve set up this gift fund thing where we can send people a link and they can pay money to it. Just to avoid us spending the money on other things really. There’s no way we’ll get over £500 in gifts but our birthdays are in March so hopefully we can buy it in time for Easter weekend!
  • All sounds amazing ladies!! 

    I have the chicco hug me 4 in 1 as my high chair ibstead of a normal one as I found this product the best value for money! But I liked the idea of the bumbo as more of a portable thing when we visit family and friends 😌 but I really like the Minnie Mouse jumparoo! 

    My mum started parks late this year to get £500 by Christmas as she raves about it! My parents are very well off but still like to find good ways to help out and she was very impressed, they send you constant updates in how well you are doing and how much you have etc etc! I’ll definitely be doing it next year with having a 15 month old!

    @Susan871 I love your idea about the tent that is lovely!! 

    Its my first Christmas as a single woman in 8 years so I’m actually really looking forward to it! Decorating how I want and having my little girl 💗
  • Aww I hope you have a great time! Last Christmas we had moved back into our newly extended and renovated house so I was so excited about decorating it! We have a pitched ceiling in the lounge and I bought an 8 foot tree! 😄
  • Oh my that sounds amazing!! I would LOVE a huge tree like that 😍 
    The house I have just bought is limited on where I can put a tree so limited to 5-6ft so one mine should fit lovely! 
    Last year I had 3 trees up, as I had a lovely big house with my ex. 
    But I think the only tree that will fit is the white one and I don’t like it 🤣. 
    But all my baubles are glass so when decorated it does look lovely 😊 
  • That sounds gorgeous.
    i was so excited about our tree. It was quite challenging putting the topper on! 🤣
  • Yes I can imagine!! Your partner will have to lift you on his shoulders! 😂

    im a huge Disney fan so my special ornament is a limited addition Disney tree. It’s 2ft tall ceramic. And all 4 tiers spin, it has moving trains on it. And Santa lead by Pluto spins round the top. All the characters are hand painted. I just love it 😍
    I’ll make the most of having it up this year as next year when my daughter is 15 months old it will be staying in the box... unless I can find somewhere out of reach 😂

    do you have any traditions or days out you like to do in December? 
  • Well DS1’s birthday is in December. Usually me and DH both book a day off work and we all go out, but this’ll be the first year he’s in school. 😭
    We do plan to book a day out anyway on the nearest weekend, whenever he’s not having his party. We live near Chester Zoo so will probably go there, maybe to their lantern parade. I’ve never hidden the fact that his birthday is at Christmas or tried to separate it- I just make sure he thinks that it’s magical that his birthday is at Christmas time. And it’s worked so far.

    how about you?
  • Aww that does sound lovely!! You’ll have a great time! 
    I love Chester zoo!! It’s brilliant there 😊 
    Well this year will be very different for me being a mummy! 
    I used to go to winter wonderland in London Every year!
    i go to millers farm a million times as I’ve never seen such a beautifully decorated or well thought out garden centre during the festive period like this one. 
    this year I’d like to substitute winter wonderland for the light trail and Blenheim palace as I can take my girl. 
    But next year the proper days out will start! 
    Wonderland at Telford, Severn valley railway to see Santa. The lot! Will be so magical having someone young enough to enjoy Christmas and Santa again. The youngest in our family is my cousin who’s 16
  • Oh it’s so amazing when you have little ones. Last Christmas in particular, DS1 was 4 so properly got it, and it was just magical.
  • When my first son was born we brought a Christmas tree in a pot the first year and we have managed to keep the same tree going by watering it in summer and repoting into a bigger pot. It’s kept in the garden all year. He is now 5 and the tree has grown with him. It’s not overly big now  (we got it small to begin with for this reason) so I think we can still get a few years out of it before it’s too big to get in the house. Definitely saves on waste- it’s sad to see everyone throwing the Christmas trees out in January 🙁 x 
  • That’s such a lovely idea!! Well thought out! 🥰 I personally only like fake trees! But I think your thinking it amazing! xx
  • Oh wow that’s the loveliest idea MaeveW.
    we have a fake tree but I always buy a little real one too. Our council does collect old trees for disposal but I love the idea of keeping it- might try that this year.
  • Hi everyone, 

    If you want to make Christmas easier (and more eco-friendly) there are sites out there that can help you. Just take a look unless you want more specific info. 

    Merry (early) Christmas !
  • I find Pinterest and Facebook groups really useful. Like “journey to a zero waste Christmas” and “mums go green.”
    They’re great for tips and asking questions. :smile:
  • Shameless post bump!
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