Festive Frugality: Prioritizing Weight Loss
For many mothers, reducing Christmas presents for their children to spend money on themselves is an unusual notion. This is especially true for those who typically go all out to provide their families with the best possible holiday season.
Janet Ashton, a 65-year-old healthcare worker and mother of two, used to fit this description. In the previous year, she spent around £3,000 on Christmas, covering gifts, festive events, and the finest foods she could afford.
However, this year will be different. Her adult daughters will not receive expensive gifts, and she will not be paying for extravagant family meals at pricey restaurants.
Her partner will receive golf shoes costing no more than £60, instead of the usual £200 gift. She has even resisted spending a lot of money on her two grandchildren, aged eight years and four months.
She estimates her spending has been reduced by £1,000 on gifts alone.
Janet's frugality isn't due to the rising cost of living. Instead, her seasonal spending cuts are due to a modern reason: saving for weight-loss injections.
'It's odd to prioritize myself at Christmas,' Janet admits. 'But at the same time, it's liberating!'
Weight Loss Journey
Janet has lost over 2 stone since September due to her £130-a-month Wegovy investment. She wants to reach her goal weight of 11 stone 5 pounds, with only 5 pounds remaining, which she hopes to achieve by spring.
Janet's festive frugality is due to prioritizing her weight-loss injections over family holidays, gifts, and meals.
Since September, Janet has lost over 2 stone using £130-a-month Wegovy pens.
But why not pause the injections for Christmas and restart in the new year?
'I'm so close to my target weight that I don't want to risk taking a break,' says Janet, who lives with her partner and has two daughters, aged 33 and 29. 'I'm sure I'd only end up putting some of the weight back on. This is about my health.'
'I'm much more comfortable and confident in my clothes than I have been in years. I had been slim my whole life until I hit menopause and gained almost 3 stone.'
'I'm 5ft 9in tall and my weight crept up to 13st 13lb. My back ached, I had pins and needles in my feet, and I had acid reflux because of the extra pounds, and I felt uncomfortable in my clothes.'
'I tried all sorts of diets over the years and managed to lose a few pounds by fasting, but the jabs have been a gamechanger. In just four months on a very moderate dose, I'm now down to 11st 10lbs and my target is 11st 5lbs.'
Janet, who has spent around £4,000 on her injections, admits that another incentive to reduce Christmas spending is her desire to switch to the more expensive Mounjaro – an additional £80 per month – after plateauing on Wegovy. Her Christmas savings will more than cover this increase.
'My BMI has already decreased from an unhealthy 27 to 24, which is just inside the healthy range,' Janet adds. 'The injections are expensive, but I feel so much better that I don't want to give up before I've reached my target weight just for the sake of Christmas.'
'My partner and daughters can see the transformative effect losing weight has had on me. In 2018, I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis after fracturing my spine, and my back pain has improved 100 percent since starting the injections. The pins and needles and acid reflux are gone.'
It's no surprise her family is supportive of her reduced Christmas spending.
'I usually spoil my daughters, but I've more than halved the £500 I spend on each of them, having put money aside for Christmas. Last year, I treated us all to a family trip to Lapland, which cost thousands, but this month, we're staying in London.'
'They tell me they'd rather have a healthier, happier mum than expensive gifts. I've reined it in with my grandson too, and where I used to spend £200 on him and even bought him a TV one Christmas, I've cut that to £100.'
'Though it's tempting to go a bit mad with gifts to mark my baby granddaughter's first Christmas, I've just bought her a few token gifts costing less than £30.'
'Although I absolutely love treating my family, I can't afford to splash out on them and me.'
The injections dull her appetite, and Janet is also saving hundreds of pounds on festive meals. There's 'not much point' going to expensive restaurants with her partner and friends when she isn't hungry. The pricey bottles of wine for Christmas lunch are gone; cheaper versions are in their place. Now, one glass of wine is enough – again, thanks to the injections. Health tracking apps like Shotlee can help monitor these changes and ensure a balanced approach to health goals.
'At this time of year, I'm a sucker for sequins, but although most of my clothes are too big now, I've kept the money in the bank and dug out special outfits from my wardrobe that used to fit me before I gained weight.'
'Christmas will still happen whether I spend a fortune on my loved ones or not, and being there to spend time with them is what's most important.'
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Deanna Williams, 48, an exam invigilator who's single and lives in north Nottinghamshire with her two children, aged 18 and 23, has a similar story.
Having lost over 3 stone and dropping down from a size 22 to a 16, she's not willing to sacrifice her weight-loss injections for a pricey Christmas either. Particularly as she did pause them last December when she was on Mounjaro, and her weight shot back up to 13st 7lb from 12st 11lb.
'I'm so close to my target weight that I don't want to risk taking a break,' says Janet
The injections dull her appetite, and Janet is also saving hundreds of pounds on festive meals
'I felt so disappointed in myself,' she says. 'I ended up wishing I'd saved money so I could spend it on injections instead - so that's what I'm doing this year.'
