Posts tagged christmas

Everyone knows how important charity work is – particularly at Christmas time. Charity donations tend to be higher throughout December than they are during other months of the year, buoyed up by the sense of Christmas cheer and goodwill to all men. Unfortunately, with the rapidly shrinking global economy, budget is playing an increasingly large role in the amount of money people have available for charitable donations. This is where charity Christmas cards come in.

The major strength of charity Christmas card companies is in the relatively low cost of the products that they sell. A single pack of charity cards can cost as little as a couple of pounds, and allows the purchaser to give a little bit back to a deserving charity, at the same time as spreading Christmas cheer among friends and family. Instead of having to set aside a specific budget for charitable contributions, buyers can save money on a commodity that they were always going to buy (Christmas cards are one of the UK’s top Christmas traditions) and contribute to charitable causes at no extra cost to themselves.

However, care must be taken when looking to purchase charity Christmas cards. As anyone who has read a major national newspaper around the holiday season will probably know, not all organisations selling ‘charity’ cards are quite as generous as they may seem. The Charities Advisory Trust publishes the ‘Scrooge Awards’ report each year, discussing which organisations donate the lowest proportion of takings from their charity cards. Some of the companies named and shamed in the Scrooge Awards have in the past-contributed percentages as low as 4% - although this is becoming less common, as more notice is being taken of the Scrooge Awards’ results.

The 2010 Scrooge Awards fingered Cards Galore as one of the least prolific contributors, forwarding amounts as low as 4.2% to charitable causes. Marks & Spencer, Debenhams and Clinton Cards, on the other hand, were commended for setting aside at least 20% for the causes they promote.

Obviously customers looking to invest in a pack of charity Christmas cards this year will want to ensure that their hard-earned wages aren’t simply going towards lining the pockets of business owners who aren’t following through on their promises to support charities. Before you spend a single penny on the high street or online, be sure to research your charity of choice thoroughly – and a great place to start is with last year’s Scrooge Awards.

One charity card company known for donating honestly to a wide range of charity organisations is Cards For Good Causes. They sell cards, not just through local outlets and volunteer stands and stalls across the country, but also through the Internet. This makes it far easier for busy customers to purchase charity cards in a time frame that suits them, without having to plan a trip into town to buy from a shop during traditional opening hours.

Cards For Good Causes pledge to donate at least 75 pence out of every pound from charity card sales, and from the range of national and international charities that Cards For Good Causes work with, you can pick a cause that really resonates with you. Whether it is sheltered animals, fostered children or victims of cancer, you can choose to donate to the charity that you feel the strongest connection to.

In spite of the bad publicity generated by a number of unscrupulous companies, you shouldn’t be discouraged from contributing to good causes through charity Christmas cards. With careful research and planning, you can be sure that your money is going to a truly deserving charity, which lets your Christmas cheer spread that little bit further.

So Christmas day 2012 is only 297 days away. Sounds so long, right? Well I can bet you that it will come a lot sooner than you think; before you know it you’ll be pushing and shoving past people whilst trying to get all of those presents for friends and family (then you’ll have to get them all wrapped!). If you’re hosting anything through the festive season, you’ll find yourself stocking up the cupboards with plenty of food and drink.. And probably more drink!

We’ve reached the 3^rd month of 2012- the last bit of the 3^rd quarter. Before you know it, summer will be here! But once that’s gone, that’s when the rush will start. So why not be prepared this year? Did you make any New Year’s resolutions to do with your finances? Well the more prepared you are for Christmas this year, the more pennies you will save.

So what can you do to get prepared? If you spot a little gift that you know a certain friend or family member would love, get it. This will show that you can put thought and care into your gifts. If you spread out your outgoings throughout the year rather- than the last few months- your bank balance will be a lot healthier than your belly will after Christmas!

When it comes to food and drink, you obviously can’t go buying lots of party food in March- but if you’re getting presents out of the way from now to December, you can relax a lot more. Alcohol is normally at its cheapest during the festive season, so by not having to buy too many presents in December, you can enjoy lots more eggnog - or any other preferred beverage!

Perhaps you could start making gifts. If you have a crafts hobby, you could make little things for people, such as necklaces, bracelets, scarves, mittens etc. This may take more effort than buying them, but the gifts will be unique and have a lot more meaning to somebody who receives it. You could quite enjoy making little gifts throughout the year, and it will cost a lot less than buying them from a shop.

So maybe it’s about time you started thinking about Christmas- no matter how silly it sounds. Get prepared; it will come back around before you know it!

As we’re nearly 2 weeks into the New Year, Christmas is starting to feel like it was a long time ago. So let’s reminisce and look back at the festive songs that blessed our eardrums, as I choose my top 5.

