Christmas
 

Despite all the stories about people being hard up and tightening their belts, there still seems to be plenty of spending going on in the sales

BBC News - Sales shoppers set online 'Boxing Day record'

Have you cut back on spending this Christmas? I wonder whether all the spending in the sales is going on plastic or whether folks really do have the cash to splash.

This year we got noticeably fewer cards than usual, don't know if folks are not sending because of the hike in postal prices or we have dropped off a lot of Christmas card lists! It's a shame because I use Christmas cards as a way of keeping in touch with friends we have made as we have moved round the country, but this year we haven't heard from quite a few of them.

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I didn't buy as much food, and I didn't buy any of the special foods......Trifle, puds mince pies.......though I cut back over the last few years.
We ate well (as in previous years) but we were not stuffed to the gunnels......I never really liked that over full feeling anyway.
I didn't post as many Christmas cards...some of the people I used to post cards to have fallen off the perch.

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I did attempt to let Christmas pass me by, it wasn't a total success. However my wife said there was nothing she wouldn't buy for me and as I thought the same, we bought nothing for each other.

I haven't sent a Christmas card in over 10 years, I leave that to "she who must be obeyed" and as a consequence people say I am getting miserable, thats not the case,.................... I've been miserable for years.

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as far as i'm concerned, all those who queue all night fer the Boxing Day Sales are complete knob heads. but if it makes em happy, i don't really give a monkeys what they do.:rolleyes:

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I wonder if this is a 'Dave' thing...my other half is called David...he bought me nothing.
He said it saves on the cost of wrapping paper......and anyway he has told me I can buy anything I want. Where is the nearest Rolls Royce showroom around here?

He doesn't buy or write any cards, in fact in no way participates in the preparation for Christmas.
One year I am going to do nothing....I will buy no presents, no cards, no food...I will put a lock on the fridge door and then wish him a Merry Christmas.

At least with him not buying me anything, I don't have to bag things up and search his wallet for receipts to take unsuitable stuff back...it was Cashy who taught me to always look for the positive, in what appears to be a negative situation. Thanks Cashy

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I don't do 'Sales'......you buy stuff you don't really want because you think you are getting a bargain.
When you get it home, it doesn't fit and the colour makes you look like a parboiled spud...you tell yourself you will slim into it....that's a laugh, you have half a christmas cake left, 2 christmas puddings and 3 dozen mince pies.

For all those off to the sales.......I would say this. It is only a bargain if you really need it, if you can't do without it'

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Bingo spot on n mostly people are too dumb to click, Most of stuff in the sales, is stuff they couldn't sell at normal prices anyway.:rolleyes: those were my instructions back in the 60s anyway.

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Sadly there are always a few people you have to cross off the list for that reason, I still sent to everyone else on my list though.

I'm quite happy doing all the cards, food etc doesn't bother me at all. And we've never bought gifts for each other - saves making mistakes as I'm very fussy. Much rather get something for myself that I really want and Richard does the same. This year I got myself a slow cooker and cooked our Christmas dinner in it. It was a great success.

And then you see all the articles about what to do with unwanted gifts - well my answer would be don't buy them in the first place - but then I've posted along these lines before...

Forget the Boxing Day sales, hundreds flock to sell unwanted presents on eBay | This is Money

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He says that I am hard to buy for...there are ways round that, but he won't search for them.....and I'm not telling him what they are.
It is nice to get a gift...it means that someone has taken the time to think about you and what you might like...and the unexpected ones are the nicest.

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Slow Cookers are great, first discovered em in 90s when lived in Spain, went to some friends n they made a lovely meal wi it, so i asked were yeh bought such a thing, They said England, they don't sell em here.:eek::D

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I agree... we didn't get gifts but my lovely Polish next door neighbour came round twice with yummy Polish food she and her mum had cooked - and I had already sent a gift for her little baby - so I did my bit as well...

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Cheers Cashy - a lot of people would say that's a very prosaic Christmas gift, even to yourself - but I'd rather have that than any amount of smellies and scarves etc, it's what I wanted.

Best gifts are those you can eat and drink!

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Was watching Sky news earlier and they were interviewing people at the sales and they all seemed to be intent on buying non/essential luxury goods like the latest designer handbag or model of I/phone which really scuppers the idea of people feeling austerity. I find there is something faintly distasteful in the idea of people trampling all over each other to get the lastest "bargains" in a frenzy of spending and I suspect that as has been said many purchases will not have been saved for but will be paid on the never/never.
As to presents this year, I left some hidden for my boys and husband back home /mostly useful things they needed /clothes, belts and a new wallet for my youngest as his got stolen recently. The only luxuries were some chocs for the boys. With my "English" family we had decided to exchange no gifts as it was already costing a lot for us all to travel and meet up and spend time together at mum-s in Tenerife / it-s a great present just to be all together again /the last Xmas when that happened was nearly 20 years ago!
Like you Margaret my husband doesn-t buy me presents and hasn-t done for many years /may change his name to David too! ;) My only present was from a friend / a book about Tripe which he actually hinted he was going to send quite a while back on an Accyweb thread /it was a nice surprise and I-m enjoying reading it!:)

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Me and the missus don't buy Christmas pressies for each other. We buy each other pressies during the year,thgings that we need.

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I agree Margaret - often little things which someone has thought about can be the nicest - not necessarily something expensive or flashy but something they know you would appreciate.

Hope you got that one thing you were really hoping for by the way!

