The Thrifty Gifty Girls 'n' Guys 2009 (Organised & Money Neutral for All Occasions)

paddingtondoo

Wardrobes are up and doors are on :T chest of drawers is made and all clothes put away :j There's something seriously wrong in our house though as OH has far more clothes than I do That doesn't include shoes or obviously handbags though :rotfl:.

Spare room is a nightmare my new guillotine has arrived and I can't get near my craft stuff to try it out. Will try and find time tomorrow as a treat for all my hard work

nickynoo08

Afternoon peeps, not been on for a while so just a quick update. My wardrobe is brimming again with presents (b'day and xmas), all either left over from last year, bought cheap in sales with points or unwanted gifts. So far i've not spent a penny on gifts and i've got about 70% of what i need:D.
I've also got my eye on a few crafty bits n bobs, need to wait till next month before i can get them though. I'm making some sock monkeys and door hangars for b'days, never made either of these before so it will be interesting:p
Thanks for mentioning money magpie too. I tried them before xmas but they didnt want any of my cd's, so will have to try them again now they're taking dvd's too - i've got hundreds of em:o.

paddingtondoo

DD came home with a party invite for Monday last night and rather than stress about finding a present by then I calmly went up to my stash said will this do and what colour wrapping paper would you like on it?:j

I picked up a couple of Jacqueline Wilson hardback books in the pound shop rrp £12.99 bargain!

Just need to make a card and put £1 into my piggy for doing it :T

sparrer

ASC wrote: »

Hi all, quick question. I'm sure it was on here that someone mentioned nectar points for shopping at Amazon and Ebay. I've just tried to do that, but keep getting a message that there's a problem with my card number and I can't link through to the shop. I've tried logging off the nectar site and entering my number again but I get the same message. Have any of you had a similar problem or have any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?

Many thanks, Amanda

Hi Amanda
Don't know if you've had a reply from nectar yet but if you're registered with nectar on line, on their home page you have the option of entering your card number or email address/password. I can never be faffed to get my card out so put in my address/pw and then follow the links to the shopping site I want. It always works for me this way

hth
Sparrer

Clairealo

HIya everyone,

Hope everyone is ok?

Well ive given my self a bit of a kick up the back side. Ive got all my valentines prezzies sorted for other half and also went on half cost the other day and got 15 prezzies for 18 quid so that was brill and means i now have quite a few prezzies sorted for different people. Its my brother in laws bday 2day and ive made him a pot of gold and some lemon sherbert flavoured vodka (both ideas were found on this site ) so i just hope he likes em....
Ill let yas no.
Got a lovely little jewellry box in superdrugs sale on Tuesday 2, reduced down to 99p and it is soooo cute so that will do for my sisters bday.
x x

pinkladymel

Welcome back Sammr, glad you managed to score some bargains. I have had a terrible time motivating myself too!!

clairealo You are giving me bargain envy!! I don't even drink Vodka but I can appreciate the gifts you have made for you brother, you sound like such a wonderful person. Has to beat smellies and socks!!

paddington Score 1-0 to the thrifty girls.. I LOVE your swankiness!! yeh.. what colour paper ya want.. no problemo!! You rock

sylphraven

Hiya Gals, sitting here on my lovely fixed laptop, oooooo, its lovely, sooo comfy, soooo much faster than the old one (I'm turning the monitor slightly so the old one cant read it, its a tad tempermental)

I showed my OH my new shoes (cheap version of converses, but with 3" heels), & explaining how I got a pair last week, but they were too small, so I took them back yesterday to exchange for larger pair & they'd been reduced again! SA happily gave me the difference back. I then showed him what out of my grabbit bags from Lush I'd set aside for his Mums birthday, he said "I though you got those for yourself", I answered "I did, but she loves the stuff & it'll save us a bomb!", his comment back was "I know your trying to save money, make life better for us, but in the nicest way possible your Bl**dy annoying with it!!" & left for work. I wish he shared my bargain excitement, or the pride I feel when I look at the pressies I've got already, hmmmph, men, thank god for you lot! & of course he'll smile sweetly when his mom thanks us for it!

