Great Things You Should Buy Now For Next Christmas Hunt

nabowla

Fortnum and Mason Christmas puddings are half price at the moment. They've also got some real bargains on their Christmas foods, e.g champagne truffles at half price, Christmas curd reduced by 75% etc. I picked up some real bargains for a dinner party the other day - my guests were really impressed by the fact that I served chocolates from Fortnums with the coffee etc. I just didn't tell them that I'd been a real cheapskate and bought the stuff in the sale at ordinary supermarket prices!

jennet1

In my local Tescos all xmas stock (crackers, packs of cards, baubles, wrapping paper, Tags) were all reduced to 1P!!!! :T

echos_mum

:j
Lots of Xmas puds - yummee, AND Woolworths here always have a toy sale immediately after Xmas so great for the nephews, neices and all other children I love! Just have to think what they will be into next year!

With ref to GIFT TAGS, I always go through the cards I received when they have beEn taken down to pick up change of addresses etc, and any with "round robins" to reply to, and while I do this I cut out nice pictures to use as gift tags next year. You don't need string - just stickytape - and its free!! Plus you can still re-cycle the "remains" to make you feel even better! This gives you nice ones for adults and lots of teddies, snowmen, santa's etc for the childrens' gifts.

Great site Martin - I have sent it to LOADS of people!!

madshopper_2

Stock up on Christmas presents all year round. Today I just took delivery (by post) of 2 printer cartridges from IJT printers, not only are they a good price 40% less than Argos equivalent, but if you spend over £25 you get a gift. This month is it a little digital radio you stick in your p.c. usb port. I have put away for a pressie for a male inspector gadget type. In Dec the offer was for spend over £25 and get a silver photo frame. If you also recommend IJT by email to people who subsequently buy, you get £5 in M and S vouchers.. seems a winner to me....

mummysaver

Got into town yesterday, dh made it home in time! Went to Boots: 6 lots of TD stuff and 3 Essential Aromatherapy candles - all free, several pink gift sets - 50 pence in total using £5.00 no 7 voucher. Went to Allsports: got large boys Animal shorts reduced to £5.00 - one very happy son. Went to Claire's - got two lots of the 10 items for £5.00 - including stick on nails, so my dds can experience long nails without the cost of a manicure (which seems to be something of a craze around here!). Went to M&S, got a dress for dd1 for £3.00, and all in one pj's, very cute for dd2 for £3.00 - ran out of time to check out food bargains, as had to rush to collect girls from school.

All in all, I got loads of bargains, and lots of bits to put away for Christmas and birthdays - pressie cupboard is almost full again!

d.o.o.g

I'm a big fan of this site and have Martin's book too. A lot of the stuff I see is great, but some of this thread puzzles me a bit.

Why do people go to such great lengths to find the cheapest cards they can? I buy my cards from Charity shops that guarantee a large proportion of the cost goes to a charity. That way I get to send all my lovely friends nice cards AND give to charity at the same time.

If I was looking for the cheapest cards I could possibly find, I'd be asking myself "Why am I bothering sending a card at all?". If you really don't want to spend money on sending something to someone at Christmas, why are you bothering?

The same goes for the presents to be honest. Why buy something that is usually £10 for £1 and then pass it off as a £10 gift next year? Are you too embarassed to tell your friend "I can only afford to spend £1, but I value your friendship so I got something cheap?". It seems dishonest to me somehow.

Anyway, it's just a thought, flame away.

Quackers

d.o.o.g wrote:

Why do people go to such great lengths to find the cheapest cards they can? I buy my cards from Charity shops that guarantee a large proportion of the cost goes to a charity. That way I get to send all my lovely friends nice cards AND give to charity at the same time.

If I was looking for the cheapest cards I could possibly find, I'd be asking myself "Why am I bothering sending a card at all?". If you really don't want to spend money on sending something to someone at Christmas, why are you bothering?

The same goes for the presents to be honest. Why buy something that is usually £10 for £1 and then pass it off as a £10 gift next year? Are you too embarassed to tell your friend "I can only afford to spend £1, but I value your friendship so I got something cheap?". It seems dishonest to me somehow.

Anyway, it's just a thought, flame away.

I'm not gonna flame away - its your opinion and you're entitled to it.

