Self Suffish Christmas Tips?

[2steps]

MMM's top tips:-

Move to another country and don't invite any family to visit!

Wait till you see them to give them gifts to save on postage.

Don't send Xmas cards to anyone with a computer - send your Xmas card and letter via email. Will save a fortune on postage, especially when you have loads of relos in NZ and Oz!

Re-use wrapping paper (well, don't we anyway?). That's if we bother with it!

Er, um, I've run out. We have a great but stingy Xmas because most times it's just the two of us and we don't have to decorate the house or go overboard. We hate Xmas anyway!

I moved 200 miles away and damn! other family members have started following

I reuse wrapping papper, make old cards into gift tags, make presents, buy secondhand, make your own foods instead of buying pre-packaged.

Could grow your own turkey or christmas tree

Personally I'm not all that bothered about xmas but otf course, my kids love it

[ina]

No, here Lidl sell food aimed at the French market and candied peel etc. is not a very French thing. Probably why it is so expensive in the baking section of the supermarket. It was candied orange - no lemon. How much do things like that cost in the UK?

Just looked at the s/market receipt and it cost - cherries €3.63, peel €4.25 and Guinness €1.39. (€9.27 total).

Isn't that weird! Can't remember the exact price, but I'd reckon cherries and peel together would be less than 2 Euro (still don't know how to do that Euro sign on the PC!). But the Guinness would cost at least 2.50 Euro here!

So in France you can only get candied orange, in the UK you can only get mixed peel, and in Germany you only get it separate - lemon and orange. Which is why I import the stuff from Germany, as some of the German recipes (our Xmas cake, the Stollen, for example) needs the lemon only.

In a way it's nice that each country still has it's peculiarities...

By the way - I always keep a Euro in my wallet. That's for the trolley at Lidl's - they take Euros as well as pound coins, and I often don't have one of them in my pocket. Not that I visit them that often, maybe once a month, whenever I run out of catfood!

Ina

[Millymollymandy]

Could grow your own turkey or christmas tree

That reminds me, last Xmas we had the in-laws and bro-in-law. We were cutting back the Leylandii 'hedge' that had grown into 20 foot high individual trees. So we used the top of one as a Xmas tree - it looked really good and didn't drop any needles!

[Millymollymandy]

Ina - thanks for giving me an idea of the prices - I know what's on the 'shopping list' for when the in-laws come over next! Well, that does depend on how this Xmas pud turns out - it'll be my first!

[Chickenlady]

I don't know about it being any cheaper, but I have bought all the adults on my side of the family a flock of sheep to share, and a couple of goats for DH's lot! See http://www.greatgifts.org/(lcvkleynwyqx ... /home.aspx

I usually feel I waste money on a lot of rubbish that nobody wants, but this year I am happy to spend that. I am also trawling the Fairtrade and CAT catalogues.

Back to being frugal, though, next year buy as much xmas stuff as you can in the January sales. It really does save you loads of money! I bought a bit last year, although I have to admit I used most of it for birthdays throughout the year. Buy any bargain bits you see throughout the year too. I have loads of bits and bobs for the kids.

Get the kids to make all your xmas cards using last year's, or they can draw a snowman and chuck on a bit of glitter from Poundland!

If you are being self-sufficientish, you will of course (!) make your own cake, pudding, etc. Collect holly, etc from the woods. You should already have a plentiful supply of home-made wine!

How about packaging up your home made jams, chutneys, etc in an old shoe box covered with christmas paper and a bit of ribbon?

We are all learning to knit and crochet here, so next year I think the Christmas presents may be mainly woollen!!

DD3 wanted a go-cart. Found one for £10 at a bootsale. Fantastic. The cheapest one I had seen new was £70! Ebay is also worth a look.

On the other hand, ignore all of the above and tell people it is too commercial and you are buying for the kids only...

[whitelegg1]

M€rry Christmas


For € hold down Ctrl and Alt, then press the (4$€) button


R€gards

[Millymollymandy]

€ oh so it does! Actually I use Alt Gr + 4/$ which works too.

[ina]

€€€€€€ I'll go mad on the Euros now!

Thanks, that's been troubling me for a long time! The things you learn on this site, it's amazing.

Ina

PS: Now that I know it - yes, there's this funny sign on the key that looks like a €, if you know what it is supposed to be... Oh dear, must be the age.

[Kfish]

Hi all,

The previous two years I've made small hampers for each 'family group' - uncle, aunt & kids, parents & siblings, grandparents.

They were all the same and contained jam, biscuits and chocolates - all home made! All these things were made in batches and divided up between the three bundles (watch your quantities, I ended up with waaay too much chocolate last year ). If you work it like a production line, you can make some pretty impressive bundles with not too much work at all.

Containers were bags sewn out of remnants and tied with ribbon at the top. One friend compared them to pillow cases , but the family reaction has always been positive. This year I'm thinking of buying baskets from the local op shop, filling with bits and pieces and wrapping them in tulle or calico with a ribbon to tie at the top.

[shiney]

A hamper sounds like a great idea! You can always find baskets in charity shops for virtually nothing. You've set me a thinking!

Thanks 8)