www.iva.co.uk

I know it is early to talk about it but i am coming up to my 1st year and ive done really well but with xmas coming im worried as i have 3 young kids and they would be expecting presents for xmas day just wondered how people have coped with this period as im know sure how we will get through it !

We cut down massively - only buy each other a token bottle of something. Small granddaughter this year but won't be buying a lot for her this year.

You can always get stuff cheaply on Ebay and the other thing to do is online surveys. You can earn cash or vouchers depending on which ones you do. Time consuming but worth it.

We have a savings club at our local mini mart which we pay a few £ a month into, this takes care of the turkey and lamb joint plus a few other christmas luxuries. The coin jar is the only other back up.

Hi steve and welcome, all of the above, i belong to a well known supermarket who reward you with points and have asked that they pay me in december rather than quarterly, so generally around November i get my points vouchers, buying stamps on a weekly basis also helps and even though i've no finished my obligation to my IVA have continued to do the same.

Through me having done surverys etc i was invited to shop and scan which can be a little time consuming but once you get the hang of it can be done quite quickly and you are awarded points on a weekly basis which over the course of the year amount to over £80 worth of vouchers of your choice.

Money tins that you can't open unless with a tin opener both my partner and i do these, this pays for our costco membership and that helps as well.

You will find other ways of saving but good luck i'm sure you will sort something out, best wishes with the rest of your IVA that time will fly by. xxx

Hi Steve, hate to say it but its not really that early to be thinking about it especially if you want to plan ahead - Im sure many others are thinking the same thing as you.

You can pick up some excellent things at car boot sales and on Ebay as Niobe says. Some of the cheaper shops have things in that you can always reapckage if it needs dressing up a bit. If your children are crafty and practical you can make up little kits - have a look online at ideas then copy them - (christmas cookie mix in a jar with a cheap cutter from Wilko is a good one especially if you make time to cook with them on the day. If you are creative yourself how about making them a puppet theatre which they will get lots of fun with but could be relatively cheap.

Try and save a little bit where you can and you'll be amazed at what you can get...and kids aren't fussed about lovely wrappings so no need with that, be creative with newspaper!!

Hi Steve.123

I save Love to Shop vouchers via Park through the year and don't notice the additional cost at Christmas.

From an income/expedniture point of view I accounted for it as part of my personal expenditure at review time. My IP had no issue with this.

Appreciate its too late this year but its worth considering for next year.

[:)]

My only child was born on Xmas eve, so I always had 12 full months to save up - as did my friends and family!! I only bought usable gifts for the children in the family and all my Godchildren - such as nappies, clothes or books. We focused more on taking time out to meet up and cook large, inexpensive meals for people popping in. My daughter held a winter BBQ for her birthday one year and it was a hoot! Loads of people including the neighbours turned up, and 'brought what they eat/drink. It started on her birthday, and ran well into Xmas day - hence us eating black sausages and burgers for xmas dinner - best yet!! x

I save from my food and household budget through the year, we made a decision when we took on the IVA that it was going to have as little impact on the kids as possible and that we wouldn't buy for each other at christmas.

We have cut down on what we buy them, last year I was very worried how they would react as what we bought them was much less than previous years being the first in our IVA but we still had a great christmas and they were still delighted with what they had, it made no difference really.

So all year I budget hard with our food, I mealplan and shop around and make things stretch to ensure we can save some from our budget to afford christmas presents for the kids.

Christmas is only 3 months away and with 4 children i have to start early! I found some whizzy bargains in the recent summer sales and I am also a big fan of voucher codes, recently i found a 50% off debenhams for toys and Amazon always has items at greatly reduced prices.

I use my Boots points and grab the 3 for 2's on smellys and gift sets.

Something i have always been scepital of is Cashback sites but i started to use them recently and already i am upto £80 due to cashback on a home insurance policy! Happy days :-)money that will go on christmas pressies

I love to make my own bath bombs and always get the children to help, it takes a bit of practice but i buy the lovley sparkly netting and use ice cube moulds in the shape of hearts or stars and wrap them all up nobody would know i made them.

With a bit of planning and keeping an eye out for the bargains christmas need not cost a fortune

I have four birthdays in December, first one is on the 10th and the last one on the 20th - expensive time of year for us!

Cut back is what I do, I can imagine how hard it is when you've young children in an IVA. Maybe cut back on who you buy for, if you don't want to explain about the IVA saying you're having a few frugal years so won't be buying much. Some people can make hand made gifts which are really nice and personal.

Well done for getting to the first year mark with things going well.

Depending on the age of your children you could tell them your circumstances. Young children won't notice massively if you cut down at Christmas.

At the start of the IVA I had two teenagers at home and one in the RAF. I decided to be honest with them. Though we say it is not their fault and don't want them to suffer indirectly we spoilt them when we could not afford it!! Now the children only ask for things they really really want.

I have also explained my situation to family and close friends now and they have no more high expectations either. Actually friends and family have been relieved because they too need to cut back.

At the start of the IVA journey I was embarrassed about my IVA but now the complete opposite has happened in that people come to me for advice. My IVA has turned my life around for the better. Hopefully you will find that Christmas becomes less stressful and going back to basics can actually become fun again!

Hi everyone thanks for some really sound advice my kids are aged 6 months, 8 and 11 at the moment. I guess ive just got to make a lot of cut backs and make do with whatever we can afford but feel im letting them down though thats all !

Just cut down for yourselves so the kids can have fun. The six month old (same age as my granddaughter) won't understand things anyway and our family (other grandkids aged between 2 and 15) appreciate that we can't give them a lot.

Try doing the surveys for next year - it is well worth it.

Keep your eyes open for the Sainsbury's half price toy event, Argos flyers (different toys every week up until Christmas) and start checking out Home Bargains (we got a heap of Hex Bugs for a few quid each the other week).

We used to buy a real tree every year but last year I convinced the Mrs we should get an artificial one. No need to buy a tree this year. Quids in!

Also, last year we got 'meat' from Iceland for our Christmas Dinner. The gammon was quite nice but this year we are jut doing chicken breasts.

It is a tough time.