Arguably, this year's Christmas may be more difficult than most amid the cost of living crisis and rocketing costs of energy bills. Vowing to normalise "Christmas on a budget", a mum has been praised for her savvy hack after spending £40 on her daughter's presents.
Taking to popular video-streaming service TikTok, mum Jamie Rose - who posts under account @jamie_rose88 - shared crucial advice that she swears by as she intends not to break the bank with extortionate costs this festive season. In a video, which has exceeded two million views since posting, the mum-of-two showed a haul of what she's gifting her six-year-old for the special day.
In the viral clip, the mum introduced herself: "Hi, I'm Jamie, and I'm doing a mini-series on normalising Christmas on a budget.
"I'm going to show you everything that I've bought my six-year-old daughter for Christmas. She already has a stocking, which is from the big man, and this is what we give her from our family."
Jamie's money-saving tradition is thanks to a rule that she swears by - something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read.
She explained: "Some of those categories have two bits in them, so coming in strong on something you want is this karaoke machine, it was about £15 on Amazon.
"Then I got her this den kit, inside it's got loads of bits to make a den. That was in the Aldi special buys in the sale for £5.99. They are her main Christmas presents that she wants.
"Something you need - socks and pants.
"Something to wear - I got her a pair of pyjamas. I bought these in the January sales, they were £5 and her brother has a matching pair.
"I also got her from Vinted - my new favourite place - this gorgeous Boden dress for a fiver. It's really thick and it's so lovely. She loves dragons, so she's going to love it.
"Something to read - I got her this Lego games book that also comes with a little bit of Lego because she loves Lego and that was from Amazon."
She continued: "I also got her a fairy doll's house sticker book. It's really lovely and it's got different scenes in them and the stickers correspond to the scenes and that was 89p in Home Bargains.
"That is it! That is everything she will get from us for Christmas day."
This isn't the first year that the mum has followed the tradition as she explained that she's spent less in previous years. In the post's caption, she supported other parents who could be struggling this season.
The caption read: "I spent £40 this year, we have done less other years. I'm well aware that this will be out of some people's budget, especially this year.
"Just remember - you are amazing, you're doing your best, and you are a wonderful role model in your child's life. I promise," she added.
Rushing to the comments, TikToker's gushed over the mum's essential advice and praised her for normalising the annual tradition without spending a fortune.
"The den kit looks amazing!! This is wonderful, she will love it," one person exclaimed.
A second penned: "I agree that we over consume on Christmas and we should normalise a budget but Christmas for kids should be what they want, a cuddly toy, a doll."
A third agreed: "Absolutely love this! Getting sick to death of how OTT Christmas is and how much debt you can potentially get in for presents they’ll never remember!"
A different user wrote: "I think this is wonderful. It's totally unnecessary to spend hundreds/thousands on Christmas. There are so many fun free activities and ways to celebrate."
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