8 simple steps to divorce-proof your Christmas and a two-letter word can save you

IF you’re more likely to be bickering under the mistletoe this Christmas, now’s your time to take action and divorce-proof your festivities before you head into 2025 as a single person.

Christmas can truly be the most wonderful time of the year, but the demands on your time and wallet can cause any relationship to open up.

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Here are my eight top tips to ensure you have a really great holiday, including making time for quality intimacy.

Leave the building

The boundaries between work and private life have become increasingly blurred, especially since more and more people have started working from home.

While this arrangement can be more convenient on many levels, it can also make it a lot more difficult to step away from day-to-day work.

Being at work at all hours takes the focus away from your family relationships and can make your loved ones feel neglected.

Christmas is a chance to take a break from the pressures of work, so close your laptop and make sure your away message is on.

If possible, consider deleting your work email from your phone
before the break.

Instead, make time to focus on your partner. Between all the other demands, it’s easy to neglect each other.

Choose less

The festivities bring the opportunity to spend a lot, but there is a choice.

If you’re panicking about how you’re going to pay for Christmas, talk to your loved ones and agree on a smaller gift budget, or
even agree to an experience together to make your money go further.

It can be as simple as ice skating, a trip to see the Christmas lights and a drink.

Gifts don’t have to break the bank and can still help create meaningful memories with a little thought and planning.

If you are hosting, consider asking other family members to contribute to the meal and celebrations.

Involve your children in the conversation. Explain that you are on a tight budget and that they can really help you by not going too far into their current requirements.

Consider Christmas as an opportunity to renew a genuine sense of connection by shifting the focus from extravagant gift giving to spending quality time with the people you love.

Be intended

The Christmas juggling is real and exhausting.

The pressure to create a perfect party starts months in advance, but we all have limited capacity.

Money-saving tips from Gemma Bird: Save £2,000 before Christmas

IF you want to save money you’ve come to the right place as here Gemma Bird has shared her top tips to save you £2,000 before Christmas.

• Set a budget: Track your expenses and create a realistic budget.
• Save unnecessary costs: Cancel unused subscriptions and avoid impulse purchases.
• Meal planning: Plan meals to reduce grocery bills and avoid takeout.
• Sell ​​unwanted items: Clear out and sell items online for extra money.
• Cashback and discounts: Use cashback sites and look for discount codes.
• DIY gifts: Create personalized gifts to save money and add a personal touch.
• Choose a seasonal service: A very easy way to make some extra money in the winter is to look for seasonal work.

Follow these practical tips from Gemma Bird to boost your savings before the holidays!

So sit down with your significant other and figure out what your priorities are.

Discuss what’s important to both of you and make sure you surround those gems.

The alternative is that you spend hours in traffic jams visiting various loved ones and no longer have time for your favorite winter walk.

When you feel rested, appreciated and considered, you have more energy to give to others.

And just as importantly, so does your partner.

Have a sexy Christmas

Many of us burn the candle at both ends this time of year and being intimate is often the first thing off the agenda, but we know that sex is good for our mental health.

After all, it releases oxytocin, the love hormone in both men and women, and that should help you feel happier and more connected.

So have a relaxing few days where you can get up later, go to bed earlier, recharge your relationship between the sheets and give your partner a Christmas gift that they will remember for all the right reasons.

Place your stall clearly

When giving out or receiving invitations, be transparent about what you need so everyone knows how to plan their time.

Let guests know when to arrive and, most importantly, when you need people to leave.

Give your partner a Christmas gift that he will remember for all the right reasons!

Sally Land

Tell people what you want them to contribute. You can still be a great host and ask people to bring a dish or linens.

And if your mind is full of a million and one things to do, your partner will quickly fall down your priority list and start to feel neglected, and vice versa.

Being organized will help you enjoy the holidays together.

Provide regular check-ins

Create space for your relationship and get in touch with each other.

With so many family and friends to catch up on, it’s more important than ever to regularly ask your significant other if they need anything, if it’s okay for you to go to the post office or to your dad’s house.

And doing it in front of a room full of people isn’t the same as quietly asking questions while you’re alone.

You and your partner are at the center of everything, so make sure you work together as a unit and discuss and decide as a team.

Appreciate the power of ‘No’

Sometimes it’s best to duck out early or simply decline an invitation.

Don’t be afraid to put your relationship above the endless meals, drinks, and get-togethers.

There are plenty of moments when the very best for our relationships is spent relaxing on the couch for an evening.

Don’t let them hang

We’ve all heard of “phubbing,” where someone gets so distracted by their phone that they make the person they’re with feel rejected.

So it stands to reason that if you overuse your phone in a relationship, the long-term effect of this will be extremely damaging.

Instead of doom-scrolling, make sure you block out large chunks of the day and leave your phone alone.

Recent research has found that couples who are distracted by their phones are less likely to be happy in their marriage and more likely to have conflict.

If you have any concerns about your relationship, please email me and my team of advisors at deardeidre@the-sun.co.uk. It’s completely free and we reply to every message with a personal message answer.

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