5. The Pogues – Fairytale of New York (1987)
This classic song by Irish punk group The Pogues features British singer Kirsty MacColl. The song isn’t exactly the happiest Christmas song, as they sing about their youthful hopes crushed byalchoholism and drug addiction, as they reminisce and bicker on Christmas Eve. The track was number 1 in the ‘VH1 greatest Christmas song chart’ three years running, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

4. Chris Rea – Driving Home for Christmas (1988)
This single by Chris Rea never really made it in the charts, but is recognised as a classic Christmas song and has been covered by many artists including Michael Ball, Saint Etienne, Stacey Solomon & Joe McElderry. In my opinion, like many things, the original is still the best.

3. Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas? (1984)
Band Aid was a charity supergroup founded by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for anti-poverty efforts in Ethiopia. The song became the UK best-selling single in history until 1997. In 1989 a new version was recorded by ‘Band Aid II’ and became the UK number 1 single for 3 weeks, but failed to make as much historical recognition as the original. Then in 2004, ‘Band Aid 20’ was formed (again by Bob Geldof, along with modern artists and a handful of the original artists) and became the UK number one single for 4 weeks.

2. Coldplay – Christmas Lights (2010)
This is the most modern Christmas song on my list, and I believe it could well become a classic in the future. Classic Christmas songs are rare to come by nowadays, with TV shows like ‘The X Factor’ normally dominating the Christmas charts. This is the first Christmas song in a while that has actually felt ‘Christmassy’. I believe this song will be a classic in the years to come.

1.  Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody (1973)
“IT’S CHRIIIIISTMAAASSSSSSSSS!!” This is my childhood favourite. The excitement and energy of this song never fails to get me feeling festive. The track beat ‘Wizard’s’ ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ for the UK Christmas number 1 spot respectively, and has been number 1 in the UK for a total of 9 weeks.

These are my top 5 Christmas songs, but everybody has different tastes. So what would you say your top 5 would be?

The BBC recently claimed “the lowest price for an acceptable Christmas for a low-income family with two children is £182.” That includes presents. It seems like a tough target, but here are a few easy tricks to keep costs down, at least for food:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/flem007_uk/4212751873/sizes/l/in/photostream/ 

Plan ahead

When I was a student, everyone ate Sainsbury’s Basics food most of the year, and then went wild at Christmas. Once, my flatmates went round the supermarket buying just about everything Christmassy they could find, which was about half the stock of the shop. They even got duck fat. The bill came out as only slightly less than Nasa’s annual budget. So my advice is – plan ahead. Decide what you need, then go and buy it.

Avoid Turkey

When demand for something goes up, the price generally rises, particularly when demand is ‘inelastic’ – ie, people don’t care how much it costs. Many people think not eating turkey at Christmas makes the baby Jesus cry, so will eat it whatever the price.

As turkey isn’t that nice anyway, why not save money by eating something else? Within reason, of course – cheese and onion pasties simply won’t do, even if they are Tesco’s Finest.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/techvt/4802615881/sizes/l/in/photostream/ 

Serve food on small plates

This is a neat psychological trick. People judge portion sizes partly by how full the plate is. Use small plates, and you can get away with serving less food. People might ask for seconds, but that isn’t a problem – if they ask for more, they’ll at least eat it. This is much better than serving dump-truck-loads of food to everyone, then seeing most of it left at the end.

Have a lot of people over

This may seem counter-productive – it’s more expensive to cook for ten than it is to cook for five. However, it’s not twice as expensive, because you can bulk-buy food, and cook it all together.

You will spend more money this way, but not a great deal more. Also, guests will generally bring a bottle of wine each, and possibly one or two gift hampers. Unless dinner is a disaster, you should get invited to Christmas dinner at one of your guests’ houses next year. So in the long run, you could save a fair bit.

Skip traditional foods

People sometimes say “it wouldn’t be Christmas without mince pies/sprouts/Christmas pudding, etc.” However, December 25^th is always Christmas, whether you celebrate it with a full festive meal at home with your family, a barbecue with friends in the heat of Australian summer, or a snack grabbed at a motorway service station on the way to visit relatives. 

I’m not suggesting you serve ‘Xmas lunch a la Little Chef’ to your guests. The point is that you don’t have to eat festive food to have a good time – in fact, people have parties all year round, and I’ve never known a July barbecue be ruined by the lack of mince pies. 

There’s a reason we only eat festive food once a year, and that’s because we don’t like it very much. So instead of serving sprouts, parsnips, and Christmas pudding, why not try their more common, cheaper alternatives – peas, potatoes, and chocolate cake?

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Hampers

When it gets close to the big day, online stores cut prices of their Christmas hampers, as it’s a bit late for gift-giving, and they need to get rid of their stock. This is a great opportunity to get luxury food cheap and (hopefully) in time for Christmas.

So remember, whilst December brings the only Christmas Day, in the year let there be Christmas in the things you do and say. Wouldn’t life be worth the living. Wouldn’t dreams be coming true if we kept the Christmas spirit all the whole year through? - Author: Unknown

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/4220438446/