Customised ornaments with ya dead dogs name on it, I lost it Jane sooo funny,I am an animal lover but that was hilarious😂😂Merry frugal Christmas to all❤
I quit putting up Christmas decorations years ago when I was working long hours and spent very little time 'at home'. I appreciated the decorations in shops and at work. I have chosen to stay 'christmas decoration free' at home since.
Loved your vlogmos this year, just catching up. Have a wonderful Christmas and I am looking forward to more vlogs in 2025 thank you as ever Mike and Jane your pearls of wisdom are like gold x
We light one thing in the yard in my backyard where i can see it every night and i love it. I have ornaments with each kids birth year and it is the first thing they look for when they come home. i can agree on the christmas items no one can use or touch, but give us some joy to see pretty things in the dead of winter.
Completely ignored ‘elf on the shelf’, Christmas pjs and practically every other item you mentioned (bar a Cadbury’s advent calendar each from the Pound Shop) and our boys are not emotionally scarred in any way, shape or form 😂 x
One year I did buy an Advent calendar with socks for my granddaughter. The price was comparable to a regular package of socks. They were not holiday specific, just little animal prints. My son loved that it provided something practical and NO CANDY. I've thought about doing something similar next year but homemade.
I love how enthusiastic you are about all these un-ncessaries at Christmas time. There is just so much excess at Christmas and I agree 100% with everything you brought up. I feel relieved to not feel obligated to give work colleages a special Christmas gift. We recently moved and didn't have enough in the budget for a tree this year.. so we just skipped it! I've been binging on all your videos hoping to help adjust my mindset to spending less. One big adjustment is just to be ok with and normalize a frugal lifestyle. That's a big one for me in a very materialistic oriented Dallas, TX, USA. I'm proud of myself for saving $400 this month on groceries, just by tracking every single grocery expenditure. Anyway, thank you SO much for your wonderful channel. I would love to meet in person one day!
One of my favourite Christmas extra's which I love is medjool dates they taste better to me than any Christmas chocolates my husband buys a pack and I love each and everyone of them, merry christmas 🎅
Completely agree! We've enjoyed some lovely food, our little vintage tree, a few small gifts for immediate family, and some family visits. That seems more than enough to me. I have an old advent calendar with just pictures, had it for years, most years I close the windows and use it again the following year, works for me!
A few years ago I stocked up on a black and white checkered pattern Christmas wrapping paper that was 50% off. It's great for all occasions by just changing the ribbon colors or bows. I got tired of managing all different occasions wrapping paper. Jane, I totally agree with you on all the points that are common in my country, and we never did elf on a shelf or the pj's either, and my kids survived! 😁
Here in North East Pennsylvania, some people love to put up those outdoor projectors that shine images onto their houses. I can’t stand them, they make me dizzy. The ones with red and green spots just make the house look like it has radioactive chickenpox. A simple wreath is good enough for me.
I gotta tell you I once had several of those. They were given to me and I did use them a few years. I think the benefit is just lazy decorating because all it takes is extension cords and placing them in the right spot. I tired of them and just donated them to a thrift store last summer. I love your comment about them and now I’m laughing at myself. They were silly. 😂😂😂
I have taken my Christmas towels and use them in the kitchen as every day towels. There there was no sense in buying new towels when I already had these. Frugality at its best! Merry Christmas Jane and Mike!😊
Years ago at the Dollar Store , I bought the Christmas decorated boxes after Christmas and have used them ever since. Looks nice and not buying paper .
Absolutely Fabulous Jane, you have totally expressed my views on this. My kids think Im a miserable dinosaur. I just dont feel its necessary to get sucked into all this hype, especially when most have their roots in the USA. Most is cheap tat that will end up in landfill. I prefer a leaner greener Christmas
Christmas toilet paper, really?! One or two of our neighbours set up those outside projectors that swirl lights and patterns all over the house walls. First time we saw them we were quite intrigued, but then, being French, they pull down all their outside shutters so I can't see what benefit they get from them! And as we live on a very small, quiet close of houses, there aren't many passers-by to see them either. Edited afterthought, that's really interesting about the scented candles showing up as pollution, I've sometimes wondered if maybe I was missing something not doing scented candles, now I feel validated!
Oh no we have a dead dog ornament !! I had 2 engraved for my adult children, now on the plus side for the last several years we have done a no gift Christmas, it has been so nice not to have to go to the stores and wander up and down looking for a gift, we do a dinner on Christmas eve and eat left overs on the day, no turkey dinner, just a regular one, ( less mess for me ) we have a turkey dinner later on in the year when I feel up to doing one. I love baking so I bake all the usual Christmas bits and bobs, but I love making them. Merry Christmas everyone !
If I want to buy Christmas motif items or winter motif items, I wait for the Boxing Day clearance sale at Marshalls (here in Canada) similar to TJMax in the US and TkMax in Europe. Sometimes the sales are as much as 75% off. I usually buy things like towels, bed sheets, throws…things that I actually need and will use the entire fall and winter. I could care less if the motif is Christmas as long as they are on deep discount and I need them, and they are much cheaper than the non-Christmas motif items.
