heres my xmas budget, what to get?

kazzys51

hi amazon has loads of books on sale for £1.50

k

tizhimi

Goodness me, £40 on your mum... my mum would be horrified if I spent that much on her! Why don't you look for cheaper but more thoughtful ideas... make a face mask from scratch etc and loads of other lovely things.

i sound really really cheap but my whole bill is that - we make our own wine and beer and then just buy "key" gifts on top - if we don't make them that is.

stimpy27

Hi,

I did an album for my in laws as their Father was also a professional boxer, best place to go is to the newspaper library (I think still in Hendon) with a list of fight dates and search "Boxing news" magazines for those dates (will take about a day) you then order copies of pages and they do the copies and send to you. If unable to do this then have a look on ebay, they often have job lots of boxing news, if you can find a load for the dates he fought (can be a bit hit and miss ....excuse the pun!!)

stimpy27

Also meant to say, I would then photocopy the articles and do yourself and album and keep a spare (always a handy present for other family members close to your Dad.
Boxing news also has photos and fight profiles for boxers which can add interest

yippee_kye_yay

thanks for all suggestions so far

tizhimi i am quite happy with what i spend on my mum. she is very good to me and in the past few years has bought me a hell of a lot including 2 prams, £1000 towards my wedding and my wedding dress on top. she has had a tough year and has spent much of the last few months stuck on a bed in her living room, we will find out next month just how much damage has been done to her leg and how many skin graft ops she will need.
as i said its been a bad year for her and i am looking forward to buying her something nice to spoil her a little and hopefully buck her up a bit.

stimpy thank you for that information. ive just looked on the website but cant find anything about boxing and cant get there (i dont even know where it is!) i will look on ebay though.
can i ask how much it cost you to do?

stimpy27

I was already in the area at that time so didn't have any transport costs to the library, it cost me a couple of pounds per copy I think and then one price to post (sorry can't remember how much) At home I then brought a cheap self adhesive photo album, arranged the articles in date order and stuck them in along with photos etc, I drew around each article with a black marker pen to make it stand out. Probably cost around £30-40 (for me it made about six presents though)
The ebay ones can run up the costs unless you are lucky enough to find the right dates in one job lot. Hope this helps

CouponWoman

Check the toys in Tesco, lots are reduced at the moment. I got Disney dolls reduced to £1.24 and other Fisher Price toys reduced too..

They have loads of dvd's starting at £1 too.

If you check out the printable coupon thread you will find loads of money off coupons to help reduce your spend.

debtfreein2009

What about a personalised calender with loads of family piccies for your mum, dad and nana. I do it every year for all the oldies and they love them. I've never spent more than £10 on each one and most years it's a lot less with quidco. I make sure I put piccies of each of the parents with the children in their own calender. Most years that's all we can afford, but it's something that they can use and enjoy every day for a year. My dad loves them so much he refuses to write on it and buys a 99p calender so he doesn't spoil it!

System

for your stepdad have a look at the "help for heroes " site theres a choice of forces related bits n bobs on there.

yippee_kye_yay

stimpy thanks for all your help i think ill look down the ebay route.
couponwoman i am at tesco on thursday so i will check it out
debtfree my mum always has the calendar from my nephews football team up and only has a tiny kitchen so couldnt really have another. i was thinking of making her a photobook tho with her favourite pics of my older brother and sister and myself then maybe some with the grandkids too.
chrissy thanks for the website i shall look now