A savvy mum had a budget Christmas after selling some of her daughter's toys on Vinted - and using the cash to buy her new ones.
Melissa Kerrighen, 28, from Canterbury, UK, was determined to do a “budget Christmas” and not overspend on gifts for her five-year-old daughter, Isla.
She sold her daughter’s old toys, including gifts from last year, on the reselling site, Vinted.
She made around £85 – which she put back into buying second hand gifts on the site.
Melissa said she only put in £35 of her “own money” into additional stocking fillings – spending a total of £120.
Melissa Kerrighen, 28, from Canterbury, UK, was determined to do a “budget Christmas” and not overspend on gifts for her five-year-old daughter, Isla.
She sold her daughter’s old toys, including gifts from last year, on the reselling site, Vinted.
She made around £85 – which she put back into buying second hand gifts on the site.
Melissa said she only put in £35 of her “own money” into additional stocking fillings – spending a total of £120.
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FunTranscript
00:00I've spent £35 on my daughter's Christmas gifts and here is why I've chosen to do a budget
00:05Christmas this year. Hiya if you're new here I'm Melissa and I talk all things money and family
00:10life and today is day 15 of the £250 budget. Now this Christmas I have only spent £35 out of my
00:17pocket this year for Isla's gift and that's because I have sold lots of her old things
00:21on Vinted that she didn't want anymore and I managed to raise £85 so this is the first year
00:26I've stuck to more of a budget and I've not overbought as this is something that I tend to
00:30do even though I know she doesn't need the extra gift. It's almost like the cupboard doesn't exist
00:36until I get back home. Do you just keep buying if you see something or are you able to stop
00:40yourself from buying extra over the Christmas season? Today I spent £6.50 on some snacks for
00:45the car as we visited family today so there is still £123.81 in the pot and if you'd like to
00:51see more content around money and family life then please pop me a follow. Do you think that
00:56Christmas has gotten way out of hand or do you enjoy all the new traditions that have been
01:01started more recently? Hiya if you're new here I'm Melissa and I talk all things money and family
01:06life and today is day 17 of the £100 budget. Now it seems like every year something gets added to
01:12the list of things to do in December and I think mums especially put too much pressure on ourselves
01:17to make sure everything gets done and everyone has a good time. When I was growing up we got
01:22a chocolate £1 advent calendar, a stocking on Christmas morning and we had to wait until my dad
01:26woke up to open our gifts. Nowadays it's Christmas markets like Switch Ons, Elf on the Shelf,
01:33Pantomimes, Santa Visits, Christmas Eve boxes and the latest I've heard is a December box.
01:40Now I'm sure people make all these things up so mums feel bad that they can't do it all.
01:44Not only is it a lot with having to buy gifts and seeing friends and family and going to school
01:49nativities, it also costs so much extra in fuel and travel costs, extra food and gifts and so on.
01:55I think we should all try and stop the rush of fitting it all in and do what makes us happy and
02:00as mums we need to enjoy Christmas too. So if you're feeling guilty about trying to do everything
02:06just remember that this isn't realistic and if you are doing it all that's okay too. Christmas is
02:11what you make at the end of the day. Today we had a family day and we got a Greggs which was £12.35
02:17which leaves £32 in the pot. Christmas on a budget. So I'm spending around £120 this year on
02:25my daughter. She will get one present from Santa and the rest will be from us. This year I've
02:31decided that I'm going to be buying her some new toys and some used toys as she changes her mind
02:37so often that it's just not worth spending all that money for her not to play with it in a month's
02:41time. I've always put money away each week for Christmas and all previous years I've rinsed
02:47that account and I'm not too sure why I've done it. I've just come to the realisation this year
02:52that why am I doing this and I'm also on a debt payoff journey this year and I'm pretty sure
03:00paying off my debt would make more sense than buying presents that she's not actually going to
03:06play with. So I have already spent around £50 on Isla this year. I've got a few stockingy bits
03:14and about six presents and I'm sure that the rest of my budget will be able to account for
03:22like a main gift and a few more stocking bits and what have you. If there is actually anything else
03:29that she mentions in shops and what have you I'll take a picture of it and I'll send it to family
03:34who have already asked for ideas and I always find that so difficult because I've got everything that
03:39she wants and every year without fail even though I do a massive clear out in November
03:45we still can't fit it all in come like the 27th of December and we just have boxes piled up and
03:51piled up and she never plays with them. They just get sat there and it's just such a waste
03:56and I think doing it this way will be so much better this year.