Christmas 2010 Let's Get Organised

cyclingyorkie

chickywiggle wrote: »

ohhh good luck Sammy_kaye.

i don't think thats harsh at all. mine certainly won't be having anything near as much spent on them (DS and hubby)

mine neither!:o

sammy_kaye18

Thank for the well wishes all

The budgets I have set do include clothes and stocking fillers too.

Luckily Ben has been brought up in the OS lifestyle so to him a second hand dvd, colouring book, pack of colouring pencils, and a bag of sweeties and he's landed - he's only 6 so ill enjoy that whilst it lasts.

The main gift - the wii - is between them both so I have deducted £80 from each of them. Going to see if I can find a good deal but apparently the wii sport and the wii sport - which come in the £160 bundle I've seen are both good and they are family games so all can play them. So technically Owen and Ben will only be getting about £70 of gifts. Which like I said although that's fine for Ben - Owen may be another story as he is completely car / motorbike / motorcross mad so £70 doesn't stretch very far!

Holly I have no issues with - like I said I'd like to get her a play next as her main gift then a few other bits and pieces but with £50 I can get that and a few other gifts for her too.

carlamarie_2

hi everyone, i can finally join in with this thread (im behind this year)! ooh and while im here ill just tell you, you may know me better as yippeekyeyay- i got a new laptop and couldnt remember my sign in so had to start again! i used last years thread a lot.

so far i have for my dd (whos 3 in january),
four storey wooden dolls house was £49.99 reduced from £100 (this will be her main present)

and for my ds (whos 4, four days after the big day)
uno moo game £3.66 reduced from £20
and a few dvds; small soldiers, over the hedge, krull, space jam and a dinosaur one - these have cost me £8 in total

so i still have a fair way to go! but im trying to pick bits up now as i see them for the kids to lighten the load. dh has said they are each having £200 spent on them this year and not a penny more (because i always go over)

my ds wants a ben10 bike so that will be his main present.
the bike dd has now is a bit big for her so she wont need a new bike but so does want a dolls seat for on the back. ive seen one on ebay for £6 so im trying to raise the pennys on a site i use to pay for that. ill probaly also get a bell and some tassles to jazz hers up as with them being so close in age, we usually buy them big things at the same time (bikes, scooters etc)

im trying to come up with ideas for everyone else atm


Sammy i think your budgets are fine. with ben you can get quite a bit for £70 if you shop around and for baby holly, you can probaly get away with spending less than that and that would include a fair few essentials (clothes or baby walker etc) couldnt comment on owen as have no knowledge of his hobbys.

Jami74

I've finally got something to put away for my children. Disney (Cars and Barbie) laptrays from Tesco half price so £2.70 each after my staff discount, might make meal times less messy. I couldn't get anything in January as I just couldn't predict what they'd be into a year in advance and we try to limit the amount of presents we get them for space, financial and philosophical reasons. Son (5) is really into Ben10 now though and I'm thinking of getting him the Alien Creation Chamber. It's currently about £21 and I'm not sure whether to get it now and be done with it or wait. Dd has expressed an interest in Polly Pocket and she doesn't have anything similar so might go for that for her. Will pick up reduced battery toothbrushes, underwear, activity book etc as I find them.

Otherwise I got a couple of bits in the January sales from Boots for extended family after my home made creations went down like a lead balloon last year. Dh thinks I'm barmy thinking about Christmas now but I really want to enjoy December and not be fretting about inflated prices and gimicky tat.

berniesmaster

oh my goodness, usually im much more organised than i am now, ive not done a thing yet....
ok, this months plan, make a start!!
good plan....!

Wendy5704

berniesmaster wrote: »

oh my goodness, usually im much more organised than i am now, ive not done a thing yet....
ok, this months plan, make a start!!
good plan....!

I havent done too much for a couple of weeks either. Stuck in the house and waiting for funds to clear my paypal account before I can buy anything else. Im having withdrawal symtoms. :rotfl:

jellytot123_2

hello all, lurker/newbie here,

fantastic thread, i am a HUGE lover of all things christmas:j.

ok so christmas 2010, currently i have been doing a few survey sites (onepoll & lightspeed) im gettin there, new to this also. any others to recomend ?
vouchers: £75.00 m&s - gift for joining sky.
£22.00 tesco clubcard- in christmas savings club so will recive in nov - stops me spending them early.hopefully use for xmas food
£5.00 sainsburys - food ? gifts
£5.00 boots - hopefully gain some more throughout year

i have a few bootfairs near me which i will hopefully do to add to the pot.

