Christmas

I think crumbly time is all about appreciating the ones you love and saying "thank you, for being a wonderful you!" Last year I made all my presents. I couldnt afford to get special gifts so I made some little gift bags and some tablet (a bit like fudge but yummier!) and gave them to my friends and family. I have to say the amount of work was much more than going to the shop and buying all the stuff, it took hours! and the air was a bit blue at times as i tried to get the bloomin sewing machine to work, but anyway I dont want to put you off! because I know they appreciated the effort much more than an expensive beautifully wrapped pressy. Its the thought that counts, whatever the gift is. As kids, how many presents do you actually remember? Its the ones you really really begged santa for, every night for maybe a month before christmas! that you remember. Top Tip for kids reading this - ask for it loudly so that santa can hear you, remember he's up on the roof so cant hear you that well!. If you cant afford it give them a little something towards it so they can save up for it. The feeling when they finally get the money together to buy it will be a feeling they will always treasure, much more than tons of trivial gifts! Happy Christmas wishes to everyone reading this! big hugs ducatirose xx

Its quite obvious that Christmas this year in this area has changed. Last year there are already children carolling all over the neighborhood houses just to be able to get some change. Its kinda like a cultural tradition to give an amount to those caroling, not sure if that is also the practice in other countries. The decorations are very much downplayed this year. Last year, the houses on the streets already had their Christmas lights lit up in their front porch or gates. These make the street colorful and lively. This year though, only a few houses have their lights set up this late in November. In our house, we dont get to build a tree anymore for 2 years now. All of us are busy, so last year my Mom made up for the lack of tree by installing lots of Christmas lights all over the house. Im not sure if she'll be able to do that this year. Then again, she just might surprise us and take out that 2-foot tree that we have, just to have some sort of Christmas spirit in the house. Finances are really slim for me personally this year. I wouldnt get to give the same number of people with presents. Though, family and relatives will be a priority. However bleak Christmas this year may sound, Im happy that we all are still together and celebrating Christmas even in our own small way.

I'm cutting back about 40% on my gifts budget, and trying to make a lot of gifts. We don't host any of the family meals but do take baked goods to them; we'll continue to do this. We don't need any new decorations. It will be an inexpensive Christmas.

I haven't really made any changes. I clean a few houses each month so I have been using my house cleaning money and buying presents here and there for each person. I have all the stuff bought except for my husband's presents. He is usually with me when I go to the store so I'm going to go buy his gifts while he's at work sometime soon. We all take food to our get togethers so one person is not having to make everything and fork out all the money. We usually use the christmas decorations that we already have so we won't have to buy anything new unless I buy a few ornaments to go on the tree. We have to use an artificial tree due to my allergies so we already have the tree so we don't have to spend money on that.

It's hard to believe how much children have spent on them year after year. They have no appreciation of how much things cost and how hard it is to make the money to pay for things. I'm doing it really tough this year. I tried to get out of having everyone come for Christmas but I could not make it happen. There will be no food here when my daughter turns up. She is on a good salary and so she will have to go shopping if she wants to feed her family. There are 4 of them and the kids eat the same amount as adults...there is one of me. I cannot afford to feed everyone and bestow gifts upon them even if my daughter brings all the big ticket items like turkey and ham and all the drinks...what about the other 5 days they will be here? I will have mountains of laundry to do when they leave and heaps of cleaning...my daughter has been here helping me with that recently as it has all been getting too much for me but there is no effort made to keep things nice while they are here. Beds go unmade, clothes are left where they are dropped. The bathroom is messy as are the dining room, loungeroom and bedrooms. The thing that bugs me is the kids sit around doing their own thing...they do no work, no chores, they don't help, they don't tidy up after themselves. They might wipe up a couple of times...that's it.

Hi! I haven't mada any changes, because I don't spend so much money for Christmas. For decoration I buy only this, what I can't make by myself. This year I have already bought some Christmas candlesticks and a table-cloth, that I couldn't make. For the gifts- I don't buy very expensive things, because I don't have so much money. The gifts can be not cheap, but I always choose these one, which I know, will make my relatives and friends happy.

I think that because of the economy there will be many, many people cutting back on their holiday spending, not only because they want to, but because the money simply is not there to spend. I live in an area where the unemployment rate in our county was over 17% a short time ago, it has improved some and is now at..just over 14%. Our county had the highest unemployment rate in the entire state of Ohio, therefore many people in the area in which I live are struggling just to pay bills, let alone worry about buying gifts and lots of food for the holidays. I, for one am not sure how I will purchase any gifts this Christmas, but my children know that is not what Christmas is about. I personally think that the Christmas holiday has become too commercial and that it is great that some are getting back to the meaning of it, not that I am happy that so many are struggling, I just want the true meaning of Christmas back. I know my mom is cutting way back this year, just as she has the past two years. She use to go extremely over board with gifts for all 7 of us kids (and all the spouses) and our children. Myself and my siblings have told our parents not to buy us gifts, but they won't have that, they still get us one small gift and a nice gift for each child. As for the meals at the holiday times, we all pitch in and bring passing dishes with us. That isn't a change though, we have always done that and probably always will. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas!