The Frugal Life: Paying for Christmas

Death by Christmas Shopping

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:06:08 GMT

I am NEVER going Christmas shopping again! Or at least, not in one day. What a nightmare! Yesterday I went on a Scrooge shopping mission to glamorous Romford. I couldn’t face Lakeside or Bluewater. Plus the charity shops there are good and my favourite frugal shop – QD – is there. Yes, it’s full of tat, but there’s some excellent stuff too and it’s great for wool.

But even though it was Monday, it was still hectic. An army of mums and their screaming brood were abroad. Primark was hell on earth. There were clothes strewn everywhere and women armed with enormous buggies blocked the bargain aisles. It wasn’t so bad until you wanted to pay – there were 30 people in the queue. I regretted only having three items as everyone else had 20. A heavily pregnant woman bravely joined the end of the queue – I offered to let her go in front of me but she refused. She was obviously made of sterner stuff.

Eventually a message came over the tannoy - “could all staff head to the first floor tills”. “What are you talking about?” I heard one staff member say. “This isn’t busy.” I could have hit her.

At least I got all of the shopping done. And mostly keeping to my £5 budget.

Primark yielded some lovely furry slouching socks - £2 for two pairs. I was tempted to buy one set and split them, but decided I could afford two sets. Superdrug yielded more bargains – beautiful cosmetic bags for £1.99. Last week I mentioned the lovely bathsalt sets, 99p reduced to 49p each. Unfortunately Romford’s Superdrug was still selling them for 99p, although on a 3 for 2 offer, so I had to return to the Billericay store. But I got 3 for 99p as they were on the 3 for 2 offer there too! Mad! And I got a lovely photo frame in QD for £1.69.

Books are harder to find though. Even if you buy through Amazon’s marketplace sellers you spend more on postage than the book cost. And the quality of charity shop ones vary. Some are in good nick while others are expensive and the pages are worn – I saw one possible present for £3.50 in Oxfam, only £1 cheaper than in Romford’s bargain bookshop brand new. I don’t mind dog-eared books myself but am loath to give them as presents.

So far I’ve spent £69 on presents for 15 people – £4.60 per person. The total budget – including the two extra presents I’d forgotten initially – was £75. They’re a combination of bought and homemade items – knitted items and homemade jewellery – and spreading the budget between people helped.

Meanwhile I have been trying to persuade DJ to get in touch with his creative side. He made us a beautiful bird table using branches from a Buddleia tree he cut down. So I suggested he could make another as a present. But he claims the workmanship isn’t good enough. Frankly it’s gorgeous and ‘rustic’ like garden centres ones selling for £40. But he reckoned his grandfather and father, both keen hobby carpenters, would be ‘horrified’. So instead I’m putting together a patio pot, using spare plants we have knocking about the garden.

Next year I’m either doing my shopping online or using the technique I adopted last year and should have done this year – buying presents throughout the year and stowing them away.

Have you found any good bargains this year?

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I’m with Scrooge!

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:51:54 GMT

I know Christmas is meant to be the season of goodwill, but just remind me where exactly in the Christmas story does Joseph jump on a donkey, ride to the nearest BHS (Bethlehem Home Stores) and max out his Galilee Bank credit card with novelty ties (for the shepherds) and tooth mugs (for the wise men)?

Whether or not you’re religious, you’ll probably agree the commercialisation of the festive season rings hollow. I’ve been checking out the statistics on Christmas spending and am horrified. Most of us loathe Christmas shopping with a vengeance, and yet according to the British Retail Consortium households spend an average of £975 on Christmas. Other stats claim individuals spend an average of £706. How ridiculous is it to fritter away effectively one month’s mortgage payment on two days of the year?!

I’m so appalled that I am taking a frugal stand. This year I’m with Scrooge!! My plan is to spend as little on Christmas as possible, but, unlike our grumpy Ebenezer, without compromising our enjoyment of it.

In pre-frugal days I used to budget roughly £20 per present, maybe £30 for parents and occasionally higher for the man in my life. So with about 13 presents to buy – this includes my Mum’s birthday in December – this would set me back at least £260, and up to £320 if I spent £50 on DJ, £30 on parents and Mum’s birthday and £20 on the others. That’s even before you’ve shelled out for Christmas parties, Christmas outfits (well, you always treat yourself, don’t you?), and Christmas food. So it’s easy to see how you could spend £700.

