The Great "What Men Want For Xmas for under £75 bargain" Hunt

RufusA

I agree with you jamesebaker!

Good books I haven't read are always welcome, but I got 4 copies of Da Vinci Code (which I'd already read) for my Birthday. Also a magazine subscription that is enjoyable - i.e. Private Eye.

Useful gadgets (kitchen or techie) but very risky as most of the time I have a nagging doubt that there's a better one they could have bought for half the money (too many hours wasted on here).

A trackday (where you take your own car) or skidpan session is fun and can be had for under £75 if you shop around. The latter is sometimes free if you can arange it with your local police training or Advanced Drivers club.

Clothes that are well chosen are always welcome, I hate clothes shopping and anything that saves me the pain is a bonus. But buying an XXL T-Shirt does not count!

DVDs, CDs etc. are usually a waste of time as most people wouldn't choose for me what I'd enjoy!

The two presents I've had in the last year that stick in my mind are:
a) A crayon picture drawn by my daughter (aged 3) of our family decorated with glitter and feathers!
b) An MP3 player/radio so that I can have a little amusement on the long commute on the train.

This year I'm asking everyone not to buy me presents but instead buy something from oxfam unwrapped on similar:

http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com/

As at the end of the day I (like a lot of men) am a grumpy ungrateful s0d who feels that people's money would be much better spent on helping someone else.

Rufus.

JDPower

Ok, heres the sort of things I like getting (and apparently I'm an awkward sod for presents). Silly gadgety things are almost always fun to get. You can't go wrong with Bop-It as I've yet to find ANYONE who doesn't love it, and I haven't got one of my own yet. Tickets for a favourite band are great, as are track days. Clothes are good as long as you are CERTAIN they'll like it (ie something they've pointed out to you recently). CDs are usually appreciated but not exactly the most exciting of pressies. Sexy pressies are also a guaranteed winner for a boyfriend/hubby, especially if you come up with a novel way of giving them, eg give the label or picture of the sexy undies you're actually already wearing under you clothes.

Thats enough waffling from me, hope its been of some use to any of the fairer sex reading.

mhoc

Really I dont want to spend any money whatsoever on my nearest and dearest and I want to spend as little time and effort as possible on sorting his Christmas out. As he gets older he gets more selfish, self centred, self absorbed and arrogant.

In July I managed to win him an ipod, something he so desperatly wanted. He was thrilled with it and he has used it daily since. Best thing I've ever won for him.

Until this week that is when he decided he needed to go to Birmingham to the sony shop to buy a second ipod costing over £200. His justification was that it was his money, nothing to do with me and he could spend it exactly as and when he wished - sounds exactly like my teenage daughter after buying her 20th pair of jeans.

So I am hoping to buy as little as possible, why bother trying for someone who can just go out and buy whatever they fancy, without any qualms about what anyone else might think.

(He did originaly intend doing this during half term but I kicked up a huge fuss which he conviently forgot about because it suited him)

M

Binxy

In my husband's case, he'd want a kite (or should I say another kite) Not a flimsy make-it-yourself-job but a proper manly dual/quad lined power kite. But they're expensive.

Failing that, me naked with a crate of beer. :rolleyes:

Carter74uk

Thing: DVD Rental Subscription
Bargain Price: £75
Cheapest place to get it: Various - Screenselect is my preference
Who its suitable for: Anyone into films and who's trying to save money by having nights in!
Any other info: Screenselect offer discounts for prepayment - six months for the price of five (usually £15 per month)

Tiger_DJ

Thing: Xbox360 Full system w/ 2 games (Any combination of Perfect Dark Zero, Dead or Alive 4 or Project Gotham Racing 3)
Bargain Price: £359.97
Cheapest place to get it: Amazon.co.uk
Who its suitable for: Any self-respecting gamer or male who is interested in current technology and gadgets
Any other info:

These figures are for the Full System. There is a cheaper "Core System" available, but said male may be somewhat disappointed if receiving this as it excludes several essential features. It is also worth noting that if the man has the original Xbox, you MUST get the Full System to play old Xbox games on it. If not, the upgrades to make it like the full system will work out as more expensive anyway.

competitionscafe

Well as a man, who also happens to be single:

Thing: a girlfriend (probably best not to refer to her as a 'thing' though!)
Bargain Price: priceless (as the Beatles said "Money can't buy you love")
Cheapest place to get it: see above
Who its suitable for: me
Any other info: must enjoy long walks on the beach, log fires, blah, blah, blah..(and cheesy lines!).

If not the above, then surely most men would appreciate a good nanny (goat!)
http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com/ProductItem.aspx?ProductID=OU2523&CategoryID=4&CategoryName=&BrowseType=price&CategorySelector1:BrowseByPrice=4

elona

Aaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!

vk2003

A case of wine. Something that you know the recipient will enjoy.
For example:

Sainsburys has a special offer on Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Case of 6 for £45.57

Having bought 12 bottles, I can confirm that it is an excellent wine also (IMHO)!

Also, a gift I received a while ago, which I love, and use indoors rather than outdoors is a Giant Jenga type game. I bought one for my sister & husband this year for the same indoor use (need the ability to open some space in a room though as these can reach 1 meter high.) After all the research I did, the best finished, and the one with the best twist was called Giant Jericho available from Heritage-Gifts for £57.25 inc delivery. This is the cheapest price I have been able to find. It is also British made. Nickys Nursery is also a good site for info/buying these games (they sell the Giant Jericho for £65, and would not match/beat Hertitage Gifts!)

mitziwaltz

Had a gansey (old-fashioned north east fisherman's jumper) knitted for him by a lady up in Northumbria. Cost me £80, but would have been cheaper if he wasn't 6'6" tall. Totally unique, and will last a lifetime.
Now I just need to find something small and silly.
My other "man" is my 15-year-old son, and it'll probably be a really big memory stick for his new PSP, so he can copy on DVDs that we already have. My students tell me they have bought these from companies in Hong Kong at knock-down prices,half the UK price but they work, so I will be picking their brains...