Help Me Please With Hubby's Christmas Present!

chirpychick

We are so so skint this year.
We had an idea a few months back but it went belly up so all the presents im buying ive managed to keep as cheap as possible...

Mum: Pot of Gold (£5) & shell bunny (£0) £5
her OH: chocolate reindeer game for dave 21p

FIL: Book made up of photos of his family history (£17.09), Chocolate reindeer game (21p) £17.30
MIL: Book made up of photos from our joint holiday (£17.09), guryan chocolates (60p) £17.69
Joint: Cruise book £0


N&G1: turkey chocolates (20p) & reindeer chocolates (21p) & stockings (£0) 41p + pp

N&G2 & A&U (all live together): 2 x chocolate turkeys (40p) 2 x reindeer chocolates (42p)

BIL & SIL: guryan chocolates 60p
Neice & Nephew: 2 x reindeer chocolate games (42p)

Dad & GF: kindling (£0), pot of gold £5, reindeer game & turkeys 41p = £5.41

Best friend & BF: reindeer game & turkeys (41p)

God daughter: Dressing up (£3), books (£3), chocolate (50p) £6.50

Neighbour: Turkeys 20p

friend: Reindeer game (21p +pp)

friends 3 littlies: Turkeys x 2 reindeer game 1 (61p)

other friends 2 littlies: reindeer games (42p)

so thats all fantastic really!

BUT now i have my hubby to sort out!

We have set a budget of £30 on each other. For him to buy for me its so easy, he could get me 50 books from carboot and id be happy lol.

but he is impossible!

It was just his birthday a week ago and now i have no idea what to do for christmas. (i got him a raincoat, hacksaw, cd, loads of socks and rosehip syrup and hankies)

I have already got him a personalised mug which was hand made in ceramic very special but it got a mess and the person who made it stuffed me around and it ended up costing £14!! for 1 mug!! He will love it i know for sure but even so. Anyway he got a sat nav for his birthday and he desperately wants a case thats £5 on amazon, ive got a couple of turkeys/reindeers left lmao (i ended up with loads by accident) so i will give him 1 of each for his stocking thats £41p. Ive also got a tin of english tea bags which was (£0) so in total ive already spent £19.41. I got a free book which ill add too. He wants a pot of gold so thats £5 = £24.41

I really am used to going mad at Christmas, with a normal budget of £150! (is it any wonder im now on MSE!) There is only 2 of us and we have had an awful year with his dad in and out of hospital and now his mum set to go in, being told he is infertile, my dad (his best friend) being diagnosed with a brain tumour, bullying and harrassment at work for me and me eventually leaving my job, quitting smoking too. its been awful. His parents paid for us to have a holiday. they came with us. which we got back from on friday (hence why we spent more on them for christmas) but on the way there one of our 3 dogs nearly died and the hire car broke! LOL its just the way our year has been. SO i really wanted to do something special and i feel i messed up with getting that mug and now i only have £5.59 to make up a little hamper for him.

we are both on a diet so i dont want to do foodie stuffs as he will already have some chocolate.

He like dvds, films, going to the cinema, walks with me and the dogs and playing on the laptop (not gaming just forums) he rarely reads, the 1 book i found was a fluke! so i have no idea what kind of little hamper i can make up for him.

Im going to round it up to £6 total (effectively the reindeer and turkeys could be classed as free) I do have a little wicker basket in the loft i can use to put the stuff in, so its just a matter of finding a nice treat selection of bits to put in it for £6.

Please help Oh i have looked through ALL the hamper ideas too but it seems like theyre either too expensive or not suitable for him.

Fruittea

Hi Chirpychick
I think you're doing well. I wondered if your OH might be interested in growing vegetables or a bit of gardening. If so you can make up a basket of seeds which are all being sold off at really cheap prices a the mo. Maybe add a garden diary which you could make yourself to add interest.

One year when I was strapped - I gave a gift of pledges that looked like a calendar. I included things like Run you the perfect bath with a back massage. Breakfast in bed. A guided walk with a picnic. Hot drinks before bedtime. You get the picture.

I made up a calendar which was meant to be something for every month of the year - so you go around to next year. That way you can throw in somethings that actually costs money. Like a Sunday lunch and pint in the pub - make it July's or when you think you might be able to afford a treat.:beer:

As it's your OH maybe throw in a couple of sexy ones - I'm sure it will appeal.;)

Hope that helps

chirpychick

Thanks thats really helpful.
The gardening though is my area lol. We just created veggie plots this year and the deal was he did the initial hard labour but the rest is down to me so if i gave him seeds he would think i was passing on a chore ROFL!!
But i might inform him the seeds are going cheap right now incase he wants to do that for me lol.
Im definitely going to do the calender!

chanie

Have you popped to one of the Poundshops? I've got DS some DIY tools for his Xmas hamper. They also have Satnav cases, much cheaper than on Amazon.

Other ideas:
Playing cards
Pen
Notebook
Moneytin (I got one from Poundland - its one where you have to use to tin opener)
Deodorant set

Fruittea

Good luck Chirpychick - glad you like the idea.:)

Kitchenbunny

A lot of the supermarkets have DVDs for £3ish, so that could be a part of it. Otherwise, I'm thinking perhaps a handmade mobile phone holder out of some funky material - there are patterns online - or some retro sweeties. Best of luck with it, and hope you can come up with something great.

mary-op

chirpychick - so sorry to hear about all your problems but you're doing so well :T-much better than me (all sorts of health probs with myself and more with OH so everythings gone out the window really)
I was going to suggest retro sweets -got beaten to it................lol:rotfl:but if you got some and put them in a little plastic tool box (one of the really small ones) he's got a tool box as well.
I used plastic tool boxes last year for both my sons for SOS boxes and put all sorts of stuff in that they might run out of.......batteries, tea bags, paracetamol, mini toothpaste (freebies from freebies forum), candle (in case elec. went),matches to light candle, sticky plasters......all that sort of thing. Most of it was stuff I had around the house so apart from £1 for the boxes I didn't have to buy anything.
Good luck..........be interested to know how you get on.
Money tight with us as well for presents so everyones going a bit short this year.

chirpychick

Thats a really good idea, he is definitely a diy man!
Where did you get the tool box from?
I have also been signing up for freebies but not really had any come through!
so sorry to hear about your health problems, i hope things improve for you also.
I did think about retro sweets but i dont think he would thank me for it because of his waste line! lol.
I love the ideas of plasters and things in there.
thanks.
i will update as i find things.

Spendless

Yesterday I bought something for just over a fiver in Boots. That gave me a voucher of £5 off No7. I saw some no7 mens shaving gel for sensitive skin priced £6.75 :eek: (no way would I pay that!) but I used my £5 off voucher and got it for £1.75. Hopefully it is really, really good stuff considering its full price. Could you maximise your £6 budget in that way?

carlamarie_2

i believe tescos are selling off there 'rolson' tools cheap - there is a thread about it on the grabbit board. ive not read that thread, but if its the same as last years discounts they were selling screwdrivers for 15p, hammers 25p etc etc. if your lucky enogh to get them you could come up with a well stocked tool kit and still have money left over for other bits! see the other thread for exact prices.

chirpychick

Carlamarie do you have a link to the page as ive been looking but i dont seem to be able to find it. Thank you.