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Cutbacks at Christmas

BERNADETTE HORTON explains how her family will manage Christmas on a reduced budget this year

Last month my husband and I gathered the boys around for a talk about Christmas. Well, not so much about Christmas but about Christmas finances.

Being a large family, we have always told them the truth about what we can and what we cannot do as regards presents in the past.

Despite having four sons, brand new games consoles that come out in December have never been a priority. We have bought a console or two in the past when they have been cheaper the year after they come out, rather than promising the new pricey version for Christmas.

But our talk this year for 2013 has been a little different. Scrap that. To be truthful it has been blunt and to the point.

The money is not there to do the "full works" any longer and pay the December bills.

Our boys are old enough to understand that mortgages have to be paid in December too, as well as the utility bills and council tax.

I made up a December budget sheet and as a family we decided which items on the list were higher priority than others and which things could be scrapped altogether.

We put the bill budget to one side as we all agreed no payments would be missed. Everyone saw my point that a bill missed in December would be hanging round our necks in the new year.

There would be no loans from anywhere. Christmas 2013 will be done on the money we have.

Being self-employed, there is no-one to turn to in order to demand a minimum or a living wage. My husband's overall income from a single shift hasn't risen in 10 years. He will also be working over the entire Christmas fortnight.

So we agreed to drastically cut our costs.

We only sent Christmas cards to a few people, and others we phoned instead, explaining why. Quite a few people said it was a relief to them too as postage is so high.

Instead of sending parcels to family in other parts of the country, we'll be sending vouchers this year.

We all decided the actual Christmas Day treats like chocolates, mince pies, cream, cheeseboard and crackers were more important than Christmas presents, so we'll be giving smaller, cheaper presents. We are even cutting out the Radio Times expense as it is over £3 to buy.

I fear poverty has become entrenched and will be an increasing reality in 2014 for many working poor families like mine.

Memories of what we used to be able to do as well as pay the bills has hit home. Not extravagant excesses, just a Christmas that made life and work worthwhile. A time when work paid for a few extra treats at Christmas time.

While we agreed the younger boys at school could attend Christmas parties and the like, my husband and I decided to turn down invitations for meal nights and so on. The expense of restaurants is a luxury we can no longer afford. The cinema or a couple of nights in the pub over Christmas week are now off the list. The same will be true for thousands up and down Britain.

Staying in also eliminates the expense of new clothes and a trip to the hairdressers, something I never used to think about before 2010.

I am hoping quality family time makes up for the budget cuts necessary this year. We don't like making them, but we believe that being truthful with the children is better than owing Wonga and the loan companies huge debts in the new year.

Of course I am aware that our choices are not anywhere near as difficult as those people facing heat or eat this Christmas and who are already in rent arrears or moving out due to the bedroom tax, or those who will be visiting food banks.

But I feel bitter that even those in work are having to make swingeing cuts to the Christmas budgets while Cameron, Osborne and Clegg will no doubt be choosing between the goose, swan or pheasant - or enjoying all three - for Christmas lunch.

We always thought working was enough to keep us from poverty. Trouble is, the belts have been tightened.

If Iain Duncan Smith gets his way about the self-employed being forced to move to jobseeker's allowance under universal credit if they don't earn the minimum income floor of £11,000, we may indeed be future food bank clients ourselves.

And if standards of living fall again next year, there will be no difference between working and not working at all.

I would think that statement alone should ring alarm bells in the Department for Work and Pensions.

If work makes you poor, people will question whether it's worthwhile. This is the depth to which this government has plummeted.

We are only a few steps away from that situation unless there is a change in government and policies protecting the working poor and disabled.

A modern Britain where work no longer pays bills, feeds families or allows for a basic holiday and the odd treat and a comfortable Christmas.

Merry Christmas Mr Cameron. Enjoy your Christmas lunch on the backs of the poor.

 

Bernadette Horton blogs at www.mumvausterity.blogspot.co.uk.

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