How are you paying for Christmas?

I usually put aside a certain amount that I expect to spend for Christmas and then I do things like buy things on sale or clearance, make and keep of list of things I'm looking for, and shop over time. The bulk of gifts I will be getting are mostly going to my daughter, but I also have my husband to shop for, a small circle of close friends, my parents, my sister and brother in law, my 3 nieces, my other sister and brother in law and my nephew. The easy thing here is that I will either send money or gift cards to my older kids, and gift cards probably to my sisters, and the only things I will have to ship will be for the kids. It's much easier to plan when you've been putting aside a few dozen dollars a week and taking advantage of things you see for 3 bucks that used to cost 15 lol.

Things have certainly been lean for us here too but that's been my story since I lost my job in '03, stayed home exclusivly for 5yrs, and now I work part time (it helps but not enough, need full time work but you know bout the cost of child care as I do). I have saved some Amazon GC's up & some money in paypal as well. I've started picking up a few things here and there for the family as I find them cheap. I won't be buying much really as no one really "needs" anything and we don't have tons of room here. I have to buy for my Hubby, 3kids, and in-laws. I don't think we'll get anything for the SIL's unless Hubby insists as we can't gurantee they'll receive what is sent to them due to living situations for them. Maybe we'd go in on something with the IL's for them. Plus I figure we spoiled them when times were good and they have to understand we are not able to until we dig ourselves further out of debt & I can work more.

I think a lot of people will be in the same boat this year... I know, in my family, my sister and I had a talk just this past weekend to decide what we'll do. Things have been a bit lopsided in the past because my daughters are 18 and 21 and they purchase gifts for my sister, brother-in-law and niece. In return, my sister's family purchases one gift for each of us from the three of them together (my niece is just 13). My sister feels uncomfortable with the girls spending money from their tutoring work on Christmas gifts but they, in turn, really like to feel involved by participating in the gift giving. Our "strategy" this year is that each of us will have to make a list of 5 items that cost $15 or less. Things we enjoy like treats, cozy socks, pj pants, whatever... so everyone will have something to open on Christmas Eve, when we get together for dinner, but no more with the $50+ gifts that are just budget breaking. Within my own house, like you, I've been setting aside some of my online earnings in my paypal account and I'll try to stretch that as far as it goes first. The one thing I'm trying to figure out right now is how to buy my younger daughter a flute. She played in high school but, since she just graduated and is now in college, she has no access to the borrowed instruments. Any flute worth keeping is going to easily run in the $200-300 range so that is going to have to be "her big gift" and I'll supplement that with some smaller items. I applaud your devotion to giving your children such a nice Christmas I feel the same way. My daughters get very little during the year, except for their birthdays, because I pay for their education in full. When Christmas comes, that's my one time of year that I splurge and try to spoil them. They are really good kids and I'm blessed... and being able to give them a nice Christmas is something that means a lot to me.

I´m glad that you have managed to save money for your little ones. I know this has not been a good year for you, friend. I will not buy many Christmas presents this year. Most of my grandchildren are in their late teens and I´ll just give them a big hug. I will buy presents for the small grandkids (3) and make my apricot jam to give as a present to the rest.

Good for you! My 2 kids are teenagers so they know how tight things are for us. I too have been putting away the gift cards I have been earning so that I can give them to them in their stocking. I will still buy them something else but I will hope that my Christmas Bonus from my part time job will cover that!

Things have been tough for us as well and I usually figure it out in the end. I was not able to buy all the "magical" things I normally was able to but I made the best of it last year and might I say we had a wonderful time. I am also working on somehow making it a great time once again this year, though it is looking grim. I am glad you are preparing and that you and your family will have a great Christmas. I don't have to buy for many, as I will do like last year and only do so for the kids. I took it very hard last year because I use to be able to do more. But I realized that the kids actually enjoyed it and that to me is what counted.

I am using my online earnings for a big item for my son and grandson. I will then buy something for my husband with them. I also cash in for gift cards for restaurants that I give my parents for Christmas. The rest we will buy out of our paychecks unless I get lucky and make a little more. That basically takes care of everyone except for the teachers and aides in my sons class, and my other son and daughter.

We're fortunate in that my parents and my husband's parents will be very generous int heir gifts to our son. I've accumulated a few gift cards to stores as well as to Amazon, so we should be able to stretch our Christmas budget for presents for the kids, that sort of thing. I've been sewing small things for my son's friends and picking up small toys for his stocking, so I should be able to be very relaxed about my Christmas budget.

Well to be truthful at the end of christmas last year when alot of things went on sale I went and bought some things for this year like the showergel sets that way it will save a little bit of money for this year I also went and took all my pennies off and that was quite a bit and I have my parents grandma two kids on my side and about twice that on my fiance side we buy for.

