Christmas 09 Let's Get Organised!!

pretzelnut

Well done Mrs_Ryan on your fabulous bargain find. Thats a great saving.

roosterbean

Princess - absolutely love your hampers, they're fantastic! Can you tell me what you've got in your Star Wars hamper and where you got them from please....x

ragz_2

I'm glad someone asked about present budgets as it's made me sit down and work it out!
I have general £10 spend limit (not target) for most family members as we both have a big family.
Then for each other and kids it depends on how much money we have!
So, 15 family members at £10 each is £150. But quite a few I have managed to get decent pressies for less than a fiver so I will be under budget by quite a lot there.
We have 2 little boys who get a lot of pressies from GPs and Aunts and Uncles so I won't be getting them huge presents, they're only young. But I will be doing stockings for them, plus a xmas eve present (a game and PJs) and whatever the Magic Elf who visits may leave for them...
So probably about £100 spent on the boys in total.

For OH and I, I will be doing stockings too this year as I soooo miss getting one! But don't expect OH will do mine so plan to team up with my best mate and do each other's instead of gifts... £20 limit for hers and £20 for OH's.
I usually spend about £50 on OH's presents and a bit less on mine, which I generally have to buy myself. But this is my own doing as I have total financial control in our family (long story) and prefer to get things I want as presents!

So after that long rambling post I estimate my Present Budget to be £390!!!!!!!
To me that sounds like loads (though it's a lot less than a lot of people's!) but as I said, I will come in under budget with the family gifts and some things I have already.

cdsmiler

phia2000 wrote: »

i think its FREESMBOOK there is a jessops book post in the first few pages of freebies (no spend) bit

Thank you!

Clare x

little_miss_moneysaver_3

vikki_louise wrote: »

I am planning on doing a "away from home" kind of hamper for my mums goddaughter, she is off to uni and her bday is shortly after she is there. i was thinking of some little luxurys like hot choc sachets, some chocolate, a photoframe (anyone know of some nice ones online??) etc but thats where i get stuck!! Any ideas?

Maybe some toiletries she likes. I remember a friend at uni had to cut back on her shampoo, shower gel etc and go for shops own brand. Maybe a bottle of those? Or some nice moisturiser?

Or some "emergency" things. A packet of plasters, sewing kit, stamps? I know they're not luxury things but may come in handy.

cheesy*wotsit

yippee_kye_yay wrote: »

have you heard about the boots botanics and no 7 products hiding behind the pink 'pure' labels in the poundland? i got 5 of the botanics which i will stick in a basket for dads gf it has a rrp of over £25!!!

Woopie, that sounds useful. Shall be going there at the weekend then. Thanks for that. I also got my 1st xmas prezzy on Saturday.. an ed hardy top for my niece... £15 in tk maxx.:T well chuffed with that one. Will poundland do cheap baking tins as I need to start my xmas cake this coming weekend? Ill need a storage tin/tupperware too. Its only just opened near me so not had a chance yet to go and have a proper look round.

cheesy*wotsit

tinksy wrote: »

welcome maria and the imps!

do you think its wrong if i do presents made of freebies?? it just seems a bit rude lol!

Nope, because I recycle any presssies of mine that I have received before because i think that its better that a gift finds a home rather than sitting in the back of my cupboard so that's a freeby isn't it? Gotta be careful who you give it to though!

cheesy*wotsit

janeym8 wrote: »

Rummer im doing cocktail hampers and scrapbook tins for my girls as their main pressie and have been picking up bits and pieces for a while.i got some xmas tree decorations from matalan clearance store couple of mkonths ago-3d cocktail shaker and martini glass in metal for under £1 each.i keep searching ebay for all things cocktail related am even thinking about getting them the cocktail dvd lol

started on my pots of gold the other day-i got a set of 3 diff sizes of yellow metal buckets in asda at summer time and made holes and put eyelets in them used my crop-o-dile craft tool for the first time and was a bit more fiddly than i expected but was ok still got to do more to them

scrapbook tins-finished using alcohol inks over them and did some metal hearts as well which i was going to attatch using said crop-o-dile but it doesnt fit because lip on tin lid is too think so now looking for something to make a hole in the metal easily dont fanct using a drill and it has to be a certain size for the eyelets -hoping someone can help

tinksy i think its a fab idea about using feebies for a present. dont say anything and the recipient will be none the wiser

jemtom isnt it great when you can find a brand new item in a charity shop especially if its something you have been looking for


love to all
janey xxx

Putting holes in things? how about a knitting needle and a large piece of plasticine, etc you know like they use to show you in Take Hart, etc?

cheesy*wotsit

ironman1 wrote: »

How much do you lot usually spend at Christmas?

This will be me and the gf's second Christmas in our own place but last year I had already bought all her presents and those for everyone else before we moved in, whereas this year I'll have to budget a bit more.

This year seems to have flown by, can't believe we are already in September. Scary!

I'll only have to really buy for the missus, my mum, dad and brother.

Hi Ironman. I usually spend about £20 per person and I have about 13-15 people to buy for. Also if say a gift costs £15 so I have £5 left over, I spread it across the people I have left to buy for. Hope that helps. You can also get some wicked stuff in tk maxx too. Managed to get my niece (age 16) an ed hardy top for £20! Well chuffed with that one. Just gotta get everyone else sorted now...:o

FunkyMonkeyPie

A stupid question but .................... what shop is B&M????