Merry Christmas to you and Mike! I really enjoy your presentations and have applied many of your suggestions to live more frugally and prioritize what is actually important! I look forward to the coming year!!
I admit, I was very lucky as a child to have lots of presents at Christmas, HOWEVER we never had Christmas parties for everything, advent calendars, stockings, anything special food related outside of Christmas Day (breakfast was the usual), no Christmas Eve boxes, hot chocolate, pyjamas, Christmas themed anything! We also only received one present for our birthday, and basically nothing outside of those two times of year apart from what we absolutely needed. I did grow up in New Zealand, so Christmas is in summer, and I loved it, because it was a day to not only get presents and play outside, but also to spend with my extended family, chatting, laughing, singing, playing music. Maybe if I was very lucky, my Mum might let me have one of her chocolates from her special Christmas box of chocs we'd bought her (no guarantees!). You can make things memorable and special in very simple ways, and it doesn't have to involve spending lots of money.
LOL on external decorations! We chose to decorate the park's large tree with solar lights and bulbs. The tree is a community fun and will be up for the entire winter to remind us that we WILL see spring in snowy Idaho! He is the light of the world after all!
In Australia Christmas Tshirts are very popular and every year there are more and more in the shops. People buy a different one for every day leading up to Christmas
Love this! You reminded me of childhood advent calendars in the 70s. I used to love opening the window each day and getting a surprise picture. The double doors on Christmas eve for the nativity were the pinnacle! Merry Christmas Jane and Mike and girls x
I’m so glad we had our children back in the 70/80’s and avoided much of the hype. Advent calendars were a lot cheaper then, none of the candle/perfume/makeup advent calendars, just chocolates or pictures. (I was a military brat/child growing up in in Germany) Beautiful Christmases to remember.
My Christmas tree is full of customized ornaments with pictures of my kid and all of our dead dogs and I wouldnt change it for the world. Ive also got Christmas potholders and we use them. Other than that i agree.
Christmas toilet paper. 😂 How about the Dove Christmas scented deodorant? Does anyone need salted carmel something underarms? Dont forget Brrr Baskets.😂
My Aunt and Uncle bought all the nieces and nephews A quilted advent calendar with numbered Christmas items You put the tree on the number that matches the picture. We have had it for 26 years and when my daughter starts her family I will giving it to her to share with her children
When I was a kid, a long time ago, we got Christmas Advent calendars from Germany. You couldn't get them in the US. It was such a big deal and a fond memory. Now, no such thing. I enjoy lighting my Balsam Fir candle at Soltice. I eagerly await this every year. The rest is rubbish for me. No lights, tree or other things. I also, still, carry on the tradition of no sweets, deserts after thanksgiving and then, one treat at Christmas. This year, its a wonderful, boozey fruitcake made by Trappist monks. I love it. The rest, no. No cards, no gifts other than some family.
I don't need much of anything. We had three nice meals in four days, which was more than enough. I didn't go to the fourth one,lol!❤ Too much food. I do, however have the left overs from Christmas brunch in my fridge,😂 which will keep me going for a few days. ❤
I have been on a de-clutter not Christmas 🎄 re-clutter, so not for me. External Christmas 🎄 decorations are a risk in Australia 🇦🇺 due to strong winds. One year a neighbour decorated their orange tree with fairy lights and the foothills collected a night windstorm. Yes, it was the best show of the season we all loved watching the action. The lights were taken down the next morning and that idea did not become a tradition 🌟👍🇦🇺☃️ Thanks for sharing the great chat.
I've done some of those things, like the Christmas eve pjs. I think it's crazy to have more than one Christmas tree or change the "theme" every year. I have the same old ornaments for years now, some made by my kids in school. I had so many that they wouldn't fit on my tree even though I had quit buying new ones years ago, so I gave some to my daughter so she wouldn't have to buy many when she moved out. I also don't always put up a tree anymore, didn't this year. I have a wreath that I've also had for years, still haven't put it up. I do like driving around looking at Christmas lights but haven't put them up since my daughter moved out. I'm not getting up on the roof and not paying anyone to do it for me. The neighbors across the street from me put up the same decorations every year, very nice, makes their house look like a gingerbread house, so all I have to do is look out my door. ( : When my kids got older, teens, I started putting a few Lindor chocolates in their stockings along with fruit and nuts. I was checking the price on them in Walmart the other day and the bags have gotten smaller and they're more expensive, almost $8.00 for a 8.5 oz bag. No more Lindor chocolates.
So funny. I must say I'm guilty of elf , I bring him out every year. The girls still get a kick out of it. I bought an advent train years ago. I still put candy in it for everyday. I'm guilty, guilty lol
One of the worst things as a minimal Christmas doer is all the shops have moved the things I’d like to look at to put the Christmas tat out. Nobody really seems to be enjoying it this year. It’s just harsh loud music and extravagant adverts. It feels very hollow and fake to me.