my next step is to list all who i need to buy gifts for, birthdays etc how much to spend etc - *rummaging in draw for a notebook and pen*.finally getting organised - i will not be running round debenhams like a headless chicked on christmas eve this year - phew

Wendy5704

jellytot123 wrote: »

hello all, lurker/newbie here,

fantastic thread, i am a HUGE lover of all things christmas:j.

ok so christmas 2010, currently i have been doing a few survey sites (onepoll & lightspeed) im gettin there, new to this also. any others to recomend ?
vouchers: £75.00 m&s - gift for joining sky.
£22.00 tesco clubcard- in christmas savings club so will recive in nov - stops me spending them early.hopefully use for xmas food
£5.00 sainsburys - food ? gifts
£5.00 boots - hopefully gain some more throughout year

i have a few bootfairs near me which i will hopefully do to add to the pot.

my next step is to list all who i need to buy gifts for, birthdays etc how much to spend etc - *rummaging in draw for a notebook and pen*.finally getting organised - i will not be running round debenhams like a headless chicked on christmas eve this year - phew

Welcome Jellytot.
You seem to be doing really well. You can pick up some reall bargains at the car boots so will be worth keeping an eye out. I picked up a Me to You gift set which was 12 pound in New Look at Christmas time for 1 pound. It was brand new and the packaging was perfect. My niece will be very happy as she loves me to you. Even if the boxes are damaged they can be opened and used in a hamper.

I havent been out for 2 weeks due to an op and cant wait to hit the shops on Saturday. I received a £25 Amazon voucher from a board I joined so spent that last night. I treat myself to some new beads and then bought some Tinkerbell ear rings, 2 Me To You fleece blankets, Dr Doolittle 3 DVD and a Snow White mirror game to put away for them at Christmas. I am really struggling this year for my 13 yr old nephew who normally wants money but a couple of presents to open on the day too. I have no idea what to get him. I want a couple of things which dont cost too much money but look like good presents. Im sure inspiration will hit me soon. If not im sure you other money savers can come up with great ideas. I have done him a football hamper and a golf hamper in the past which he loved. He would love a retro sweet box but has a brace which hopefully will be reomved this year so this is a possible present. Other than that I could only think of a movie hamper but again if he has his brace will need to put in a non sugary drink and think of something other than hard pop corn.

chickywiggle

Wendy5704 wrote: »

Welcome Jellytot.
You seem to be doing really well. You can pick up some reall bargains at the car boots so will be worth keeping an eye out. I picked up a Me to You gift set which was 12 pound in New Look at Christmas time for 1 pound. It was brand new and the packaging was perfect. My niece will be very happy as she loves me to you. Even if the boxes are damaged they can be opened and used in a hamper.

I havent been out for 2 weeks due to an op and cant wait to hit the shops on Saturday. I received a £25 Amazon voucher from a board I joined so spent that last night. I treat myself to some new beads and then bought some Tinkerbell ear rings, 2 Me To You fleece blankets, Dr Doolittle 3 DVD and a Snow White mirror game to put away for them at Christmas. I am really struggling this year for my 13 yr old nephew who normally wants money but a couple of presents to open on the day too. I have no idea what to get him. I want a couple of things which dont cost too much money but look like good presents. Im sure inspiration will hit me soon. If not im sure you other money savers can come up with great ideas. I have done him a football hamper and a golf hamper in the past which he loved. He would love a retro sweet box but has a brace which hopefully will be reomved this year so this is a possible present. Other than that I could only think of a movie hamper but again if he has his brace will need to put in a non sugary drink and think of something other than hard pop corn.

ohh you are doing well.

13's a tough one! I nearly made the mistake of asking DH "what would a 13yr old boy want for christmas?" but given this day and age he'd say something from the top shelf of a magazine store. :rotfl:

what sort of budget are you on?? Scalectrix sprung to mind which although can be expensive if you start looking now you could pick up bits off ebay and make into a hamper.

carlamarie_2

wendy, is your nephew into art at all? i did my 12yr old nephew and art hamper for his birthday and it went down a storm. he was actually ill on his birthday and his new ps3 sat untouched as he was too busy laid in bed looking sorry for himself, until i presented him with his hamper. he jumped out of bed and made a start straight away!

it cost me £25 in total and it had everything in it accrylic paints, pencils, charcoals, waterclours pencils, watercolur paints, brush set, 4 sketch pads of different sizes, 2 watercolour pads in different sizes, 2 how to draw/paint books and a mannequinn to finish it off.

if i say so myself, it was really good!