The Gift Cupboard!

vanoonoo

what a lovely thread - although I dont buy christmas gifts I do give gifts to friends through the year as and when I see things that I think they would appreciate, I've also got my swap box of stuff for when I meet up with fellow moneysavers in there goes bits and bobs that I know I wont make proper use of myself such as sachets of lotions and potions. one year I collected all my lotions and potions sachets and gave them to my mum for her birthday in a freebie makeup bag from the front of a magazine - she was delighted. I think

i do however subscribe to the "wrapping paper and card box" so that I dont have to go rushing round for cards when I get news of an "event". I also recycle a lot of cards that I get (as edinburghlass is about to find out ) my friends actually find it quite amusing that they get cards with a blank sheet of paper stuck inside over the original message. sometimes I go the full monty and print a new greeting but usually I jsut scrawl in them in my own fair hand. of course the recipient needs to be fairly understanding and I am somewhat eccentric so my nearest and dearest dont mind too much

spidystrider

There are some really good ideas here Every Xmas I tell myself I am going to start buying gifts for the Next Xmas in the January sales but never seem to get round to it. This year I bought a Barbie annual, reduced from £6.99 to 99p and stopped! After reading this, I am going to get a box for each of my 3 kids and every time I see a bargain that I know they will like, I will buy it and put it past. ( Well that's my plan anyway )

nicki_2

We don't give gifts for birthdays except to each other and our daughter, UNLESS it is a milestone one, like 18, 21, 50 whatever. We also don't send alot of birthday cards (mainly because we don't know when the birthdays are) but those we do send we send second class a few days early.

As for Xmas, I've resolved to doing grocery hampers for our grandparents (Very well received from all concerned Xmas 2004. I include some homemade bread or biscuits too), bottles of alcohol for parents, and siblings, aunts and uncles get decided on closer to the time.

Thanks to my choice of gifts 99% of them can be purchased in Asda so I have a Christmas Savings card that I used last year to save on again this year. I already have £5 on it just from change from the weekly shop and some money that was left over from last year I've joined Tesco wine club to get money off vouchers for wine for my in-laws and I'll be saving the rest of my tesco vouchers I get this year to put towards paying for my nannas Xmas grocery hamper.

I tend to keep freebies that I send for/find in magazines and parcel them up as "Pamper packs" for my aunty. Doesn't cost me anything as I have everything in already

I already have a stash of cards and wrapping paper which I won't have to add to for quite a while - a local shop was closing down and reduced the £1.99p packs of Christmas wrapping paper to 25p so I bought as many as I could afford at the time LOL

Queenie

Oooh, lurve the sound of "Pamper Packs" (did I mention we're related? I'm a distant Aunt of yours

pandas66

Me too. I like that idea.
A slight twist to it is get an inexpensive container/basket and fill it with 'samples/freebies with a couple of choccie bars and a minature of a fav tipple you can call it a girls/boys night in basket.

Sofa_Sogood

We'll all be surrounded by baskets

If I spot a bargain, (highly unlikely as I haven't so far lol), I'll post it in here.

Galtizz

Sofa_Sogood wrote:

We'll all be surrounded by baskets

The trick is to use something related to the gift as the 'basket', can't think of anything for a pamper pack (maybe a furry cushion cover ) but, for example for a gardening hamper full of seeds, a trowel, garden gloves etc. you could use a plant pot. There is a thread from around Xmas time with loads of hamper ideas and ideas of what to use as a hamper.

Sofa_Sogood

Galtizz wrote:

The trick is to use something related to the gift as the 'basket', can't think of anything for a pamper pack (maybe a furry cushion cover ) but, for example for a gardening hamper full of seeds, a trowel, garden gloves etc. you could use a plant pot. There is a thread from around Xmas time with loads of hamper ideas and ideas of what to use as a hamper.

Galtizz? You've just given me a couple of ideas, and made me realise where I might have gone wrong this last Christmas.

In the Clearance sale at John Lewis they're selling things just like that! Gardening implements in a watering can. Then there's (I bought one lol), like an office box with a claculator, clock, business car holder, pen, mug etc - and far too much packaging.

There's also (I think), pizza makers for beginners with all the ingredients/implements etc.

There's some ideas to be pinched if we look around stores like those

MATH

After reading this thread I thought I would go and have alook in our goft cupboard and see what's what. I havn't been in there since Christmas and wish I hadn't bothered. What a sorry state!

One pen set that is soo old the ink has probably died up.

A gift set of two nail polishes which have seperated and look like some terrible chemical spill.

A bathcube in a basket (the gift equivelent to a slap in the face)

I think I need to go shopping!

toozie_2

We have had a 'Birthday Box' in in my wardrobe since my girls were little. Usually they always find something in there which will do for a friends birthday. I also have a 'card drawer' so we hardly ever buy cards, unless its an 18th or something.

Got all my 2005 Xmas cards, from the sales, and 'expensive' paper, that was very cheap.

In the attic I have the Xmas 2005 box, so the girls can't get at it, as I buy things on sale, I note them in my diary, so I don't duplicate, or buy too much. It all saves money, but more importantly it saves stress, shopping in December, when I've got no days off work, when all the other Xmas activities have started just spells a nightmare for me!!!