Absolutely brilliant Jane and Mike. So true about the Yule log. Very dry and sugary. I never buy Christmas crackers. Can’t stand them! Cringeworthy jokes, gaudy paper hats made in China trinkets! You can even get Jo Malone ones these days. I never host or attend Christmas drinks. All fake 😂 people who can’t stand you greeting you with hello darling you look wonderful!!! Yes I am a true Bah humbug. Love your puppies ❤
I am not sure that I even need vlogmas next year. It has been nice. I just could not keep up with all of the videos this year. I enjoy several different content creators and it has been overwhelming. I don’t have enough hours in a day to devote to watching all of them. Happy Christmas to Mike and Jane from The Traybsza’s in Oklahoma. 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Im in Australia and were at my sons this year and we have just come out to look at the Christmas lights with the children. Its going to be 40 degrees on Christmas.
Gosh that made me laugh thanks so much. Please may I add Christmas flowers and table arrangements to list along with Christmas card round robins that just give an excuse to 'brag'
The older I get, the less fuss I make. Usually the Christmas potholders and towels, the poinsettias are gifts, I wouldn't buy them. I can't stand scented anything, especially candles. All my decorations are either ancient (70+ years), or home made. I love crocheting little snowflakes for our improvised wall "tree". Somebody threw away lots of Christmas wrapping paper, so my husband took it all, shared most of it, and what is left will be enough for many years. I've never seen Christmas loo roll.....I'd pass on it if I did. Just doesn't seem right.
Loved that Jane and falling about at your presentation...we're just about to watch The Grinch 🤣 on Tele.i agree absolutely...sadly I'm the only one with you on this here!! The pyjamas thing I find particularly cringworthy....your wee dogs looking fab and the video presentation is fabulous.thanksx
Becky here - lol on the Christmas napkins, etc…..i usually buy them after the holiday when they are 70-90% off….and we use the holiday tea towels, etc. Most of what I buy is for gifts later on. I am too cheap to pay full price.
Lol! I agree on pretty much everything! But I do have a Christmas tree decoration with my beautiful dog who died last year, but I’m not interested in most of the other stuff. I have a friend who every day sends me photos of her elves on the shelves 😩. What about Christmas Eve boxes Jane?
@@FrugalQueeninFrance😂 I know right! I was in an independent book shop last week and they were selling expensive boxes with books, chocolate, and other stuff!! Apparently the Christmas Eve box was introduced for the poor Children who are so excited and can’t possibly wait until Christmas Day 🤩😂😂😂
Re. External decorations. I loved the Christmas I had in England. The lights twinkled from 4 o’clock in the afternoon. It was so festive. I live in Australia, it doesn’t get dark till 9 o’clock in December and it hardly seems worth putting lights up.
I've seen some Advent calendars costing £hundreds, more than I spend on presents for my whole family. I have had the same calendar for a few years, gets folded flat each year and I open the doors afresh, not having the faintest memory of what was in all of them last year, year before, etc. I really don't understand Christmas kitchen roll and toilet roll, it just gets binned or flushed!
Love it! The one that stopped me in my tracks was Christmas toilet paper!!! Does any bottom know, or care, that it is Christmas? Totally unbelievable marketing.
We never did Christmas pjs or elf on the shelf, my kids didn't get the hype and to be honest that elf creeps me out a bit lol. I make us personalized ornaments every year because it makes me happy and it doesn't cost me but a couple of dollars and a few nights to make. I'm guilty of buying my black lab new tennis balls and my little bitsa girl a new thrifted stuffy which they love and it costs me only a couple of dollars. My "outdoor " decor consists of a 3ft tree with a set of lights that was gifted to me. Its on a timer on a table in our enclosed porch. After I'm done with my evening barn chores the tree is on using a timer and it makes me smile, reminding me of my dad and how he loved a simple lit up tree. I have cloth napkins for the winter i bought at a thrift store and i love and collect table cloths that i buy for a dollar or less that i put out. Decor doesn't need to be costly, i look all yr around for very specific things and pay next to nothing. But these are items that I like and bring me joy to look at not dictated by the masses. I'm loving your vlogmas!
Too much Christmas some times! Just had a tour of my sister-in-laws….40 boxes to put up, take down, and store…really set off my dust allergies. Pretty maybe, but not for me. Oh, 106 nutcrackers in the mix.
Great video, as always. I totally agree. I can't stand the waste around this time of year... All I can visualise is how much plastic tat will just end up eventually in the landfill!! My personal big pet peeve is all the Christmas gonks! I appreciate that for some Scandinavian cultures they can be an important part of their Christmas traditions. But, over in the UK and other countries, they've just become so commercialised. And, as someone who loves The Grinch film, it's so frustrating to see all the mass produced Grinch tat these days!! (Just in my opinion, I try my best not to judge anyone else's purchasing decisions!)