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No I didn't...but all is not lost. I might be giving e-bay a trawl later on next week when everyone has looked at what they got and decided whether they like it or not...there may be some floating about on Fleabay...if not I will buy from Amazon.

See...he knows I have had trouble with my Kindle...and he knows that I use it a lot...it would have been so easy for him to go out and get me a new one...but I think he is baffled by all the different versions.

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If you look at a lot of the pictures of the Boxing day sales frenzy a lot of the folks at the front of the queue appear to be Chinese and various other nationalities

Dash 'n' grab! Police called in to control hordes as they run screaming through stores to splash out £3BILLION on bargains | This is Money

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Have seen the photo on the front page of the "Maily Dail" and that shows people of all different ethnicitys in London. It's a sign of the times perhaps -if they are tourists then at least they are bringing money into the country - seems odd though, if that's the case, probably a lot of the goods were made in their country in the first place!:rolleyes:

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The sales are still on ... and I might have gone out to catch a few bargains; but we had about 40cm of snow last nite:mad: So, today is for shovelling, with lots of hot chocolate breaks ... that's hot chocolate laced with rum or fireball:D Looks real seasonal here ... wouldn't change it for the rain you guys seem to be getting in large amounts. Looks like the snowy weather system is moving down the St. Lawrence valley, and when it gets to the maritimes there will be winds gusting as high as 120 klicks in some areas. Now that's an "ouch".

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What's all this "bah humbug" stuff? Don't be cheap, get your hand in your pocket and break down. I watch my wife do it every year.??? But I think I finally convinced her that next year it's cheques for the grandkids, she beats herself up every year buying them stuff when they would much prefer cash. I don't like it but it saves a lot of headaches. for Christmas I bought myself a 6 pack of beer called "Bah Humbug" in keeping with the situation. Yes Cashy they were very good.

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I splashed out an extra £10 each on gas and electric to make sure I can keep warm should the weather turn any worse, neither were in a sale or a bargain, but they were essential.

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that, Less, is what you call a very sensible use of finances.

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It may put a barmaid out of work over the festivities though Margaret, I'll just have to live with it on my conscience.
:(

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I'm sure you won't sleep tonight.:)

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now if you'd been in accy before christmas you could have had a tshirt and hat to match .. just like the spugsters got ... :p

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Oh I will,

I haven't offered her alternative employment Hmmm....

Perhaps if I had, she would have two jobs and I wouldn't have needed to spend extra on heating.
:)

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See...Less for every solution, there's a problem :D

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Looked at one of them thngs in Tesco today, there were 100 titles on it all written by female authors, flamin eck who wants that, are there sites for free downloads where you can see the titles as if you were looking for books in a library.

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Yes, there are sites where you can download books free of charge,
The Kindles rarely come with any books on them unless they are second hand and the previous owner has left them on for you.(I suspect the ones in Tesco were the Barnes and Noble NOOK - they come with 100 titles pre loaded - they tend to be the classics Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights...that kind of thing)
Amazon have had some books recently at twenty pence a throw.......and you can read a bit of them before you buy them, but at twenty pence...heck you can't buy them in the charity shops for that.
I believe that you can also register e-readers with the library and borrow e-books from the library, much as you would do with any library book.
I never thought I would take to the Kindle, but now I hate being without it.

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i got bling ... :D:D:D

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I always start shopping early to spread the cost of pressies, and I told my other half I wasn't going to buy him anything until after xmas-we don't see one another on xmas day anyway, and I would rather buy him more, for less when the sales are on.
I buy from local crafts folk as well. My Sister, Grandmother and Mum all got handmade watches this year!Lol

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Not sure if you know, but w. h. smith have some free books to download ( I don't know how many ), you have to sign up to the website, but there are some relatively new books. Also they can be read on phones, e-readers, i-pad, and android tablets.

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You lucky girl. I got nowt!

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I will have a shufty when my newer Kindle arrives.
I would have to convert them to go on the Kindle, but I have a tool for that so it is no bother.
Amazon usually have a good supply of free books, and books at very low cost....I check every day to see what the deal of the day is.
Amazon have also started to lend books for the kindle....but you can only borrow one per month and you have to subscribe to their Prime service(at a cost of £49 per year...might be worth it if you buy lots of stuff from them as you get a speedier delivery service).

Our local library lend books for e-readers, you just have to register with them.......so I guess that if you spend the money on the e-reader you could have free books from one source or another.

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did he dye that beard for xmas or have you sent him grey :D

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I give money to family members for Christmas - that's what they prefer so they can choose something for themselves. I donate regularly to charities all year round but at Christmas I choose some different ones (instead of sending Christmas cards) that I think provide a particular service to people needing some kind of help, e.g. the Samaritans, the Salvation Army and the Lifeboats (RNLI). Personally I'm not interested in receiving presents. When I last had a big party, at the "Pop Club", (for my 60th birthday) I opted not to receive presents but nominated a particular children's charity for which I would accept donations. I contacted the charity beforehand and got flyers and gift aid envelopes to send out with the party invitations. Including the gift aid I raised over £1,500 for a good cause. What would I have wanted with presents? To me this was far more meaningful! Sometimes people tell me I should buy things in the shops to stimulate the economy but really I can't motivate myself!

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I like the idea of giving to charity, but I worry about how much actually gets to the good cause......it seems that many charities pay too much in administration at the expense of the people who really need their help.
I try to do my bit by buying things from the charity shops...and when I have done using them, donating them back.
I also have four charities that get a fixed monthly amount.