This year, to paraphrase Gordon Gekko, my Scrooge-is-Good plan is to reduce this spend to £5 per present, or less or nothing at all. £5 a present would mean spending £65 altogether. It’s much better than last year’s total but I’d be happier if it were less. But to get the figure down will mean scouring the sales, charity shops and school fetes, ‘re-gifting’ (ie. digging out unwanted presents and brazenly giving them to someone else) or making presents yourself. Fortunately I’ve learned to make beaded jewellery this year and have rediscovered my – primitive – knitting skills. Let’s hope my friends & family aren’t bored of beads and scarves!

My parents could be the most difficult to tackle. Dad is fond of expensive books and gets upset if he thinks the present isn’t exactly what he wanted. While Mum doesn’t like second hand clothes. DJ is, however, great to buy for because he’s not into presents at all. He’d be happy enough with a good book from a charity shop for Christmas, bless him. Unfortunately I take after Dad and spend time counting the presents under the Christmas tree that are for me! I will be endeavouring to overcome this shortcoming this year…

The Scrooge Christmas Plan doesn’t have to Scrooge on Christmas spirit – surely lovingly making a sweater for somebody (even if one arm is longer than the other…) means a lot more than an expensive gift that was bought begrudgingly and with half a thought? Wish me luck!

Got any ideas for inexpensive Christmas gifts? Let me know!

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Christmas is coming

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:36:02 GMT

I can’t believe it’s only two months before Christmas. Where does the time go? Where is my life disappearing to? Is there a big hole in the ground somewhere full of missing socks and time lost at work/commuting/on Facebook?

And how come we have to put up with Christmas stuff being in the shops since August? These are questions I’ve spent my life pondering.

Well, Chez Frugal it’s going to be a bit different from the usual Christmas frenzy this year. Normally DJ & I try to plan what we’re spending but end up running around like headless turkeys spending too much money. Or friends we didn’t expect decided to buy us presents we didn’t want and we were, in turn, persuaded through guilt to buy them things they probably loathed and ended up selling on ebay/burning in the back garden.

Last year my parents came to stay for the first time, which was great, but DJ & I were so nervous we bought loads of things to make the house more inviting. Long-term it got DIY jobs done, but it made the Christmas bill bigger.

This year we’ll be alone – unless one of DJ’s long-distance relatives decides at the last minute to show up for the big day, for which there is precedent! And I’m going to try to be ultra-ruthless with the Christmas present list, cards and food and drink. Last year I personally spent £200 on presents and then between us about £150 on Christmas food and drink, which is crazy when it’s a festival that lasts a couple of days.

On alternative is to make presents. I’ve been reviving my knitting ‘skills’ lately but I can only knit in a straight line – handy for baby blankets and scarves. Recently I also learned to make beaded jewellery. I flogged a few pieces to friends – a huge surprise as I’m a clumsy oaf useless at anything crafty. So some other relatives might wind up with necklaces and earrings - whether they like it or not! DJ’s granny recently turned 100 and his mum asked me to make her a pretty necklace.

Here is Kathleen, tucking into a nice ice cream and sporting her present right here…Lots of bling!

Then again, there’s always the option of picking up something cheap on ebay, at a Christmas Fete/charity shop or braving it out and not buying friends anything – and asking them not to either! At least we don’t have any children to disappoint when they don’t get the latest Xbox toy or Brats doll. The advertising on children’s television really horrifies me – there must be so much pressure to buy all this rubbish.

I’m pondering whether to ditch Christmas cards or to make a few (possibly featuring pictures of the chickens!) and just send a handful to close friends and family. Cards you can get quite cheaply but it’s the postage fee that adds up. Perhaps emailed cards would be better.

On the food front, it’s easy to get carried away with the beautiful supermarket displays and all those TV programmes featuring delicious Christmas food. Happily, DJ’s mate works for a wine company that has staff sales and we’ve ordered some wine through him. There’s also last year’s apricot wine DJ made to bottle and get through. And who says you have to have a turkey? Maybe we’ll have something different this year like Beef Wellington – or a nut roast! Mmm…maybe not…

What are your plans for Christmas this year? Are you dreading having to spend lots of money on children’s presents they might not play with anyway?

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