If you havent heard of the Lush Grabbit bags look here. If you are a lush fan, or need to buy pressies for someone that is, its worth a visit to a store. Basically they're selling off their christmas stock, a £5 bag contains £15 worth of stock, £10 bag £35 worth of stock & £15 bag £50 worth of stock.
The stuff inside the bags depends on whats left instock in that particular store but if you look on that thread you may get an idea of what stores got what. To make the items last longer you can wrap bath bombs/soap/bubble bars in cling film or sealed sandwich bags & store in a dark area. Jellys can be put in the freezer. Stores are excepting the 10% off vouchers if you have one. If your lucky enough to get a gift box they all have 10% vouchers in for your next visit, if the box rattles its likely to be the popcorn they use to package them, not broken bits. If you want to give away as presents I suggest rewrapping items as they normally have a sell by date, or created date on them.

crazychatter

My boyf is like that, I was so proud of my lush grabbit bag and all my other bargains, but he says that I just go on about how much money I've saved but doesn't think I'll ever use any of it. I was a bit worried that he thought I was a cheapskate never buying anything at full price but I only buy decent things on offer, not just tacky cheap stuff. Does anyone else worry about that??
Men!!!
Unlike him I have 90% of this years gifts hidden under my bed, I've only got him and my sister to buy for as I usually do days out instead of items for them.

Tigger888

Hello everyone! :hello: Hope you are all well - you seem to have been very busy!

Well, I have a notebook with all this year's birthdays listed and the list for Xmas (thank you Jamtart)- I have a huge box of bargains I got at the sales upstairs but I have not yet allocated them - did someone mention the naughty list!!! However I plan to rectify that tomorrow as we have no electricity from 9 - 3pm so I thought that would be a good job to do.

I am busy trying to fill in all surveys etc that come my way but it can be very tedious as times. I'm also slowly having a clear out in preparation for a car boot sale when the weather gets better.

First birthday present was given yesterday - friend's daughter turned 9 - I gave her a bracelet, a charm to go on the bracelet and some Funky Girl makeup - together with a homemade card and recycled wrapping paper (made prettier with some ribbon around it) it came to grand total of £1.90. Part of me feels a bit mean as her mum is very generous to me and my DDs but funds are very tight at the moment (and for the rest of the year) so I'm just going to have to live with it.

Love
Gill
xxx

mum2one

crazychatter wrote: »

My boyf is like that, I was so proud of my lush grabbit bag and all my other bargains, but he says that I just go on about how much money I've saved but doesn't think I'll ever use any of it. I was a bit worried that he thought I was a cheapskate never buying anything at full price but I only buy decent things on offer, not just tacky cheap stuff. Does anyone else worry about that??
Men!!!
Unlike him I have 90% of this years gifts hidden under my bed, I've only got him and my sister to buy for as I usually do days out instead of items for them.

If its any help its the male species for you! Your no a cheapskate, u buy decent things at a gd price.
I dont have Oh, just my dad lecturing everythime a parcel comes from Halfcost or I'd been to the xmas sales (becoz Im stuck on crutches and I go shopping he hjas to come with me.)
I've been bargain hunting really since haveing dd and in the last 3 yrs ended up taking over the households xmas / bday presents, it wasnt until I sat him in front of the computer, (my spreadsheet with all the figures etc on) that he actually was shocked at how much things would of been, and me saying if you want to give x £30.00 thats fine by me or they have a present which say cost £10.00 but would be £30.00, its taken time buts he now converted!!

For dads 65th he had a 4x4 off road experience, last yr was his 70th he had a rally experience and inbetween hes had 2 ballon flights (one was prezzie from my compo) buthe got told that if we hadnt of saved etc he wouldnt of been able to have those ........the old saying dangle the carrot the donkey will follow!
Maybe try that appriach with oh, get him involved, put some of the savings up fro something you both want and he'll soon come round xx