Christmas

Good afternoon folks...well with less than 3 weeks till christmas..I was wondering if everyone is ahead with their shopping/plans for the big day

 

Not even started yet

 

not done a great deal yet but i am always on last minute when it comes to christmas lol i usually head into the city centre for 3 days just before christmas and just blitz it

 

Got the turkey and some spirits . I am going to buy Mrs H a new ironing board cover , I can't wait to see the surprised look on her face Christmas morning

 

Have not started. just sounded off over on the Black Friday thread. thank goodness not too many to shop for .

 

Near me is Herr's potato chip factory, that decorates their trees for Christmas. Found this on you tube.

 

What a lovely thing to do Woo inviting some folk that are less fortunate for dinner..Nice one my friend

 

The nearest to Christmas I've got is this from my dear friend @Jenny namaste ...



I have the builders in and the whole house is in uproar...but I'll get there,probably in a state of collapse by the time the big day comes but that's just normal,apart from this year it's my Christmas at work
I've got umpteen cakes to ice but the plasterers are coming tomorrow so I might slip them a couple of quid and ask them to skim my cakes no one will know the difference if you don't tell them

 

Got our 2 x Xmas puds @ 37p (reduced from £7 each) and 2 x Mary Berry Xmas cake mixes @ £1 each (reduced from £10 each) back in January, all for less than £1. Packs of 50 Xmas cards @ 1p each, wrapping paper @ 2p/roll, present bags @10p, ribbons/bows @ 1p etc. mainly from Wilkos, but paper from Asda, also last January. We got cans of Tip Top cream @ 10p each from Sainsburys. And we've been taking advantage of Tesco's £3 off £12 od dairy products to stock up with cheeses.

This year we've been getting free bags of chocolate coins (saving 99p), boxes of Xmas cards (saving £4.99), free £10 bottles of perfume, etc. from O2 Priority Moments and Free calendars with 2015 Diaries from The Works by being members of their 'Together' loyalty card scheme (and if you keep printing the vouchers you can keep getting them in different stores). Also been getting free stuff from the Bodyshop with £5 vouchers in newspapers.

From various cashback schemes we've got free mineral water, free Cola, free bottles of cider, free mince pies, free Pringles, free Jacobs cream crackers and 800g boxes of Family Circle biscuits for only 50p, and got money off our Quorn Family Roasts for Xmas & New Year. Also bought some perfume at the Bodyshop on a 40% off day, then got 3% cashback from Quidco and 4% cashback from Topcashback.

My daughter has been getting bargain stuff from the Wilkos near where she's at Uni for my present. We got bags of bird food reduced to 10p each to give as presents to friends/relative to feed birds, also suet blocks free with vouchers from newspapers. We got a chicken's pecking block from Wilkos for 20p to give to our hens.

We've got a live Xmas tree in a pot (bought with voucher from survey earnings) to bring indoors, and we make our own wreath (got Holly trees).

We've also got about £50's worth of free cat & dog food that's donate to our villages Xmas appeal.

By doing all that sort of stuff we've saved enough money to buy some very nice, quite expensive presents for ourselves which aren't neccesarily bought or given at Xmas but whenever they're at a good/bargain price.

Far too many people borrow on credit cards to pay for Xmas, then spend the rest of the year paying it back.

P.S. Chocolate advent calendars reduced to 25p in Tesco and they have a best before date of end November 2015, oh what a coincidence, who are they kidding?

 

That is really nice ! They have decorated a whole forest..........................
I wonder how many lights there are ?

 

You really are a hopeless romantic!!!!

 

Everything is wrapped and ready and food was ordered this weekend to be delivered on christmas eve

Then all i have left to do is finish off making the last of the xmas cards and post them

Getting the parents xmas tree friday and will decorate and thats it really

 

Having a real dilemma/balancing act here over Christmas: one son is due home by next weekend (yay me! ) t'other son can't make it (boo; hiss! ) and Mr "M" is working over the holidays ( a-grr-gain! ).
So, I'm trying very hard to make everyone feel happy/loved/wanted/appreciated. So far, the very best I can come up with is to:-
1) have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve at home (fits with son home/dh's shifts)
2) have a day trip to son-not-home on Christmas Day (son at home will doss; dh will work; son-not-at-home will get a cheery surprise and not be on his lonesome that day).
3) Boxing Day do stockings and presents for the at home lot and take a breather.

So far, reactions to plans are:-
1) no issues
2) son-at-home is *not* a happy camper about me absconding for the day (Son-not-at-home has no opinion because he doesn't know the plan!). Dh is indifferent as he'll be working.
3) son at home thinks that it will be 'orrid doing gifts on Boxing Day

Most presents are taken care of; most cards are made but tempus fugit and I need to complete a few more before deadline; still need to wrap though.

Baking is a non starter thanks to a double whammy on the delivery front from a well known store leaving me now without a cooker to bake *with*!

Ho hum!

 

Aaaw, that's a bummer "M". Not the best of scenarios is it?...... An awful lot of "what should I do for the best" here. You are also a valuable component in this and I think the others in the mix need to start planning as to what's best for MUM this Christmas,
my thoughts are with you right now,
Jenny Namaste