Monday 18 April 2016

Saving for birthdays & Christmas

Every year we have birthdays and Christmas. They are the same date every year but a lot of us still seem to get taken by surprise and end up panicking and putting lots of money onto the credit cards!

I am including myself in this because I do try my best but being self employed I have no idea what my income will be each month but I do know that winter is a bad time for me as work is very very slow. My husbands birthday is November and my daughters is September - these are the 'big' birthdays for me that I need to save for. The last few years all of my spare money has gone towards the house deposit and our wedding, so I've struggled for their birthdays and Christmas. This year, hopefully this will all change!

I keep a list in my phone in the notes section called 'Presents' which is where I write down all the ideas throughout the year that I think of to get them.

My plan is:

To look out for sales on items that my daughter or husband would like
Go to car boot sales and see if there are any good toys
Earn some extra cash to buy some little presents
Make some homemade gifts
Make a budget and stick to it
Look on eBay for presents
Save nectar points and clubcard points for Christmas food

I hope that saving and buying presents here and there throughout the year will make it much easier for me and a lot less stressful. xx

10 comments:

  1. We usually have a reasonably frugal Christmas and I try to avoid spending too much on birthday presents. I usually put away a small amount of money each month to cover Christmas gifts but haven't managed any so far this year with saving for our wedding. I'll need to address this after July. X

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    1. Oo when is your wedding? My husband is a spoilt brat so I have to get him presents or he sulks! xx

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    2. In July. Not long now. Eeek!!

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    3. How exciting! We got married last June, I loved all the planning! Hope it's all going well xx

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  2. Less money than ever this year & no savings at all....earnings too low to save.
    This year I have extra birthdays & Xmas gifts to find as my grown up children now have partners too....Plus the cost of Xmas food & drink - How do others manage on a low income - ideas welcome?

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    1. Hi :-) regarding your children's partners presents could you go halves with another family member? Let your children know your situation...if my mum told me she couldn't afford many presents I would just say to her get me a little something (or nothing)!
      In our family we rotate who hosts each year, this year will be my in laws. Everyone takes something to help e.g we will probably take a dessert, so even if you were hosting it would only mean you are paying for the roast dinner, hope that helps at all? xx

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  3. Thanks for that.
    My eldest is great and always says not to buy too much. Unfortunately, I am on my own, so cant share costs.
    My family would host, but each 'child' lives a long distance away now, so usually all stay with me for a few days over the hol's.
    Would love to make gifts, am not god at crafts tho & home made jam wouldn't go down to well! - they all like dvd's or books which cost money - I have thought about doing on line surveys, to earn a bit extra - something to look into
    love your blog - so down to earth & always interesting.

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    1. Could you share costs with your other children if they are buying for the others partner? Look on ebay, also I've seen a link for how to get a free copy of the new Star Wars film on DVD if you would like it?
      Thank you - that's very kind xx

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  4. Husband and I tend not to buy each other Christmas presents. We know we love each other (been married for 51 years, 52 this year) and we don't need to buy things just because it's Christmas. We have all that we need and we show our love for each other every day. Sometimes we might splurge and buy something for ourselves, or each other, during the year, but this doesn't tend to happen at Christmas or birthday. It's unnecessary, neither of us thinks any the less of each other because we don't have a present on 'the day'. It certainly makes life less stressful having to think up something each year! I think my husband's brother and sister in law think we're just mean, but that isn't the case. They would feel slighted if they didn't have a whopping large flowery card and a present. And they've been married almost 60 years.
    How childish is that?
    Margaret P

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    1. I'm like this Margaret but hubby is not! I blame his parents as they spoilt him and still do! You're lucky and that's lovely :-) xx

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