The Gift Cupboard!

My dMother taught me to keep a Gift Box. Throughout the year, if she saw something which would be a great gift idea for so-and-so, she would buy it and tuck it way in her Gift Cupboard. Same if she saw something in the sales and also with cards and giftwrap.
It was also where, throughout the year, she would tuck away her HM (homemade) items for gift giving.
She would keep a notebook so she would always know who she had bought what for.

This was a very "moneysaving" :D

Come Christmas, her time was freed up from Christmas Shopping so she could get on with the baking, attending school productions etc., that eat into your time!

She was never caught short either, she would keep a stock of generic gifts for just such "emergencies".

Do you keep a Gift Cupboard? How do you organise yours?



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Comments

  • Sofa_Sogood
    Sofa_Sogood Posts: 5,258 Forumite
    After wrapping up what I've bought (in the sales), I usually end up forgetting what's what and opening them all again :D

    This year, I've bought them, saved a picture from the websites, (where applicable) and stored it on the pc. (No printer - yet! ;))

    They're slowly being wrapped up (paper bought in the sales) but I haven't labelled them yet. Just plonked a number on them. Then I write the number on the name of the image of whatever I've bought, and from thereon, I'm keeping my fingers crossed lol.

    Not buying Christmas cards this year, but sending gifts via World Vision.

    Think I'm nearly done now ... till I spot another 'bargain' !

    ;)

    Just need somewhere to store them now lol.
  • You pair put me to shame! I do have a gift cupboard but the only thing is its all over the place and I never remember where I have put things and what I have bought?

    Christmas 1999 I bought a Millennium £5 coin for my daughter's stocking, couldn't fine it to put in the bottom of her stocking and have STILL never found the thing! Probably just as well I haven't found it as she would just want to spend it :o
  • Sofa_Sogood
    Sofa_Sogood Posts: 5,258 Forumite
    Not totally organised edinburghlass :D

    I've got a candle burner that I bought for my sis that's been there a couple of years!

    Might send it to her for her birthday, now that I've remembered it again ;)

    Bought most birthay presents too. Soooo, thinking ahead, which isn't like me at all lol, I bought gift wrap that's not Christmassy either, it's just plain gold.

    :D

    P.S. Bet the £5 coin turns up when you least expect it to.
  • Lillibet_2
    Lillibet_2 Posts: 3,364
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    I keep a spreadsheet with the names of everyone I buy gifts for , both Xmas & birthdays & the maximum ammount I would like spend on each. Whenever I buy a gift (started in the Janaury sales) I write details of the gift under the recipent, the cost (and how much it was originally if it was reduced) and any notes such as additional items to go with it too look out for. That way I always have an upto date list of who I have bought for and who I still need to buy for and I know not only how much I have spent, but how much I have saved!!! I don't wrap them until nearer the time though as I find wrapping them early leaves them looking crushed & shoddy by the time the date arrives.
    Post Natal Depression is the worst part of giving birth:p

    In England we have Mothering Sunday & Father Christmas, Mothers day & Santa Clause are American merchandising tricks:mad: Demonstrate pride in your heirtage by getting it right please people!
  • Queenie
    Queenie Posts: 8,793 Forumite
    Great idea to take/keep a pic!

    Wrapping in advance becomes a risky business if you aren't so organised on keeping a record! :D

    I have a page per person in my notebook. On the front of the page I write:

    Person:
    Birthday:
    Clothing Size
    Favourite Colours:
    Hobbies:
    Present Ideas: (a list of things I'll either look out for in the sales, or something they have mentioned in passing that they would like; or my own thoughts on the matter)

    On the reverse side I keep a running record of what was given and for which occasion:

    I also keep a note of who gave me what when I need to "recycle" a gift - heaven forbid if I should give a "recycled" gift back to the original giver!!

    This way, I am able to keep track of what I have wrapped and what's inside.

    edinburghlass - LOL - it'll turn up when you least expect it. Now, you're half way there by having a "gift hideaway", you simply have to amalgamate all those hidey holes. Is there space under your bed for storage, that you could use? Perhaps a box in the bottom/top of your wardrobe where they can be kept in one place? Understairs cupboard? Loft? Shed?

    The obvious danger is that someone will stumble across your stash and will suss out their own gifts (hmmmm, nosey child/hubby syndrome - very common!).
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  • Queenie
    Queenie Posts: 8,793 Forumite
    You sound very organised Lillibet! Good point on the pre-wrapping; it's not a problem I've encountered myself, but yes, it is a possibility.
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  • Sofa_Sogood
    Sofa_Sogood Posts: 5,258 Forumite
    I feel a bit disorganised, (unorganised?) after reading all that :o

    Think I'll make my one of my jobs for the day, to wrap the wrapped presents in the free bubble wrap that came with all last years deliveries, and numbering on top of the bubble wrap! ;)

    I've never thought about keeping a book, I'd probably lose it :rolleyes: , but like the idea of keeping the sizes of people :D
  • Glad
    Glad Posts: 18,857
    Mortgage-free Glee! Name Dropper Photogenic First Post
    Senior Ambassador
    I always kept a present box when the children were younger, both were in classes of 20 and through primary school seemed to have 1 birthday party a week, so whenever I saw items at bargain prices I'd get it for the present box, January was a great time for stocking up as the supermarkets have clearouts of all xmas presents, I also had a box of assorted value/cheap cards and some sticky numbers to put on them, I bought large value rolls of wrapping paper [smartprice is really good value] that would be suitable for boy or girl.

    This way I was never caught out by "mum it's jack/jane's party today and I forgot to give you the invite"
    and I was saving too
    I am a Senior Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Wales, Small Biz MoneySaving, In My Home (includes DIY) MoneySaving, and Old style MoneySaving boards. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing [email protected] views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • Sarahsaver
    Sarahsaver Posts: 8,390
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    I have a box under my bed, I have saved the free toys from boots, the things I bought to get points, freebies from catalogues... I made a goody bag for a friend's daughter and she was delighted:)
    My elderly neighbour was extremely happy with the christmas cake I made her, and one of the best received presents was some chickens I bought for friends via Oxfam.
    Member no.1 of the 'I'm not in a clique' group :rotfl:
    I have done reading too!
    To avoid all evil, to do good,
    to purify the mind- that is the
    teaching of the Buddhas.
  • hilstep2000
    hilstep2000 Posts: 3,089 Forumite
    I've kept one for years. You are so right Glad, my kids used to come home and say "I've got a party today, I forgot the invitation was in my tray!" So then I started a present, card and wrap box. Got some great stuff in the Boots sale this year. My daughter wwas 18 in November, and all her friends turn 18 this year, so I've got a lot of those already!

    I always buy cards when I see them, as I've found that if you go back later they're not always there!

    Can't see why everyone doesn't do it!
    I Believe in saving money!!!:T
    A Bargain is only a bargain if you need it!



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