Its four months to Christmas!

I know, some people don't want to know yet.

Other's don't celebrate Christmas...that's OK, nobody makes you read my blog!

I, on the other hand, LOVE everything to do with Christmas.  So there!

Well, not quite everything.

I don't like debt.

Which is why I plan for Christmas and manage my pennies all year round to avoid any money issues.  It is important to me.

There are only FOUR paydays left until the big event.

So what do I do?

I have a large box into which I put items I gather throughout the year for gifts.

I plan the food we will eat over the festive season and buy thigs from now onwards. An example of this?

We like to have Christmas cake.  I think Man Wonderful (as slim as he is) would live off Christmas cake all year round if he could!!   I like to bake our own fruit cakes, but if I leave it until, say, October to purchase the ingredients I need, ther price will have shot up complared to buying them now.

So I buy dried fruits and flour now, in August, that I will use to bake cakes from October onwards. The same with mincemeat and frozen pastry for mince pies and spices like ginger.

We do like to indulge a little with snacks - crackers and nuts for example -and these I do tend to buy in December along with specific foods for Christmassy meals.

However, I don't pay for them in December.

No.

I'm a very traditional girl, and I buy shop's saving stamps every time I go to the shop.

Our local Coop sells stamps at the checkout for £1 a time.

I bring home a stamp and stick it on the savings card.

In December I will have 48 stamps on a £50 card (the shop fills in £2 per card) which, if you think about it, gives me a 4% return on the savings.  Not bad, eh?

Also, we do not notice an extra £1 a shop.

As I do this savings scheme, I plan to give foody/drinky gifts to the kids.

GD and her hubby always have a homemade hamper from us.  It fells like it costs us nothing as it has been paid for, drip by drip, throughout the year!