Thrifty Gifty - Organised for Christmas and all ocassions 2009- Santas Challenges

paddingtondoo

:santa2:Evening!
Have been very disorganised lately but as I liberated the last pack of giant buttons from our post office this afternoon thought I'd better sort the freezer before I ate them. Guess who had lurking fish fingers for tea .

I also tidied DD's corner and spent nearly 2 hours sorting out the spare room - still doesn't look much better but is definitely tidier and I found some gift boxes lurking under the mess.

Am home alone (unless you count the cat) until Sunday so am going to sort out properly and take a load of stuff to the charity shop to create a bit of space.

mary-op

We've had a chap in to paint the lounge......he finished today so now there's a pile of stuff that wants dusting/washing before it goes back on the wall (if I can remember where it came from!) Chucked out a load of stuff -some for the tip -charity shop would have forty fits if they saw it ! Other stuff for charity shop.
Having a morning away from it tomorrow -brain was getting muddled with all this 'stuff' -pictures, rustic bits, old tools that OH collects ..............of which nail did they all hang on

Never mind...................tomorrow is another day and it'll come to me eventually and if I find myself with a few spare nails...............well I'll just have to pop out to a shop in town that does a lot of French rustic stuff and buy a few bits.........50% sale on.............there must be things in there that say 'buy me, buy me !!'..:rotfl:

Off for a comfy seat now and some tele........sit among the debris that we call 'decor'.................lol

SugarSpun

mary-op wrote: »

I'm getting stuck on bits to put in grandsons 'shoebox of silly things'..............he'll be 17 this christmas !!!
Oh well, something will turn up I expect.

Have you looked at the Hawkin's Bazaar sale? Cashback via Quidco and their sale has things from 25p.

Lucy_Lu_4

PinkLipgloss wrote: »

LucyLu,

I arrived before 5am with the aim of bagging all the home stuff that I needed (dinner set, duvet sets, mugs, glasses etc) and I noticed that they were all quick to go - by 5:30am all the dinner sets had gone - it really is a case of if you're not fast you're last. I can easily imagine the shelves being empty come regular opening hours. However, you can avoid the store altogether and opt for the online sale - it started at 8am this morning and I did notice when I logged in at 9am (after I got back from the store ) that there were dinner sets available.

I believe the next big NEXT sale is boxing day. If you join their online mailing list you will be kept informed of what time the online sale starts. I got some fab bargains there last year (e,g, 150 pounds winter coat for 25 pounds ).

Got most of my stuff packed into boxes now - can't wait to move into my new place :j

Lipgloss x

ps - I admit it, I am a NEXT sale maniac - I've been going for years!

Thank you Lipgloss!

I've just had a look and there's a great present idea, a year's magazine subscription for £15, just over a pound a month! They have; Elle, Easy Living, In Style and Marie Claire. I know the timing wouldn't be a full year for a Christmas present but maybe if someone has a birthday?

I saw a mini Christmas tree with a robin on top on someone's desk at work today!

Lucy_Lu_4

SugarSpun wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

I was clearing out the wardrobe last night and found a bag of Christmas stuff that I'd forgotten about! Pregnant brain strikes again, and now I'm horrendously overbought for this year.

The plan is to take it all to the UK with us, and then I shall spend a few hours organising everything, wrapping and sorting what's a gift for this year and for whom and wrapping and sorting birthday/Christmas gifts for next year. All of this will be written down and then transferred to my spreadsheet, which will be rigorously updated whenever I buy anything for anyone else.

From the sheer volume of stuff I uncovered, it looks like next year's birthdays are also sorted How could I have been so disorganised?!

Make sure you are strict with updating your spreadsheet SugarSpun, I'm behind on mine at the moment!

Lucy_Lu_4

whizzer01 wrote: »

also was thinking a bit about adapting the christmas eve hamper and making a christmas hamper for a friend who is a fellow christmas addict, maybe a christmas dvd, book like night before christmas, stocking, christmas cd, christmas cake, mulled wine, nuts and christmas planner for next year. (actually i would love this for me!!!!!!)

What a fab idea, I love it! I want one too!

Sorry for the multi posts, I've been working extremely long hours and at the weekend so I have loads to catch up on.

Lucy_Lu_4

Oh no Sarah and Pip's Mum, sorry to hear you have swine flu, I hope you are both okay and feel better asap x

Lucy_Lu_4

and I am addicted to cadbury's giant buttons!

Lucy_Lu_4

mary-op wrote: »

Me and my friend have for years given each other a bag or box of charity shop stuff -being 20 miles away from the stores it means its cheap and fun. I start in January when people are taking their 'unwanteds' -spare room is full of 'stuff'..............all either second hand or what I've concocted. Makes shopping fun and cheap.
So when I came on here and saw what people were doing with hampers I did that.........all full of charity shop buys ! I did shoe boxes for the men/boys -didn't think they'd appreciate a basket somehow. So, shoeboxes are free from local shop and I cover them with either wrapping paper, scrapbooking paper (though that can work out a bit expensive) or fabric.........well done two in fabric so far..........lol
The joy with the charity shops is the stuff changes week by week so you never know what you'll find.

Mary has inspired me, I love charity shops. I bought a car cleaning set for £2.80 the other day and an oil and vinegar set in a metal rack holder for £1.80.

Going to boot sales in January would be a good place to find people's unwanted presents too, if places do boot sales in the winter.

Lucy_Lu_4

irishgirl62 wrote: »

I am sorry if this is a daft question... what do you do with spreadsheet? is it excel?

Yes it's in excel and you set it up doing calculations and when you type things in certain coloumns it does maths things. My boyfriend wanted me to control my present spending and he set it up for me, it is really helpful, but like I said to SugarSpun, you have to keep it up to date otherwise it defeats the object! I am a list person and a folder person too, I am going to try doing both.