This isn't some sort of role playing post, I just want a sort of rant about the expense of this daft time of year and the fact that I just don't know where to stop.

So this is where I am at. As you may or may not know yet, I am a single mum to three children. Be it, or be it not my fault, my children expect alot from the big FC, there is just NO cheap way for me to do this. They have also had some truely awful christmas's because of their father or other circumstances and I am a bit of a child and want to make it perfect for them, come what may.

So here is what I have done so far. My eldest, who is 14 and such a help to me wants an i-touch thingy, the new one with a camera, which hasn't, even at the bottom of the range, given any change from £200. She has got one, but I know that I can't stop there, ok, I won't go too much further, but she needs a stocking and other bits under the tree to open. You may say not, but my birthday is 4 days before christmas and I either ended up either with a joint present or one big present and NOTHING else to open at all.

My little ones are getting a bike each, which I am going halves with, with their father, and this is 'only' costing me £110 for the two of them. So I have started buying them other bits, which I have already lost track of, but in reality, with the cost of everything these days, is already mounting up to a fortune, and I know I haven't finished yet, by a long way.

This isn't some sort of role playing post, I just want a sort of rant about the expense of this daft time of year and the fact that I just don't know where to stop.

So this is where I am at. As you may or may not know yet, I am a single mum to three children. Be it, or be it not my fault, my children expect alot from the big FC, there is just NO cheap way for me to do this. They have also had some truely awful christmas's because of their father or other circumstances and I am a bit of a child and want to make it perfect for them, come what may.

So here is where I am at, very much so far. My eldest, who is 14 and such a help to me wants an i-touch thingy, the new one with a camera, which hasn't, even at the bottom of the range, given any change from £200. She has got one, but I know that I can't stop there, ok, I won't go too much further, but she needs a stocking and other bits under the tree to open. You may say not, but my birthday is 4 days before christmas and I either ended up either with a joint present or one big present and NOTHING else to open at all.

My little ones are getting a bike each, which I am going halves with, with their father, and this is 'only' costing me £110 for the two of them. So I have started buying them other bits, which I have already lost track of, but in reality, with the cost of everything these days, is already mounting up to a fortune, and I know I haven't finished yet, by a long way.

You cannot, for love nor money, buy anything anymore, that does not look like cheap tat, for less than a tenner.

I do know that I am over-comprimising. Until my friend Paul's mum died 3 years ago, she used to spend probably than I did, on each on them for christmas. This mean't, that when they got up on christmas morning, that the pile of presents waiting for them was HUGE! It became the norm for them. I know that I cannot compete, but I have to in some sort of way, especially with the little ones, they still have the magic, they still believe and as much as I have tried telling them that FC is also hit by the recession, they still expect.

The cost of the christmas food also does my head in. I know I can start, if I can, getting some non-perishables in, which I will do over the next few weeks, but onto the day itself by the time you have got in a turkey (price of gold in this country!), all the trimmings, the starters, the puddings, the cheeses, the pate's, the chocolates and the nibbles, the crackers, the decorations that need replacing, the cost of the electric for the month, with all of the extra lights on, which make all of the difference, and the cooking of the christmas meal itself, which takes all day, because everybody in the country is cooking this huge meal at the same time, so it takes twice as long, and then the coming together of it and then the washing up etc afterwards, may as well give up now!!

By my liberal guessing here, I am down about £1500 just for one day, sort of, a year, without even taking into account my presents for my birthday or christmas (yep, guess I am going without again). I am stuffed....

Hope they enjoy it!!

xxx