So true. I was so miffed when we went to my parents-in-law and they presented bloody elves (plural) on the shelf. I was very clear that they stay at the grandparents. Haven't got time for that plus the story that comes with it is obnoxiously consumerist. I agree with you on all of it. It's saturating, expensive and unnecessary. This year I have succumbed to a large paper coloring dining table cover... mainly to have some quiet colouring time for overstimulated kids. As a parent surrounded by all this stuff .... and the pressure of it... it's very hard to not feel like the Grinch but it's unnecessary and builds expectations that every year gets bigger and bigger. I can't. I won't.
Don't buy Christmas fruit cakes as gifts! They are always the brunt of jokes! But I usually buy myself a small one after Christmas when they go on sale! 😊
Well...we use all our seasonal towels so that's not exactly an extra and they last for years as they're only used 3 wks out of the year. Xmas pyjamas were always part of the clothing budget and my kids wore them till they grew out of them.
I just see so much clack everywhere…endless decorations for indoors and giant inflatable snowmen etc for outdoors….We have a small reusable tabletop tree and we each exchange a stocking Christmas morning with small silly things..a pack of gum, a bar of chocolate or a gift card for a record (my Joanna slices music). But as for the holiday clack, nope, it’s a hard pass for me!❤
I don't know... I have special Christmas towels up that were either a gift or bought at the thrift store for a dollar, and all of them get used, including my Christmas potholders that I've had for so long I can't remember where they came from. I just think that people should have as much Christmas as they want or can afford without causing them financial distress. If you don't have and can't afford Christmas towels, then don't worry about it. If you want to do Elf on a Shelf and have to have inexpensive things to bring joy to your children, do it! If it's too much, then don't. I don't think it's a bad thing to do this stuff, as long as it brings joy.
@FrugalQueeninFrance yes for the zoo my son calculated 204 dollars just to get into the gate. Not to mention the hot chocolate,snacks,games and toy expense. They charge 10.00 just for a drink!!!
All the Christmas giftboxes. Doesn’t matter whether it’s chocolate, aftershave or drinkselection. They’re usually far more expensive than what you would get normally. Just insane and useless consumerism and bad for the planet anyway. Have a lovely festive season and all the best for 2025
👏 🙂 its so liberating to have a low key Xmas with just a few decorations, lights and cards. 🎄🎅 and it will be super quick to put things away soon 🙂📦
Roaing with laughter at this one it's so true and hilarious. Xx
You’re welcome
Dead dog ornaments...I love it. Nearly needed a tenna lady.I laughed so hard!
🤣
Customised ornaments with ya dead dogs name on it, I lost it Jane sooo funny,I am an animal lover but that was hilarious😂😂Merry frugal Christmas to all❤
People do it
I quit putting up Christmas decorations years ago when I was working long hours and spent very little time 'at home'. I appreciated the decorations in shops and at work. I have chosen to stay 'christmas decoration free' at home since.
Love that!
Loved your vlogmos this year, just catching up.
Have a wonderful Christmas and I am looking forward to more vlogs in 2025 thank you as ever Mike and Jane your pearls of wisdom are like gold x
We light one thing in the yard in my backyard where i can see it every night and i love it. I have ornaments with each kids birth year and it is the first thing they look for when they come home.
i can agree on the christmas items no one can use or touch, but give us some joy to see pretty things in the dead of winter.
@@tutuluvsminnie7129 thanks for watching
Thank you for validating how good I feel about my simple, happy Christmas! Blessings to your family.
Thanks for watching
Yes!!! I totally agree! Everything and peoples expectations are just out of control. Love your channel!
@@JamieKinser-i9n thanks for your reply
Completely ignored ‘elf on the shelf’, Christmas pjs and practically every other item you mentioned (bar a Cadbury’s advent calendar each from the Pound Shop) and our boys are not emotionally scarred in any way, shape or form 😂 x
Well done!
One year I did buy an Advent calendar with socks for my granddaughter. The price was comparable to a regular package of socks. They were not holiday specific, just little animal prints. My son loved that it provided something practical and NO CANDY. I've thought about doing something similar next year but homemade.
Right on point as always Jane. Happy Christmas. To you and all those you love
Oh, Jane that was great. Thank you all. Hugs to the puppies
I love how enthusiastic you are about all these un-ncessaries at Christmas time. There is just so much excess at Christmas and I agree 100% with everything you brought up. I feel relieved to not feel obligated to give work colleages a special Christmas gift. We recently moved and didn't have enough in the budget for a tree this year.. so we just skipped it! I've been binging on all your videos hoping to help adjust my mindset to spending less. One big adjustment is just to be ok with and normalize a frugal lifestyle. That's a big one for me in a very materialistic oriented Dallas, TX, USA. I'm proud of myself for saving $400 this month on groceries, just by tracking every single grocery expenditure. Anyway, thank you SO much for your wonderful channel. I would love to meet in person one day!
