Great 'Xmas gifts for the kids if you're skint' Hunt

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  • Hi all, im new to this too but am having to masively tighten my belt this yearr. we have 2 daughters and am buying them a big present between them and then doing a beauty hamper each. Including make up, deodrant, body spray, hair ties ect. This will also save me money throughout the year as it would be things i would need to buy them anyway! Dont be dragged into buying boots 3 4 2 offers on gifts as they charge a fortune to stick it in a box! You can get the items cheaper individually.
  • We always tell the children that while Santa brings the presents, Mum and Dad still give him the money for them. We also make sure we fill a stocking with lots of little things, it's great what you can pick up in pound shops. I also make a point of picking things up throughout the year in the sales. Got a great 4 in 1 games kit for our camping trip in the summer for £2.75 instead fo £15.
  • sacabuca
    sacabuca Posts: 22 Forumite
    edited 1 December 2010 at 9:56AM
    Its that time of year as well when you can get all those stocking fillers for a lot less. Places like play.com stocking fillers who do £5 stocking fillers. Amazon have their sale on too Amazon Christmas Store

    There is always a way of getting cheaper presents. The other thing I tend to do when buying presents, not because I am cheap or a skin flint is to check out google for vouchers for that company. Places like My Voucher Codes which MSE keep blocking and http://www.hotukdeals.co.uk always have things that you can use. It is worth a look, afterall we are all here to save money!
    if you dont know the answer.... google does!
  • kathryndep
    kathryndep Posts: 1 Newbie
    edited 1 December 2010 at 10:11AM
    Having become increasingly frustrated with the lack of wear / use my stepdaughter gets out of anything we buy I have taken a new approach to xmas this year. With the exception of a few stocking fillers everything I've bought is either second hand or dramatically reduced due to where I bought it from.

    Some examples are:

    I got a >£100 bike for £45 from ebay - the bike is brand new but I bought it from a job lot that had some marks on the frames. I collected the bike from a warehouse and I've inspected every inch of the bike and it looks like new to me!

    My stepdaughter has a thing for mini boden (a fashion victim at the age of 8!) so I picked up a few 'recycled' t-shirts from ebay at a fraction of the price.

    We bought her a re-conditioned digital camera for her birthday this year so picked up a little photo printer for next to nothing on Amazon.

    She's been complaining all year that her Nintendo DS has got a bit boring so instead of rushing out to buy her a DSI, which I'm sure is what she was hoping for, we bought a handful of second hand games from amazon. Once she gets over the initial disappointment they will keep her gaming all year for a fraction of the cost!

    Having recently discovered make up I was reluctant to buy it for her but my husband picked up a fantastic set full of all kinds for a fiver from the book people at work.

    All in all I'm very proud of my purchases this year - the mountain below the xmas tree won't be any smaller but the dent in my bank account will be! And when they've been relegated to the back of the cupboard in favour of the next new craze I shall recycle them again and recoup a few of my hard earned pounds!:j
  • We need to cut costs drastically this Christmas (don't we all!) and I've bought my two kids (4 and 6) a much smaller-than-usual "new" present that they've asked for, then have found loads of stuff in school fair toy stalls - a massive pile of good quality games, dressing up and dolls things for about £6 in total.

    Santa will be doing his shopping in the Pound Shops

    They appreciate things being reused/ recycled, but also have been able to choose something they want too. :T
  • Heamol
    Heamol Posts: 276 Forumite
    Until Dec 5th, Tesco are doing their Clubcard Voucher Double-Up, including on the toy department. I know it's been mentioned a lot on the boards, but maybe it's helpful here too. If you can make up £5 in vouchers, you can get £10 to spend on toys instore or on Tesco direct.

    I've also been using my vouchers online on Clubcard Rewards to get magazine subscriptions for my younger brothers- for example, £9 of vouchers gets you one annual Star Wars Comic subscription. Or you can get cinema tickets for kids for £2 each (adults £3) for Cineworld. How about looking in second-hand bookshops and charity shops for some of the Narnia books, and wrapping up the books with the cinema tickets for a "Narnia experience" (the kids can go see Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the New Year)?

    Hampers made up of cheaper items is a fantastic idea too, like Skintsusie mentioned with beauty items. I've been collecting items for "Hot Chocolate hampers" for my brothers- Home Bargains often have Cadburys hot chocolate jars at a good price and recently they've been doing 180g packs of Fiddes Payne mini marshmallows for 75p (you could easily halve the pack into celo bags to use for two people). I bought some cheap chocolates from Tesco (they have nets of Christmas pudding chocs, coins, snowman etc on offer at the mo.) and some lovely red mugs for £1 each from M & S. I'll probably cover a shoebox in Christmas wrapping paper and pack the items inside with some red and white shredded paper (from my shredder of course, not bought!). You could even wrap the items individually before putting them in the box.
    :) Optima semper libera sunt :)

  • depending on what you're buying online can be the best place. i always compare prices if it's music or games i'm buying then check ebay too (just got a new cd off ebay for £3 in P&P-was £7 in shops and elsewhere online)
    also my daugher is only 2 and i've made some stuff for her this year. made her a guitar shaped bag (as she liked mine so much!) and a scarf, and in the process of trying to make her a teddy.
    Like a past poster said, the £1 shops can be good for certain things, i got a dressing up kit from there once, and a kids shopping trolley in the past.
    Also if you have friends who have kids that are a bit older, maybe they wouldn't mind donating a few toys that their kids have grown out of?
    September £5 a day challenge £65.41/£125 :)
  • lutzi1
    lutzi1 Posts: 2,703
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    I've told my husband and daughter that, instead of some of the items on their Xmas lists, eg DVDs, they'll be getting a voucher from me saying they'll be getting it immediately after Xmas. They'll still have plenty of stuff to open, ( including some MSE bargains picked up during the year), but I can't see the point in paying full whack for things that will be heavily reduced straight after Xmas, especially when they won't have time to watch them in the interim.
    Hope is not a strategy.
  • I made my daughters a toy bear each out of old coats one Christmas, big enough to wear their old baby clothes. Nearly 40 years later these bears are still propped up on wardrobes and shelves and referred to by name (Biffo and Mary, since you asked) - they can't begin to think about throwing them out, and played with them endlessly - taught them the violin, made them passports, taught them to read and write...... I'm not sure I could get away with it these days, with everything being so slick and professional.
  • nannon
    nannon Posts: 96 Forumite
    edited 3 December 2010 at 4:12PM
    Hi All

    One of my good friends has done for her daughter a scrapbook of memories. She's created some digital photo pages and added clip art and then printed off the pages. Shes added some blank A4 pages to it as well and stuck "proper" photographs on and added bits of ribbon, stickers and glitter. The front and back of the book are from pieces of carboard boxes cut to size, wrapped in wadding and spare fabric she found. She bound the books by using a punchole and lacing ribbon through.
    Looks amazing and also is priceless in value because of its meaning.
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