Cheap presents for men/ boys

Prudent

I have been sorting out my stashed pressie boxes today. They are stuffed with female pressies. I have been adding the Claires mega bargains today. I decided it was time to see if I really needed any more. So today I have sat and wrapped a year's worth of birthday and Christmas presents (ok so i really did wrap next year's Christmas pressies in Feb!). I have almost all I need for female pressies, but am short of pressies for male relatives, friend's teen sons etc.

Any suggestions for budget buys?

wishingonastar_3

i got some bargains for men in the bhs sale, little gadgets and things, with 75% off like mini screwdriver kit, mini keyring torch, etc.

kiwichick

Or the boxed gift setsin places like Boots? The ones with a body spray, aftershave,soap, razor etc etc. They were on sale last time I was in.

Prudent

kiwichick wrote:

Or the boxed gift setsin places like Boots? The ones with a body spray, aftershave,soap, razor etc etc. They were on sale last time I was in.

Good idea. Very strangely never got men's stuff from Boots. Got loads of points just now due to purchase of a few (ahem..) handwashes.

Graham_S_4

If i can generalise for the entire male population - give them money (or a voucher)

A bottle of smelly stuff - to most men - is something that mysteriously appears on the bathroom shelf - you give a bloke some deodrant and smellies he will be gutted - give him a £10 HMV voucher instead.

Cheers

G

thriftmonster

I've done a themed foodie basket along the lines of cheese or chillies or choccies - whatever they like. Also Tesco are currently doing CDs at 97p - not sure what the selection is like. Torches are also popular with various men I know

Dobie

I find it easy to buy for my women friends but always struggle with the men. Then I found a good website called Firebox that sells loads of unusual 'toys for boys'.
A friend of ours is always tapping on the table when there's music on so I bought him some battery operated drumsticks for his birthday. You can either hit a cushion or just thin air & they sound like a snare drum, then press a button & you have a cymbal sound. He thought they were great & were only £9.99. By the way - that particular 'boy' is 52.

Skintmama

Graham_S wrote:

If i can generalise for the entire male population - give them money (or a voucher)

A bottle of smelly stuff - to most men - is something that mysteriously appears on the bathroom shelf - you give a bloke some deodrant and smellies he will be gutted - give him a £10 HMV voucher instead.

To me Graham, £10 for one present is not cheap really. No disrespect intended here at all.

I have three brothers, a dad and a stepdad to buy for (also DS DH FIL, BILS etc) and they mostly have more money than me but like to have an actual gift to open. My approach is to buy them something that fits in with their hobby or interest even if that is quite a basic item eg films for a camera, photopaper, discount book, crossword compendium, decent pen, art materials, bottle of wine, gardening item, kitchen gadget, car kit, sport item etc. Okay it is not fantastic and inspired but at least they seem to get used and appreciated. By keeping my eyes open I can generally stick to my £5 pressie limit for my brothers.

mossy

I was going to suggest something similar to Dobbie, I find presents for guys really difficult but I buy a specific present for each person rather than buying and putting in a pressie basket (not very mse just the way I shop). I made my best friends husband a 'boys night in' box of goodies which came to around a fiver. It had two chocolate bars in (his favourites), a tin of pears and a tin of evaporated milk (lol I know its weird but he loves eating pears and evaporated milk) and a couple of bottles of the old fashioned beers that were on offer. He was sooo chuffed with it it was really sweet actually, he just kept saying how perfect it was and how well I knew him and what a thoughful present it was...

I like your idea of trying to theme presents with their hobbies, the more personalised you can get the better as they appreciate the thought even if it cost a couple of quid. I'm with you as well I don't have a big budget when it comes to presents.

loopylass

hi

i have a teenage son i bought him last christmas things for his pc as stocking fillers a usb hoover, £5 usb phone charger £3, keyring torch £2, and in game they do pc games 3 for £10 i think thats on all year

body sprays shampoo shower gel he loved these(ben sherman or lynx)
desk clock £2 i got a lot of these from superdrug and wh smiths a week before xmas everything in the christmas range was half price but still 3 for 2 so i got 3 gifts for £5

if his into football some are half price in jjbs i bought all my boys one each and my eldest is 17


i hope this helps

tallulah_beaulah

I've just started trying to build up a present cupboard, one of the many new things I've learnt about from this site!

I saw a post somewhere (could be on Mega Index), about someone who makes jars of fruit soaked in alcohol for Xmas presents. I thought these would be great for bloke presents, I think my brothers and dad would like them, anyway.

You have to soak the fruit for several months, i think, so plenty of time to look out for bargain jars, cheap vodka/brandy and some bogof fruit then get everything soaking in time for xmas... adding a bit of xmas ribbon round the jar would probably be wrapping enough too.