Christmas is just an expensive season isn't it? But I am thinking of making some gifts probably. This November I will be studying dress making and i will learn to make some pajamas. So for my children and nieces I will just make them some pajamas which is definitely cheaper than the set in the malls. I might make some pouches or clutches for my friends. My husband would also have some gift certificates that we can use for shopping. For the tree ornaments we are planning to do some crafts with the children. We don't want to spend a lot for Christmas decors here. We might be using the boxes of my husband for his samples to make some gingerbread man, candy canes and bell ornaments that we can paint together with the children. This Christmas should be a nature loving Christmas and not full of plastics decors and toys.

Hi dorannmwin! I, too, will be paying for some of Christmas with those Amazon cards I have built up . . . had I looked into these sites earlier in the game, perhaps I would have more at this point (I think I started in May). I also have some various stash of cash I've "collected" throughout the year (gift from parents, etc) - all going back as gifts. We'll make Christmas nice for the kids - but not in the way of "many" gifts, so I'm not going to go wild like in previous years. We seem to have a long list of gifts we need to get . . . so I'm going be as frugal as possible to stretch these dollars to make sure we get to everyone on the list. I'm thinking of baking stuff this year for gifts - but we'll see!!

When I get my paycheck, from my regular-offline job, it's usually already garnished. I've set up my bank account so that a few dollars gets transferred to another account regularly. This is how I pay for unexpected expenses. And some expected ones, like Christmas. I think you deserve a great Christmas after all your (and your hubby's) struggle this year.

Much like you, I use my online earnings and gift card to pay for Christmas. My husband and I are taking our budget for spending on each other and putting it into an account so that we can do a big trip for ourselves when we reach our 10th wedding anniversary. Both of our families have cut way back, opting to spend time together doing something fun over gifts that are going to sit in a closet until the next rummage sale, so that really cuts down on the price. We are traveling to Arizona for Christmas so my daughter can see her grandparents(my husbands parents). They paid for our daughter's plane ticket, and we used credit card points for our tickets. Next year, my hubby's family will come to us, but I hope to instill in my daughter that the holidays are about spending time together and not about the toys that you get.

Friend we not celebrated Christmas we are celebrated Diwali festival. But here lots of people celebrated Christmas also. I want to purchase new sari for Diwali festival.

i really hope we are going to get more work in for my daughters bf thats staying here so he can split in on bills next month. that will make it possible to do. i have 5 kids and 9 grandkids. so you see how thats going to be.

Christmas wow its fast approaching, i really do not know how to lol but i know we will be having a bonus so a part of that will go to the presents

What a great idea! Children need to know that Christmas is not only about the gifts they receive, but it is, without getting into religious detail, about spending time with people you love, like family and friends. Now that I am older, I receive mostly practical gifts which I use on a regular basis. I know that toys are so exciting to receive when you are younger, but most of the time they are played with for a short period of time and then put in the toy box only to be covered up with toys that are received from future birthdays and holidays. So, i feel that it is good to buy your children things that they need and to not break the bank doing it. Kudos to you!! This year, I am going to pay for Christmas gifts with money that I set aside from each paycheck. On my Mom's side of the family, we draw one name and only have to buy a gift worth up to $30 for that person. Aside from that one person, I have to buy for my Mom, Dad/StepMom, 2 nieces, Brother and Sister and Law, and other Brother. I do have cousins, but My mom still pitches in for the full price of their gifts. Luckily, I only have to by one gift for my Dad and StepMom and Brother and Sister in Law, since they are couples. Phew! I think my bank just broke writing about this.

I have to buy presents to my dad, my mother, my sister and my little dog! I didn't thought how I'm going to buy the presents yet, because I didn't planned my Christmas (my mom do that..). I'll use the money that I receive every month of my father, I'm saving a part of this money every month already.

I have a lot of cardstock here, and have some rubber stamps. I have 120 crayons, a hotfix tool (It's a tool to paste glue-backed rhinestones/studs via heat.) and an iron as well. The only things I'm buying are for the additional material to make unique cards, like rhinestones and studs. So, that's basically what I'm spending on this season. I'm pretty creative myself, thank you.

If I were you, I would not going to ask him to pay my money back. It does not mean that he should not this money. After all, you are a family. You definitely did not just have one a Christmas for your whole life. You pay this time and You husband should pay next time. You could make it clear and then have a quarrelsome with your husband or make it vague to keep a good mood for everyone. My family usually did this way. My mom seldom argued money with my dad. They both have works. When someone needs money support, another one would come out to rescue. That is the way that they keep peace. If you could not bear this or you need those money to do something else, you should discuss with your husband first and ask him his opinion. I think that would make both satisfy.