Archive for December, 2012
Our Christmas 2012 Opening Hours
Over the Christmas period Payplan’s Helpline will be opening to help anyone who would like assistance with their debts. The dates and time below show when our Helpline advisors will be on hand to speak to you. Alternatively you can continue to complete our online referral form and we will call you back.
Christmas Dinner on a Budget!
One area of Christmas spending that most people see to over-spend on is… the Christmas dinner. If you visit a supermarket in the run up to Christmas you will see people dashing around with trollies over-flowing with food and wine for them to celebrate the day. However, for many of you who are living on a strict budget, Christmas can be a difficult time as the cost of certain food and drink seems to increase.
We have therefore made it our mission to try and find the complete Christmas dinner for a family of four for under £50. This was the shopping list that we were given…
- Turkey
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Brussels Sprouts
- Parsnips
- Goose Fat – for the roast potatoes
- Honey – for the roast parsnips
- Cranberry sauce
- Bread sauce
- Stuffing
- Sausages for the pigs-in-blankets)
- Bacon (for the pigs-in-blankets)
- Pate
- Christmas pudding
- Cream
- Wine
- Beer
- Crackers
- Gravy
We searched the shelves, fridges and freezers of the biggest supermarkets to find the cheapest prices for you and the overall winner is… Asda. Here’s how we worked it out…
- Asda – £44.18
- Tesco – £55.57
- Sainsburys – £55.79
- Ocado – £73.47
- Waitrose – £87.56
There are other alternatives such as Iceland who are offering a complete Christmas dinner for a family of 4 for £25. However, this doesn’t include a starter, dessert or drinks. You could also get your shopping from budget supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl, however we were unable to pay them a visit.
Have you started your shopping yet? What budget do you have and do you think you will stick to it?
3 more quick and simple Christmas decoration ideas for you to try at home!
Why not get creative this year and try some homemade Christmas decoration ideas? These ideas are simple, cheap and fun to make with your family.
Christmas table topper
Jazz up your table over the Christmas period with this simple and wintery decoration, which will give any table top a festive touch. What’s more, if you have little helpers to go out and collect pine cones for you then it will cost you next to nothing.
You will need:
- Garland of greenery (available from garden centres)
- Pine cones (if you can’t collect them these can be bought at garden centres and craft shops)
- Fine gold glitter (optional)
Method:
- Run your garland down the length of the table
- Arrange the pinecones along the time for a rustic wintery look
- Scatter fine glitter along the top for an extra magical Christmas day effect!
Christmas Snowman
These are great for children to do, and make for a really fun household decoration. Line a family of them up on your mantelpiece to bring Christmas cheer to all your guests.
You will need:
- Clementines
- Toothpicks
- Cloves
- Peppermint sticks
- Strawberry laces
- Dolly mixture
Method:
- Stack 3 clementines on top of each other with toothpicks
- Decorate with cloves for eyes and buttons, peppermint sticks for nose and arms, use the strawberry laces for a scarf and make a hat by stacking the dolly mixture (use glue if necessary).
Button tree ornaments
These ornaments are easy and cheap to create, but will make really cute decorations for your home. All you need for this is a few small and simple items from a craft shop.
You will need:
- Pipe cleaner
- Buttons in Christmassy colours which each go up in size from big to small (around 8-10 per decoration)
- A small bell with a loop on for threading the pipe cleaner through
Method:
- Sort your buttons from largest to smallest.
- Fold the pipe cleaner in half to find the midway point.
- Thread the bell (or bead) onto the pipe cleaner until it sits at the midway point.
- Starting with the largest button, thread each end of the pipe cleaner through opposite holes on the button. Push the button so that it sits on top of the bell. Repeat for each button, working from largest to smallest to create the miniature tree shape.
- Once all of your buttons are in place, twist the remaining ends of the pipe cleaner together and fashion into a hook shape to hang from your Christmas tree branches.
3 quick and simple Christmas decoration ideas for you to try at home!
Why not get creative this year and try some homemade Christmas decoration ideas? These ideas are simple, cheap and fun to make with your family.
Paper snowflakes
Making paper snowflakes are a simple and time-honoured tradition. It is one of the easiest ways to transform your house into a Christmas wonderland for next to nothing – and it should keep any kids occupied for an hour or two.
You will need
- A4 paper
- Scissors
Method
- Cut an A4 sheet of paper into a square by folding one corner over into a right-angled triangle shape and cutting off the excess rectangle
- Fold the triangle in half to make a smaller triangle
- Keeping the open end of the triangle to your left and the main fold on your right, visually divide the triangle into thirds, folding the right hand third down so the bottom corner pokes down below the bottom of the triangle
- Fold the left side over the top of the other side so that the paper resembles an arrow head
- Turn over and cut along the bottom line to even the shape off, cutting off the 2 smaller triangles on the bottom
- Cut shapes and patterns into both sides of the triangle and unfold to reveal your festive snowflake
Paper baubles
These paper baubles look great in any home, and once you’ve got the hand of the fiddly bits they are super easy. Great for hanging from the ceiling or mantelpiece, these patterned baubles are sure to brighten up any home!
You will need
- A4 coloured or patterned card of your choice
- Scissors
- A long pin
- Paper fasteners
- A ruler
Method
- Measure and cut your card into 15 big strips, measuring 1 inch by 8 inch
- Using a pin, poke holes into either end of each strip, about ¼ inch from each edge
- One by one, push the strips onto two paper fasteners, so that there are 15 strips on top of each other bound by fasteners either end
- Twist the bottom strip round, pivoting it on the fasteners, continuing this with each individual strip until you have a ball-like shape
Stained glass biscuit decorations
These biscuits are a fun (and edible!) way of bringing a bit of colour and sparkle into your home. A simple shortbread recipe and a bag of boiled sweets are the key to these lovely homemade treats which have a glowing, stained glass effect.
You will need
- A bag of boiled sweets
- Ribbon
- Star shaped cutters, one smaller than the other
For the shortbread
- 175g unsalted butter, softened
- 75g golden caster sugar
- 200g plain flour
- 50g cornflour
- White caster sugar
Method
- Separate boiled sweets into your desired colours and crush them
- Cut butter into pieces and mix in food processor until pale and fluffy
- Add flour and cornflour and mix until all the mixture has come together
- Wrap the mixture in clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes
- Roll out the dough to around 1cm thickness
- Using the larger cutter, cut your biscuit shapes
- Create a shape inside the biscuit by using the smaller cutter and removing the pastry from the middle
- Place shortbread shapes on a baking tray lined with parchment, piercing small holes in the top of all the shapes for hanging them later
- Fill the centres with crushed sweets and bake for 15 mins, or until golden
- Allow biscuits to cool and harden before threading a ribbon through