I buy cheaper presents - it means the person I'm buying for gets a nicer gift than they usually would. What is wrong with that. If my budget for someone is £10 and I get them a £20 gift on sale at half price dont we both benefit?

I now spend less on some people thanks to the sales. I'm not ashamed of buying something cheap that looks more expensive as a gift. It means someone still gets a nice gift and I have more money to spend on my holiday

I dont do xmas cards & everyone now knows it - waste of money in my opinion. I do send cards via post to people i dont see - anyone else gets a 'merry xmas' personally. I always thought charity cards donated very small amounts to charity compared to the cost of the cards. Wouldn't it make more sense to buy cheap cards and donate MORE money direct to the charity?

And anyway, isn't it better to give something cheap and cheerful to someone than for them to recieve nothing at all. My Nan at this point would be yelling 'its the thought that counts' down the computer to you

mummysaver

Hi d.o.o.g - I bought my Christmas cards in the sale, but I got the charity ones in Boots, these are really nice, and hopefully the charities still get some money.

As for buying pressies in the sales, these are often great for children to give at parties, where only a token is expected anyway, and personally I don't care what someone spends on my pressies, if they got it in a sale good luck to them! My family and friends are always excited by my pressies, as due to my bargain hunting they usually get a lot more than they would have done had I paid full price, for example some of the Boots gift sets will simply be added to "normal" pressies as an extra.

To answer your questions, people don't usually state how much a present is worth when it is given, so they aren't really passing it off as a more expensive gift, and yes, many people are too embarassed to admit that they can't afford to spend much money!

But, each to their own, are you certain that this website is for you!

Liz19

d.o.o.g wrote:

I'm a big fan of this site and have Martin's book too. A lot of the stuff I see is great, but some of this thread puzzles me a bit.

Why do people go to such great lengths to find the cheapest cards they can? I buy my cards from Charity shops that guarantee a large proportion of the cost goes to a charity. That way I get to send all my lovely friends nice cards AND give to charity at the same time.

If I was looking for the cheapest cards I could possibly find, I'd be asking myself "Why am I bothering sending a card at all?". If you really don't want to spend money on sending something to someone at Christmas, why are you bothering?

The same goes for the presents to be honest. Why buy something that is usually £10 for £1 and then pass it off as a £10 gift next year? Are you too embarassed to tell your friend "I can only afford to spend £1, but I value your friendship so I got something cheap?". It seems dishonest to me somehow.

Anyway, it's just a thought, flame away.

I agree wholeheartedly with Quackers and mummysaver. I did really well in Boots sale last year and was able to give lovely perfume/aftershave giftsets to relatives at Christmas that otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford. I do buy my Christmas cards, wrapping paper and crackers in the sales too because again, I can then get the really good ones. I am not a skinflint, infact, I love buying presents for people and thanks to the sales and tips from this site, I am able to do so much better. Surely that can't be a bad idea.

jazzyjustlaw

d.o.o.g wrote:

I'm a big fan of this site and have Martin's book too. A lot of the stuff I see is great, but some of this thread puzzles me a bit.

Why do people go to such great lengths to find the cheapest cards they can? I buy my cards from Charity shops that guarantee a large proportion of the cost goes to a charity. That way I get to send all my lovely friends nice cards AND give to charity at the same time.

If I was looking for the cheapest cards I could possibly find, I'd be asking myself "Why am I bothering sending a card at all?". If you really don't want to spend money on sending something to someone at Christmas, why are you bothering?

The same goes for the presents to be honest. Why buy something that is usually £10 for £1 and then pass it off as a £10 gift next year? Are you too embarassed to tell your friend "I can only afford to spend £1, but I value your friendship so I got something cheap?". It seems dishonest to me somehow.

Anyway, it's just a thought, flame away.

How much something cost doesnt come into it. Usually £1.00 buys a pretty rubbish present but there is nothing wrong in buying something for a £1.00 that is worth £10.00. The reason why you might feel bad is because you have been affected by marketing hype and what other people might think.

Dont get me wrong I wouldn't buy something just because it was £1.00 but lets say I wanted to buy my friend a DVD and it was £19.99 I would check around to see where I could get it the cheapest.

The only person that wins when you pay £10.00 just because you feel too bad paying £1.00 is the shopowner!!!

If I was so hard up I could not afford to buy my friend a present I would say sorry I cannot afford to buy you a present this year. If my friends said that to me I would give them a big hug.