One of my favourite Christmas extra's which I love is medjool dates they taste better to me than any Christmas chocolates my husband buys a pack and I love each and everyone of them, merry christmas 🎅
@@pamelawalton1255 thanks for watching
Completely agree! We've enjoyed some lovely food, our little vintage tree, a few small gifts for immediate family, and some family visits. That seems more than enough to me. I have an old advent calendar with just pictures, had it for years, most years I close the windows and use it again the following year, works for me!
You’re on fine form Jane - I’m sat chuckling at this video.
@@englishlearningexpert3595 thanks for watching
A few years ago I stocked up on a black and white checkered pattern Christmas wrapping paper that was 50% off. It's great for all occasions by just changing the ribbon colors or bows. I got tired of managing all different occasions wrapping paper.
Jane, I totally agree with you on all the points that are common in my country, and we never did elf on a shelf or the pj's either, and my kids survived! 😁
Thanks for your reply
Here in North East Pennsylvania, some people love to put up those outdoor projectors that shine images onto their houses. I can’t stand them, they make me dizzy. The ones with red and green spots just make the house look like it has radioactive chickenpox. A simple wreath is good enough for me.
Oh no
I gotta tell you I once had several of those. They were given to me and I did use them a few years. I think the benefit is just lazy decorating because all it takes is extension cords and placing them in the right spot. I tired of them and just donated them to a thrift store last summer. I love your comment about them and now I’m laughing at myself. They were silly. 😂😂😂
Radioactive chicken pox 😂😂😂
I agree Jane ,we never had them outside 👍🏻Merry Christmas 🎅😊🎄
I have taken my Christmas towels and use them in the kitchen as every day towels. There there was no sense in buying new towels when I already had these. Frugality at its best! Merry Christmas Jane and Mike!😊
Thanks for sharing!!
Video very funny and relevant. I agree!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS
@rose-g3l thanks
Years ago at the Dollar Store , I bought the Christmas decorated boxes after Christmas and have used them ever since. Looks nice and not buying paper .
Great idea!!
The most external our decorations got were to have some colourful Christmas lights inside our porch.
Thanks
Absolutely Fabulous Jane, you have totally expressed my views on this. My kids think Im a miserable dinosaur. I just dont feel its necessary to get sucked into all this hype, especially when most have their roots in the USA. Most is cheap tat that will end up in landfill. I prefer a leaner greener Christmas
@@Essexbird too true
Loved this video too! Couldn’t agree more!
Oh Jane this was fabulous! Made me laugh out loud! You’re so right xx
Not as much as I laugh at the stupidity of consumerism
Christmas toilet paper, really?!
One or two of our neighbours set up those outside projectors that swirl lights and patterns all over the house walls. First time we saw them we were quite intrigued, but then, being French, they pull down all their outside shutters so I can't see what benefit they get from them! And as we live on a very small, quiet close of houses, there aren't many passers-by to see them either.
Edited afterthought, that's really interesting about the scented candles showing up as pollution, I've sometimes wondered if maybe I was missing something not doing scented candles, now I feel validated!
@@BrittanyLucy oh heck projection show, oh dear
Oh no we have a dead dog ornament !! I had 2 engraved for my adult children, now on the plus side for the last several years we have done a no gift Christmas, it has been so nice not to have to go to the stores and wander up and down looking for a gift, we do a dinner on Christmas eve and eat left overs on the day, no turkey dinner, just a regular one, ( less mess for me ) we have a turkey dinner later on in the year when I feel up to doing one. I love baking so I bake all the usual Christmas bits and bobs, but I love making them. Merry Christmas everyone !
@@dawnmorandin541 thanks for watching
If I want to buy Christmas motif items or winter motif items, I wait for the Boxing Day clearance sale at Marshalls (here in Canada) similar to TJMax in the US and TkMax in Europe. Sometimes the sales are as much as 75% off. I usually buy things like towels, bed sheets, throws…things that I actually need and will use the entire fall and winter. I could care less if the motif is Christmas as long as they are on deep discount and I need them, and they are much cheaper than the non-Christmas motif items.
You'll save 100% if you don't buy it at all
Merry Christmas to you and Mike! I really enjoy your presentations and have applied many of your suggestions to live more frugally and prioritize what is actually important! I look forward to the coming year!!
Thanks, you too!
I admit, I was very lucky as a child to have lots of presents at Christmas, HOWEVER we never had Christmas parties for everything, advent calendars, stockings, anything special food related outside of Christmas Day (breakfast was the usual), no Christmas Eve boxes, hot chocolate, pyjamas, Christmas themed anything! We also only received one present for our birthday, and basically nothing outside of those two times of year apart from what we absolutely needed. I did grow up in New Zealand, so Christmas is in summer, and I loved it, because it was a day to not only get presents and play outside, but also to spend with my extended family, chatting, laughing, singing, playing music. Maybe if I was very lucky, my Mum might let me have one of her chocolates from her special Christmas box of chocs we'd bought her (no guarantees!). You can make things memorable and special in very simple ways, and it doesn't have to involve spending lots of money.
