It's a shame that Christmas is at the end of the month because if you're a last-minute shopper then you might not have a bunch of cash lying around to snatch up some presents. But disabled mum Claire Young saves all year to splash out on her kids for the big day.
Credit: ITV/This Morning
While some people might call that savvy, others attacked the mum-of-six because it was revealed that she's on benefits.
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After copping it hard on social media, following an appearance on This Morning, Claire has responded to the haters, telling the Sun: "No one has the right to tell me how to spend my benefits. I'm very fair and make sure my kids get 11 presents each - 66 between them.
"When I add in the rest of my family's gift too, that's 100 gifts. We live on the breadline, so anyone who has an opinion can bugger off.
"It's our money and we spend and save it well and the kids benefit. I'm proud I can make Christmas special for my kids."
But after her chat with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, people were quick to suggest that technically it's not her money. Sure, it's in her bank account, which makes it hers, but it's from the taxpayer.
Claire hasn't worked since 2012 after being diagnosed with ME and fibromyalgia. She receives £850 ($1,140) per week to manage her disability and so she can care for her children. But she aims to save around £2,000 ($2,700) over the course of the year, which she can then spend on making sure her kids have a special Christmas.
The mum insisted on This Morning that she wasn't using the benefits for 'recreational' things, telling Holly and Phil: "I don't drink, I don't go out every weekend, I don't take drugs, I hardly buy anything. Everything is for the children. Christmas is only once a year and that's how I see it. Yes, we are on benefits but that shouldn't stop the children having Christmas."
"I don't like being on benefits, nobody likes being on benefits, but you never know when it's actually going to be you.
"If I could go to work right now I would do. But just because I'm on benefits, does that mean that my children don't get Christmas? And at the end of the day, that's our family money."
She says the critics should walk a mile in her shoes to see what living on benefits is like alongside trying to make sure Christmas is special for her kids.
Sources: The Sun
Topics: Viral, This Morning, Christmas, Children, UK News, Mum, Money, Benefits, Community