Dealing with the cost of Christmas as a single parent

Christmas doesn’t have to be picture-perfect and it isn’t this way for most people.

It can be fun to look at festive social media posts from friends, family, influencers and celebrities. Just keep in mind that images and videos on social media aren’t representative of everyday life or of any standard that you should be aiming to achieve. Remember that what’s posted to social media can often be heavily edited to look more appealing.

Even though it might seem like it, there is no official “how to do Christmas” and everyone has their own traditions and customs.  Maybe this year you can start to create traditions of your own with your family.

For more ideas on Christmas activities you can do with the kids for free or low cost, download our A-Z guide to Christmas.

Winter is a difficult time for many

On top of the pressures of organising Christmas, many single parents worry about juggling the cost of winter.

Winter can be a difficult time for many, with it getting darker earlier, temperatures dropping and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. That’s why we’ve created this short guide to help you plan your festive season as we enter the winter months.

Activities

Don’t put yourself under pressure to buy more than you can afford. The kids won’t remember all the presents they get, but they will remember the activities and time spent together doing cosy, festive things. Simple things can be memorable and fun like decorating the tree, baking, building indoor dens, watching movies with a hot chocolate or playing games.

If you can, try and think back to when you were little and Christmas was magical. You wouldn’t have been aware of the money that was spent on it, but you would enjoy and remember the good times shared with family and friends.

• Find out more about free or low cost activities you can do with the kids around Christmas.
• Check out our Facebook pages to find out what events and activities we’re hosting near you. You can find our Facebook pages for each local area here.
• Keep an eye out for deals! Sometimes there are special discounts on specific days for outings like Pantomimes.
• Some Santa experiences can be lower cost or free depending on your area. You can find out about these through local social media groups or by googling “what’s on in my local area”.

Presents

Children won’t remember glamourous décor or expensive presents, but they do remember quality time spent together.

Start planning now to get ahead. It might seem silly planning as early as the end of October, but you will look back on Christmas day and thank yourself for being prepared. It just means that you can relax more on Christmas and focus on the things that matter the most.

Here are a few ideas to help you budget for presents.

• Set a budget and try and stick to it. Have a look at your finances and decide what you can afford to spend.
• Make use of Black Friday sales, but keep in mind that the prices of some items are altered to make things seem like a better deal than they actually are. To try and find the best deals, you could use websites like Price Spy, Idealo or Hot Deals UK to compare costs.
• Browser extensions like Honey find promo codes and let you know historic prices of products to let you know if you’re getting a good deal. Black Friday this year will fall on November 28, 2025. Depending on what you’re looking for, you might find that some items will be on sale from the first week of November.
• When you budget, don’t forget to factor in any extra money you may need for food, fuel, phones, social events and travel during the winter months.
• Look out for bargains and discount codes which can be found by Googling the name of the gift or the shop you want to look at, followed by ‘discount code’.  Subscribing to your favourite shops’ email list will notify you of any sales or discounts.
• Kidstart is linked to many shops. They offer discounts to members and donate a small percentage of what you spend either to your kids’ savings account or a charity of your choice.
• If you have generous friends or family asking for gift suggestions for your kids, you might want to consider gifts that would help you spend less. This could mean things like clothes, cinema tickets, sports equipment, subscriptions or things the kids need for their favourite hobbies.

It’s important to remember that although buy now pay later options like Klarna and credit cards can be tempting, if you miss payments they can add on fees. This means you may end up paying more than you would have if you bought something upfront. See our information on Klarna and credit card debt.

Christmas dinner

It can be a really good idea to plan out Christmas dinner in advance so you can start budgeting. Here are a few tips and tricks for creating a Christmas dinner plan.

• Create a meal plan and see if you can mostly stick to the ingredients you need to help with cutting costs. It doesn’t need to be fancy, you could even write it in your phone in your “Notes” app. If you want to have more fun and get creative, you could decorate a list, make a board with a recipe or put together some sticky notes for the fridge and get the kids involved.
• When it comes to buying the things you need for Christmas dinner, remember to check your kitchen supplies to make sure you aren’t double-buying anything.
• Using ‘scan as you shop’ at the supermarket or ticking things off your list as you go could help you keep track of your spending and stay within budget.
• If it’s too expensive or time consuming to make a traditional Christmas dinner, why not change the dinner plans to something that suits you and your family better? Some people order a takeaway for Christmas or make a variation of a dinner they like to eat normally.
• If you are having Christmas dinner with a group of people, then you could ask others to bring a dish or two each to help distribute the cost and workload.
• If you  are struggling to buy food over the holidays you can get help from your local  food bank. You may have to be referred by your local Jobcentre Plus or Citizens Advice Bureau, but you can contact the foodbank directly for more details.
• You can access nutritious food for less through the Scottish Food Pantry. Find out more about the Scottish Food Pantry.

If your child is old enough to help out in the kitchen, you could turn the cooking of Christmas dinner into a family tradition. Put aside an afternoon or evening with the kids to do this together. You could even put on some Christmas music to get everyone in the spirit.

Younger children can do tasks like washing vegetables or seasoning food with supervision. Older children who are able to use a knife could chop veg and meat. If you are planning a desert, it could also be fun to bake or decorate this together.

Managing everyday finances at Christmas

The financial pressures of winter are tricky even without the difficulty of Christmas budgeting. Here are a couple of tips for dealing with finances over the winter and Christmas period.

• Get in touch with us via our Helpline or webchat and we can chat about the practical and emotional impacts of your Christmas finances.
• We have a free to use budgeting and debt planner.
• Get in touch with our free money and debt advice service if you are struggling with debt, or read our advice about
• Advice and information on reducing your living costs.
•   Our Advisers can also do free benefits checks over the phone via our Helpline or through our webchat.  If you are unsure about what benefits you can claim, we have also have a  useful benefits calculator which can help you to find out what you are entitled to.

Crisis support resources

Crisis support means getting help quickly when something unexpected happens and you’re struggling to cover basic costs. If you’re in a difficult situation, we can help you find support with things like food, fuel or essential items. Our Helpline advisers can connect you with local services and help you apply for emergency funds, like the Scottish Welfare Fund. We’re here to make sure you get the help you need, when you need it most.

• Visit our page on crisis support to find out what help is available if you are facing an urgent situation.
• More info about the Scottish Welfare Fund, which provides help to those in urgent need of money to pay for food, fuel or essential household items.
• Find out more about how you can get help with your fuel costs.