Thanks for your experience
LOL on external decorations! We chose to decorate the park's large tree with solar lights and bulbs. The tree is a community fun and will be up for the entire winter to remind us that we WILL see spring in snowy Idaho! He is the light of the world after all!
Thanks, 😊
In Australia Christmas Tshirts are very popular and every year there are more and more in the shops. People buy a different one for every day leading up to Christmas
So true Jane, we don't need all of those things.
Love this! You reminded me of childhood advent calendars in the 70s. I used to love opening the window each day and getting a surprise picture. The double doors on Christmas eve for the nativity were the pinnacle!
Merry Christmas Jane and Mike and girls x
Love that!
Totally agree Jane!
Also what is the craze for Christmas Eve boxes?
Where did that come from?
Commercialism
I’m so glad we had our children back in the 70/80’s and avoided much of the hype. Advent calendars were a lot cheaper then, none of the candle/perfume/makeup advent calendars, just chocolates or pictures. (I was a military brat/child growing up in in Germany) Beautiful Christmases to remember.
I agree
My Christmas tree is full of customized ornaments with pictures of my kid and all of our dead dogs and I wouldnt change it for the world.
Ive also got Christmas potholders and we use them.
Other than that i agree.
Thanks for watching
None of the Christmas themed specials for me Jane. Hasn't been for a long time. I just use what I have. 🤗
@@sheila1013 I can hand on heart say I've never bought it
Christmas air-filled yard art.
😟
So tacky!
Christmas toilet paper. 😂
How about the Dove Christmas scented deodorant? Does anyone need salted carmel something underarms?
Dont forget Brrr Baskets.😂
@@Litha-yz7xq nope, all silly
My Aunt and Uncle bought all the nieces and nephews A quilted advent calendar with numbered Christmas items You put the tree on the number that matches the picture. We have had it for 26 years and when my daughter starts her family I will giving it to her to share with her children
Nice 😊
Your video was hilarious. Counting down the days until this hype is over. Merry Christmas Jane and Mike.
Thank you
When I was a kid, a long time ago, we got Christmas Advent calendars from Germany. You couldn't get them in the US. It was such a big deal and a fond memory. Now, no such thing. I enjoy lighting my Balsam Fir candle at Soltice. I eagerly await this every year. The rest is rubbish for me. No lights, tree or other things. I also, still, carry on the tradition of no sweets, deserts after thanksgiving and then, one treat at Christmas. This year, its a wonderful, boozey fruitcake made by Trappist monks. I love it. The rest, no. No cards, no gifts other than some family.
I don't need much of anything. We had three nice meals in four days, which was more than enough. I didn't go to the fourth one,lol!❤ Too much food. I do, however have the left overs from Christmas brunch in my fridge,😂 which will keep me going for a few days. ❤
I have been on a de-clutter not Christmas 🎄 re-clutter, so not for me.
External Christmas 🎄 decorations are a risk in Australia 🇦🇺 due to strong winds. One year a neighbour decorated their orange tree with fairy lights and the foothills collected a night windstorm. Yes, it was the best show of the season we all loved watching the action. The lights were taken down the next morning and that idea did not become a tradition 🌟👍🇦🇺☃️
Thanks for sharing the great chat.
Jane I just love you 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Love ya right back!
I've done some of those things, like the Christmas eve pjs. I think it's crazy to have more than one Christmas tree or change the "theme" every year. I have the same old ornaments for years now, some made by my kids in school. I had so many that they wouldn't fit on my tree even though I had quit buying new ones years ago, so I gave some to my daughter so she wouldn't have to buy many when she moved out. I also don't always put up a tree anymore, didn't this year. I have a wreath that I've also had for years, still haven't put it up. I do like driving around looking at Christmas lights but haven't put them up since my daughter moved out. I'm not getting up on the roof and not paying anyone to do it for me. The neighbors across the street from me put up the same decorations every year, very nice, makes their house look like a gingerbread house, so all I have to do is look out my door. ( : When my kids got older, teens, I started putting a few Lindor chocolates in their stockings along with fruit and nuts. I was checking the price on them in Walmart the other day and the bags have gotten smaller and they're more expensive, almost $8.00 for a 8.5 oz bag. No more Lindor chocolates.
Thanks for your reply
So funny. I must say I'm guilty of elf , I bring him out every year. The girls still get a kick out of it. I bought an advent train years ago. I still put candy in it for everyday. I'm guilty, guilty lol
Oh dear, oh dear .....never mind,
One of the worst things as a minimal Christmas doer is all the shops have moved the things I’d like to look at to put the Christmas tat out. Nobody really seems to be enjoying it this year. It’s just harsh loud music and extravagant adverts. It feels very hollow and fake to me.
@@mydanshi9683 I hate the commercialism
I agree. Too much Christmas hype. Focus on the Reason for the Season. JESUS!!!!!!