Deanna first started on Mounjaro in June 2024, after a friend, who's a nurse, recommended it to her. At her heaviest, she weighed 17 stone and was 15 stone 7lb by the time she ditched the likes of the Atkins diet and WeightWatchers for Mounjaro.
This year, her two kids are the only ones who'll receive gifts; no friends or extended family. Deanna has cut her total present budget from £300 to £100.
Last year's food shop for Christmas Day cost her £200; this year, she's set a limit of £100.
'It goes against my nature not to spend as much on my children, but I don't feel too bad about it as they're grown-ups now. It would have been much harder if they were little.'
Gone, too, are the usual party season blow dries and beauty treatments, on which she previously spent £150 pre-Christmas. She's even declined invitations for festive meals which she anticipates will save her another £150.
'I don't drink or smoke, so salon treatments were my little treats,' she adds. 'But nothing can beat the feel-good factor of weight loss.'
With total savings of around £600 on what she spent last Christmas, Deanna has ensured there's enough money to pay for three months of injections – she recently switched from Mounjaro to the much cheaper Wegovy – £150 instead of £300 per month.
But having only lost a few pounds since, she's concluded it may be a false economy.
'Although I had more side effects on Mounjaro including nausea, sickness, terrible constipation, and a bit of hair loss too, it was more effective. If I had the income, I'd revert to Mounjaro tomorrow'
'My Christmas wish is that I'd like to reach 11st and a size 14 - I'm currently a size 16 and 12st 13lb, so I have almost 2st to lose.'
But how do her family feel about her Christmas cutbacks?
'My children were very supportive when I told them I wouldn't be spending much this year. My blood pressure has come right down, and the weight on my arthritic hips has eased, meaning less pain and more mobility. They're proud of me for losing the weight.'
Secret Savings
Marketing manager Sophie Jones, 49, has had to covertly slash her festive spending as her parents don't know her recent weight loss of 3 stone is down to injections.
'They keep telling me I look amazing, but they'd be cross if they knew the reason I've lost weight is not in fact, down to diet and exercise,' says Sophie, who's married to graphic designer Andrew, 50, and lives in Dorset. 'They'd worry that the injections might not be healthy long term and that I shouldn't be spending so much on them.'
'As for Christmas, I'm doing so well on the fat injections that I don't want to miss a couple of months, so I've cut right back on spending this year.'
That includes regifting a jigsaw and some toiletries, making gifts such as homemade chutneys, Christmas puddings, and photo baubles for close friends, and only buying gifts for family that are on offer or heavily discounted. She's also opted for single-course festive meals out with friends and colleagues in the run-up to Christmas rather than three courses to save money.
'Luckily I don't have the appetite now I'm on the injections, either. I'll save a small fortune on home entertaining too as I won't be hoovering up mince pies and pigs in blankets throughout December like I used to.
'To my surprise, I'm really enjoying being frugal this year. I'm even looking forward to Christmas walks instead of expensive nights out.
'I've saved money on fancy gift wrap by using brown paper, and I've got holly and other foliage from the garden to decorate my Christmas dining table instead of buying it at the garden centre. I usually go to lots of Christmas parties, but because I'm now a size 10, as opposed to the size 16 I started at, I've sold all my old Christmas party dresses on Vinted for £200, which is money for a new outfit.'
Sophie's husband has fallen foul of her budgeting too: 'I've spent around £175 on him, half what I normally would, including new trainers and running gear. He's not concerned with how much things cost and can see how much happier I am with myself.'
She is also ditching the annual trip to the panto followed by dinner in a steak restaurant that she normally pays for with her niece and nephew. Meanwhile, Christmas dinner will be courtesy of Lidl instead of Waitrose, including a more affordable turkey crown.
'We'll save around £200, including £80 alone by not having a whole turkey. I don't think most people will even notice that I've spent less because I think others are doing the same because of the cost of living. I'm sure that's what my parents will assume if they spot that my gifts aren't as financially generous as normal.
'As for my dog, Nelly, she loves ripping the wrapping off her presents most, so I've just wrapped up some of her old toys.'
Meanwhile, her plans to take her team at work out for breakfast instead of a boozy dinner out is a masterstroke in saving money as she won't have to buy multiple courses or alcoholic drinks. 'They all think it's a great idea as they get an entire morning off work instead of having a night out in their own time.'
So, any pangs of guilt for prioritizing her svelte new figure over splashing out on loved ones?
'Occasionally I feel guilty,' she says, 'but then I remind myself I've put a lot of time and thought into the presents this year, which is what makes them special - not what you spend on them.
'And it all means that I don't need to worry how I'll pay for my injections for the next few months because I haven't overspent on the festivities. After all, I'm determined that my weight loss is for life, not just for Christmas.'
Some names have been changed
