Are you preparing for Christmas?

No I hate Christmas and all it stands for

takisawa2 – Member
I love reading the “No, no,, we don’t celebrate anything. Mrsxxxxx & I spend the time in a remote bothy, with ear muffs on & bags over our heads” type replies that predictably pop up on Xmas/Easter threads.

this is the best bit, it’s fun to watch how much effort people put in to avoiding something (making a point so that everyone knows how much better they are)

Edric 64 – Member
No I hate Christmas and all it stands for

To me as an atheist and not that bothered about the religious side of it all I see it means a lot more these days. Considering how far people have spread out over the last few decades, the number of young people leaving their home towns and striding out to do something other than their parents did etc. It was always great to have a reason or time when all the family had some time off and were able to get together. If you simply see it as a chance to step away from what you do everyday and get together with friends and family then it’s probably a lot better.

We made the puddings and cakes at the weekend, plus I started a brew which hopefully will be ready in time.

mikewsmith – Member

To me as an atheist and not that bothered about the religious side of it all I see it……………. together with friends and family then it’s probably a lot better.

I agree with you and also point out that it’s a long, long time since the majority of the population thought of Xmas as a religious festival. I’m in my mid 40s and don’t remember it being much different when I was a child to how it is now. Yes, we got dragged to the odd school concert and had to learn the odd religious song but I don’t think many kids of my age thought of Jesus being more important than piles of presents and a huge meal.

And what’s wrong with that? Christians hijacked a mid-winter festival, now it’s been stolen by Bacchus and Mammon. (And recently a host of cute little penguins in Santa hats. Puzzlingly!)

I’m looking forward to the Rapha Festive 500 on strava, I hope they run it, it falls well with racing and working commitments.

I’m going to turn my hand to Beef Wellington for the lunch.

I’ll be burgling all my neighbours houses on Christmas Eve

Only thought about it so that we can book holidays from work. OH is working 25th so she can get two days off after, which gives us 11 days off in a row. First time since we were kids.
Off to a hopefully snowy Scotland.

I’m going to turn my hand to Beef Wellington for the lunch.

That’s nothing, I’m wrapping my penis in bacon.

I am not concerning myself with the Christy-mouse just yet, whatever the telly says I should be doings. If I spot something worth getting then I will but, I’m not going to of my way for it just yet…

My Missus seems to already be 20% planning / 80% Dreading it though. and I have to say the 2-3 months of increasing stress and panic from her just helps to ruin it for her and half of those around her, if I want anything for Christmas it’s for her to calm the **** down about Christmas.

A low stress, low fuss Christmas is all I want, I’ll do the catering because I tend not to make a total bloody mess of the kitchen and do a reasonable Roasty…
We’ll probably take the kids out for a walk after they’ve attacked the present pile and watched the Gruffalo again, Have dinner, more presents and possibly a family film, then turn off the telly and force them to play board games with us till bed time… That would do for me, Boxing day can be lazy one, possibly with a short ride for me, and I’m not driving down to my parents till the day after, Sod ’em, they can wait.

I have simply requested vouchers from everyone for Christmas (I may even apply a £10 Cap so nobody feels they have to go silly on me), I honestly don’t want people expending effort or vast sums on me when I really don’t intend to reciprocate…

I will not be making much effort for anyone other than ‘er indoors and our kids, and even then I don’t intend to spend loads… The kids are still young enough (five and two) that having lots of little (cheap) things to open on Christmas day will make it far more enjoyable for them than one or two huge spend on one big “As seen on TV” type pressie…

Afterwards, I might stick my fork in a pudding…

Christmas at the Hobos is a pretty expensive time tbh. One of ours has his birthday in December too so after a couple of years we realised we needed to plan better.

This has worked for us for about 7yrs and once you get on top of it you just tend to forget and enjoy. Mrs Hobo saves about £120-£150 per month on dd into a savings account that her sister saves into as well. By Christmas we end up with about £1500 (Easier the second year) in the account which means we never ever spend a penny we don’t already have.

The other big bonus is that throughout the year, if anything catches our eyes we can take advantage of opportunities with sales etc. Last weekend my daughter was looking for a bike at £270. The following weekend they had a sale and had the model up that should have been £350 down to £270. Straight in an bought it. The year before we did the same with my lads bmx.

It doesn’t dull down Christmas as you can then enjoy getting the presents without the guilt of wether you can afford it and you can pat yourself on the back for being so organised.

The other benefit being that if the sheesh hits the fan you still have the cash to bail you out of trouble.

Not even given Christmas a thought yet. Its never been my favourite time of year and since my mum died a week before the festive season a few years ago its become something to get out of the way with as little fuss as possible. My dad feels the same way and as he has started to really suffer from some of the more restricting symptoms of congestive heart failure I suspect this winter will throw up a few problems.

Probably order a few presents online come mid November but that will be the extent of any forward planning. I like keeping things simple.