@@annamariekorte7259 thanks for watching, no need to spend a single penny
Beautifully said. Happy Birthday Jesus.❤
Absolutely brilliant Jane and Mike. So true about the Yule log. Very dry and sugary. I never buy Christmas crackers. Can’t stand them! Cringeworthy jokes, gaudy paper hats made in China trinkets! You can even get Jo Malone ones these days. I never host or attend Christmas drinks. All fake 😂 people who can’t stand you greeting you with hello darling you look wonderful!!!
Yes I am a true Bah humbug. Love your puppies ❤
You and me both
I didn't know half these things existed! 😮 Merry Christmas 🎄
Me neither
I am not sure that I even need vlogmas next year. It has been nice. I just could not keep up with all of the videos this year. I enjoy several different content creators and it has been overwhelming. I don’t have enough hours in a day to devote to watching all of them.
Happy Christmas to Mike and Jane from The Traybsza’s in Oklahoma. 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Come watch my anti Christmas hype videos as the antidote to commercialism
@@FrugalQueeninFrancewill do.
Im in Australia and were at my sons this year and we have just come out to look at the Christmas lights with the children. Its going to be 40 degrees on Christmas.
Jane you are on the top of your game. So much common sense. Sadly Christmas vlogmas will be ending soon.❤
Thank you
You are so funny!!! Great video!!
Glad you enjoyed!
Gosh that made me laugh thanks so much.
Please may I add Christmas flowers and table arrangements to list along with Christmas card round robins that just give an excuse to 'brag'
Yes you can!
The older I get, the less fuss I make. Usually the Christmas potholders and towels, the poinsettias are gifts, I wouldn't buy them. I can't stand scented anything, especially candles. All my decorations are either ancient (70+ years), or home made. I love crocheting little snowflakes for our improvised wall "tree". Somebody threw away lots of Christmas wrapping paper, so my husband took it all, shared most of it, and what is left will be enough for many years. I've never seen Christmas loo roll.....I'd pass on it if I did. Just doesn't seem right.
Thanks for your reply
Getting a photograph of my partner John of a keyring bottle opener!
Loved that Jane and falling about at your presentation...we're just about to watch The Grinch 🤣 on Tele.i agree absolutely...sadly I'm the only one with you on this here!! The pyjamas thing I find particularly cringworthy....your wee dogs looking fab and the video presentation is fabulous.thanksx
Thanks, I find all of the commercialism cringy
Becky here - lol on the Christmas napkins, etc…..i usually buy them after the holiday when they are 70-90% off….and we use the holiday tea towels, etc. Most of what I buy is for gifts later on. I am too cheap to pay full price.
You’d save 100% by not buying them
@@FrugalQueeninFrance lol…true
Thank you x
You are so welcome
Gingerbread house kits. No thanks! What do you do with those once they are made?
@@DeborahRichmond I saw those in ikea.....very expensive
Chia pets! Every year they seem to come up with new versions to add to the clutter.
Evening Jane and Mike perfect advice we agreed with everything you said
Thanks for your reply
Spot on! 😀
You crack me up and I agree!!
Thank you so much 😊
I laughed so hard . You are so right
Difficult for many to make the transition but can be achieved 😊💜
? Transitions from?
@FrugalQueeninFrance from the unnecessary to frugality.....
@ just jump in and do it, those of us who did are better for it
@FrugalQueeninFrance definitely agree......thank you again for sharing 😊 💜
Lol! I agree on pretty much everything! But I do have a Christmas tree decoration with my beautiful dog who died last year, but I’m not interested in most of the other stuff. I have a friend who every day sends me photos of her elves on the shelves 😩. What about Christmas Eve boxes Jane?
For heaven's sake! More expense!
@@FrugalQueeninFrance😂 I know right! I was in an independent book shop last week and they were selling expensive boxes with books, chocolate, and other stuff!! Apparently the Christmas Eve box was introduced for the poor Children who are so excited and can’t possibly wait until Christmas Day 🤩😂😂😂
I have not even heard of some of these things😅. Might be European, USA has many of it's own non frugal items, though. I just keep reusing what I have.
Thanks for sharing!!
Re. External decorations. I loved the Christmas I had in England. The lights twinkled from 4 o’clock in the afternoon. It was so festive. I live in Australia, it doesn’t get dark till 9 o’clock in December and it hardly seems worth putting lights up.
Exactly!
I've seen some Advent calendars costing £hundreds, more than I spend on presents for my whole family. I have had the same calendar for a few years, gets folded flat each year and I open the doors afresh, not having the faintest memory of what was in all of them last year, year before, etc. I really don't understand Christmas kitchen roll and toilet roll, it just gets binned or flushed!
@@corinneleppard1933 I kid you not, I saw a sausage advent calendar
The world's gone mad!
Love it! The one that stopped me in my tracks was Christmas toilet paper!!! Does any bottom know, or care, that it is Christmas? Totally unbelievable marketing.
Love that!
We never did Christmas pjs or elf on the shelf, my kids didn't get the hype and to be honest that elf creeps me out a bit lol. I make us personalized ornaments every year because it makes me happy and it doesn't cost me but a couple of dollars and a few nights to make. I'm guilty of buying my black lab new tennis balls and my little bitsa girl a new thrifted stuffy which they love and it costs me only a couple of dollars. My "outdoor " decor consists of a 3ft tree with a set of lights that was gifted to me. Its on a timer on a table in our enclosed porch. After I'm done with my evening barn chores the tree is on using a timer and it makes me smile, reminding me of my dad and how he loved a simple lit up tree. I have cloth napkins for the winter i bought at a thrift store and i love and collect table cloths that i buy for a dollar or less that i put out. Decor doesn't need to be costly, i look all yr around for very specific things and pay next to nothing. But these are items that I like and bring me joy to look at not dictated by the masses. I'm loving your vlogmas!
Thanks for watching
👍👍👍
Too much Christmas some times! Just had a tour of my sister-in-laws….40 boxes to put up, take down, and store…really set off my dust allergies. Pretty maybe, but not for me. Oh, 106 nutcrackers in the mix.
Oh for goodness sake
@ I know! Crazy
Great video, as always. I totally agree. I can't stand the waste around this time of year... All I can visualise is how much plastic tat will just end up eventually in the landfill!! My personal big pet peeve is all the Christmas gonks! I appreciate that for some Scandinavian cultures they can be an important part of their Christmas traditions. But, over in the UK and other countries, they've just become so commercialised. And, as someone who loves The Grinch film, it's so frustrating to see all the mass produced Grinch tat these days!! (Just in my opinion, I try my best not to judge anyone else's purchasing decisions!)
@@Scottish-y4s thanks for your feedback
Brilliant 😂❤
So true. I was so miffed when we went to my parents-in-law and they presented bloody elves (plural) on the shelf. I was very clear that they stay at the grandparents. Haven't got time for that plus the story that comes with it is obnoxiously consumerist. I agree with you on all of it. It's saturating, expensive and unnecessary. This year I have succumbed to a large paper coloring dining table cover... mainly to have some quiet colouring time for overstimulated kids. As a parent surrounded by all this stuff .... and the pressure of it... it's very hard to not feel like the Grinch but it's unnecessary and builds expectations that every year gets bigger and bigger. I can't. I won't.
Saturated is a good description
Don't buy Christmas fruit cakes as gifts! They are always the brunt of jokes! But I usually buy myself a small one after Christmas when they go on sale! 😊
Well said
Perfect! Less is more
Thank you
Well...we use all our seasonal towels so that's not exactly an extra and they last for years as they're only used 3 wks out of the year. Xmas pyjamas were always part of the clothing budget and my kids wore them till they grew out of them.
Thanks for watching
Oh you will love this.... I had a second grader TELL me she had a $300 advent calendar. And then proceeded to tell me that was very expensive.
wow 😮
Oh 😟
I just see so much clack everywhere…endless decorations for indoors and giant inflatable snowmen etc for outdoors….We have a small reusable tabletop tree and we each exchange a stocking Christmas morning with small silly things..a pack of gum, a bar of chocolate or a gift card for a record (my Joanna slices music). But as for the holiday clack, nope, it’s a hard pass for me!❤
It's so tacky
I don't know... I have special Christmas towels up that were either a gift or bought at the thrift store for a dollar, and all of them get used, including my Christmas potholders that I've had for so long I can't remember where they came from. I just think that people should have as much Christmas as they want or can afford without causing them financial distress. If you don't have and can't afford Christmas towels, then don't worry about it. If you want to do Elf on a Shelf and have to have inexpensive things to bring joy to your children, do it! If it's too much, then don't. I don't think it's a bad thing to do this stuff, as long as it brings joy.
Thanks for watching
Elf on the shelf is seriously creepy! I would be scared to have one in the house
The christmas lights at different places, like the zoo, our family would pay over 100 dollars just to see...ridiculous.
@@kimyoung6822 oh my goodness!
@FrugalQueeninFrance yes for the zoo my son calculated 204 dollars just to get into the gate. Not to mention the hot chocolate,snacks,games and toy expense. They charge 10.00 just for a drink!!!
@ that is way too much
agree!
Once I saw Christmas toilet paper!!! Just for Santa?
lol 😂👍🏻
Christmas blow ups for the front yard. Half the time they are not working.
So tacky
It's the Christmas industrial complex
It's sickening
@FrugalQueeninFrance I know! But your approach was humorous, which I appreciate ! :)
All the Christmas giftboxes. Doesn’t matter whether it’s chocolate, aftershave or drinkselection. They’re usually far more expensive than what you would get normally. Just insane and useless consumerism and bad for the planet anyway. Have a lovely festive season and all the best for 2025
Exactly 👍
Christmas china. Don't need it.
It might be just a USA thing, but what a waste spending money on " ugly Christmas sweaters".
Gee Whiz....enough, already.
Absolutely 👍
Customized wrapping paper? Etc? What! You can't remember your child's name? Or are you too lazy to write it on a gift tag?😮😂
Exactly!
Totally agree Jane. What a load of rubbish! Need to get back to the basics.
Most of it is just waste