MERRY SCRIMBO!

Leaving my Bongo obsession aside, how the hell am I going to afford Crimbo this year?  

Making table crackers out of loo roll middles or wrapping gifts in newspaper is hardly going to save me a small fortune but now that the plastic glove has been thrown down, I’m rising to the super scrimper challenge on how to finance the festive season with just a few farthings. 

Know any good jokes?

Winner, winner – chicken dinner!  And why not?  Turkey is so old hat.  The cheapest bird I’ve spotted in supermarket freezers this year will set you back around £12 to £15 and to be honest, there’s more meat on next door’s cat. 

A fat chicken is cheaper and often tastier than turkey.  If you can’t cook, that KFC gravy bucket advertised on telly could easily be spruced up with a few sprouts and a couple of Yorkshire puddings for a tempting treat.  

All I want for Christmas is you

Super scrimpers like us will be tucking into a delicious slow cooked venison casserole (£5 for 500g bag) accompanied by a selection of yellow ticket veg, discounted new potatoes washed down with a few glasses of bargain bucket booze.  I’ve been stockpiling discount wine for months.  What a saddo!

 

A very cheap vintage

Cheap as chips

Dessert is also straight out of the dumpster diver’s cookbook – fruit pavlova.  Meringues can be made weeks in advance so you can take advantage of cut-price eggs.  Keep in an air tight tin or if it’s a big one, just store in a carrier bag to stop it getting dusty until it’s needed.  I’ve already got a box of homemade lemon flavoured ice cream in the freezer that I prepared a few weeks ago and will be scouting for yellow ticket cream and fresh fruit to fill my pavlova nearer to Christmas Eve.

 

Bargain meringues can be made in advance

Keeping dust off the pavlova

Living near a blue Co-op?  Get yourself a blue Co-op card or sign up to their app as I’ve discovered a nifty little discount to save on shopping.  Every week, you can get a pound or more off your shopping basket by activating the latest Co-op offers.  Every week, I buy one tinned or boxed item off my Crimbo food shopping list which is then paid for using the £1 off your shop offer.  In this way, I’ve been systematically picking up bits and pieces for my festive feast and it’s only cost me pennies.  This is super scrimping at its best – all you need is patience and to remember to activate the offer on your card each Monday.

 

Happy Mondays for a new deal

It's not all penny pinching, I’ll have you know.  I have splashed out on a lovely selection of gifts for everyone but again using every discount card, loyalty points or cashback scheme on the planet.  There’s no shame in being a ‘voucher’ person or looking for presents in charity shops as you can often find some fabulous items that can be transformed into surprises for those you love.  Luckily, being quite a crafty and creative person then I can always resort to handcrafting gifts although you need to be clever when sourcing your materials as sometimes this can work out more expensive than online shopping. 

For example - I recently made a lovely personalised hand decorated picture frame by painting a wooden one I found in our local hospice shop (£1) in a bright Christmassy red then jazzed it up with some stick-on snowflakes and glitter glue from The Range.  The frame contained a printed quote from the recipient’s favourite author which I rustled up on the home PC.  A unique gift made with love at a fraction of the price of a shop bought one.

 

Knit your own Weasley jumper

If you're a dab hand with the knitting needles, a Weasley jumper is bound to be a big hit for any Potter fans.  I made this one for under £20 by adapting a crew neck jumper pattern.

With a bit of discipline and advance planning, it’s possible to have a fabulously cheap Christmas as long as you stick to your shopping lists and budget.  Forget keeping up with the Joneses or being suckered in by fancy phones or gadgets you really don’t need – be strict and curb impulses to splash out on unnecessary stuff or fripperies.  Believe me, you’ll be thankful for not starting off the new year with a heap of debt.  

Merry Scrimbo everyone!