Happy Thrifty Christmas!

Miss Thrifty11 December 24, 2011

thrifty christmas

Well, it’s a funny old Christmas here. If you are wondering why I’ve been a little quiet in recent weeks, it’s because Thrifty Baby’s arrival is imminent… late, in fact. This also meant that a few weeks ago it dawned on us (again, somewhat late – can you spot a theme developing here?) that we didn’t have much baby prep time left.

So instead of making the house look nice for Christmas, we’ve been making the house look like this:

diy baby clothes

DIY everywhere and lots and lots of laundry, as we rush to get everything ready in time.

baby laundry 1

My giant bag of soap nuts from Summer Naturals has been going down fast! Apparently soap nuts are suitable for baby clothes, as the soap is very gentle and doesn’t irritate sensitive skin. I do hope so, as I have been washing a lot of baby clothes.

baby laundry 2

I’ve been drying everything on the rads, as we don’t have a tumble dryer and trying to line-dry anything in North Yorkshire in December is a fool’s errand…

Those little onesies are amongst the very few items that we have bought new (ASDA, six for £5 if memory serves.) We are tremendously grateful as we have have bought very little: instead, friends and acquaintances have passed down a large number of newborn baby items. It has been unexpected – and rather brilliant. I have also picked up discounted products in supermarkets and bargain items at second-hand sales. We’re at the stage now where I think we have everything we could possibly need… but more on this at a later date, as I don’t want to tempt fate at this stage!

So now the baby items are all neatly folded, stacked and in place; the much-needed DIY is finally done and the house is looking spick and span. And in the nick of time, we’re finally ready for Christmas. Hurrah!

christmas tree

Big glittery star: another ASDA bargain (75p).

christmas nuts

Christmas food: bring it on.

advent calendar
My favourite Christmas decorations, wheeled out year after year.

Okay, we’re all good to go, Santa Claus (and the baby) can come out now…

I’d like to thank you for reading this blog over the past year, and wish you a very Happy Christmas. Here’s to a thrifty 2012!

Large image credit: emilyonasunday.

Did you enjoy this post?

Free Daily Digest

11 Responses to “Happy Thrifty Christmas!

daisychain says:

Have a wonderful Christmas! x

December 24, 2011 at 10:04 pm

Moira says:

Wishing you, Mr F and Baby~F the very best of Christmases and a wonderful New Year.

December 24, 2011 at 11:36 pm

Lynda MibsXX Johnson says:

aww good luck with baba hunny, hope all goes well, you never know, might be a Xmas baby!

December 25, 2011 at 2:56 am

Nannyunders says:

Just wanted to say, ‘all the best with the birth’ and thank you so much for all the good advice information, etc,etc.
One of my daughters is about to have her baby too, so we/she understand totally the last minute jobs that always get to be ‘last minute’ and really hope they get done in time.
Happy new year to you and the family, looking forward to pictures and more ‘thriftyness’!!
Nannyunders.

December 26, 2011 at 7:55 pm

Katie says:

Happy Thrifty Christmas to you too! And good luck with all the bambino preparations, how very exciting! xxx

December 27, 2011 at 9:52 pm

Colleen says:

Lucky for you on the hand-me-downs! Makes a big difference when the wee one outgrows everything in days and weeks. All the best!

December 30, 2011 at 11:34 pm

Helen says:

Merry Christmas (albeit a touch late) and hope everything goes well with the baby.

On a separate note, I use a kitchen maid I got off ebay for the laundry. I have four children, have never owned a tumble-dryer, and don’t know what all the fuss is about them. Never have any trouble getting my tremendous amount of daily washing dry. Best forty quid I ever spent. I know it sounds like an advert… but I am genuinely just really pleased with it, and an anti-tumble-drier advocate!

Good luck, and love your site! x

January 1, 2012 at 5:37 pm

Christmas always seems to creep up on us every year too. We didn’t decorate the house either this year but we didn’t havea good excuse like you.

January 3, 2012 at 3:01 pm

Daisy says:

Happy new year! Hope everything is going great for you and that you will update us on the baby soon.

January 6, 2012 at 7:10 pm

Johnny Debt says:

Where are you? Missing you!!

January 19, 2012 at 2:04 pm

Leave a reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *