Xmas 2007???

sammy_kaye18

Hi All,

Ok dont all go nuts straight away but i just wondered if anyone else was already in the planning for Xmas 2007 already?? Ive decided this year im going to do hampers for people and pick up/make things throughout the year ready for Xmas so it wont be such a hardship this time around and it wont leave me super skint afterwards like we are now!!!

I'm thinking hampers for some family members.

*dad and step mum - romantic night in hamper (champagne,glasses,nice chocolates, candles, romantic cd, maybe a do not disturb sign)
*step brother and sister - movie hamper (bag of jelly babies, bag of fruit pastilles, liqourice laces, popcorn (1 sweet, 1 salted) video/dvd voucher, money for cans of pop.)
*grandparents - preserves basket (homemade jam, lemon curd, marmalade, chutney, homemade shortbread)
*mum and sister (she'll of had baby by then) - pampering hampers (bath soaps, bath bombs, relaxing bubble bath, nice shampoo, toe seperaters, nail brushes, loofahs) - will also see what freebies i can grab!


so i figure that will only leave my niece (2 in november and the new baby who will only be 2 months) plus obviously bf and my 3 year old

have already got tescos vouchers coming to me too - ok only about £17 but some of them can go aside for Xmas already i think unless i really need them and ive taken on the competition challenge to see if i win anything i can use them in some of the hampers too hopefully

anyone else thinking this far ahead??

skystar

Sammy, I start thinking of the next Christmas as soon as the last one is finished.

I picked up quite a few things in the sales and my standing order to my Christmas savings a/c started on the 2nd of January.

I also keep an eye out for any bargains throughout the year as well.

Any cash or vouchers from on-line surveys are also kept for Crimbo as well.

lato161105

I've started to had my nectar points locked until december, all my lightspeed is now paid into my paypal account, and just building up points for vouhers on various other surveys it all helps along the way and hopefully i wont b in debt this xmas and just checked my amazon gift cert balance and i've got £23 on that woo hoo

the_optimist

lato161105 wrote:

all my lightspeed is now paid into my paypal account

How do you do that? I've always got vouchers for shops but but rather have the money.

Gettin_me_own_back

Sammy
join pigsback see freebies board and get yourself some vouchers, also look at boots thread on the grabbit board. You should have christmas sorted by easter if you are lucky.
Most of us on this forum start as soon as christmas is over.
Once you have done it for the first time its like riding a bike dead easy.

looneyleo

I think about Christmas all year round! Like others above...my standing order to the christmas account continues each month (£50.00), I pay a few pounds to the Asda christmas card each time I shop there for the food, I've bought a few things in the sales and my hubby and I are on pigsback everyday clicking away for Boots vouchers. We should have £100.00 worth by Christmas...well that is the target!

TAG

Hi ya sammy_kaye18,

Yep I'm thinking well ahead this year too. First time ever infact.

£50 a month going into my savings account. Plus I've started picking 'bits' up for DD's Xmas Stationery box already. She's 4 and will happily draw, paint, glue on anything for hours on end. As well as anything else suitable for anyone I have to buy for.

This MSE site has also caused be to work out my entire budget for the year. Which means I don't need to worry about anything (touch wood) cos it's all covered. I'm actually enjoying the challenge of seeing if I am disciplined enough to stick to it and so far so good.

zippybungle

I shop all year round for Xmas
I got lots of goodies from the Boots 75% off Sale (not much left now)
Bought a few stocking fillers for my Boys from the £1 boxes at Tesco (flashing spinning top, book of masks)
I also use Pigsback for vouchers.
I am a Tesco obsessive, so my advice to you would be to NEVER spend your ClubCard vouchers in store! They can be worth up to 4x the value, so if you have £10 worth of Clubcard vouchers, they can be worth £40 in Deals! - you could buy things like Magazine Subscriptions as Xmas prezzies with your Clubcard vouchers. If you aren't interested in the Tesco 'Deals' then you could always sell your vouchers on e-bay, you will certainly get more than the face value.

Zippy x

earthmother

Not only am I already planning, but by fluke of good sales and cashback sites, I'm almost finished already (other than the fun bits of putting the hampers together and wrapping everything up)

That's super-organised - even for me, lol

Roz_V

Hi Sammy,

I always think of Xmas no matter what the time of year.. Have already bought all birthday presents I will need and also 3 presents sorted for Christmas and am keeping my eye out for other bargains.

For the romantic night in hamper for your dad and step-mum, keep an eye out next week just after Valentines Day as I'm sure many shops will be selling things off cheap

For the Pamper Hampers, as other people have suggested, if you haven't already join Pigsback and use the points to either buy a pampering spa day (think its at Champneys if that's any use?) or for Boots vouchers to pick up bargains... Combine these with advantage card points and special offers for really special and unique hampers: I recently received a coupon for extra points for a £10 spend on Sanctuary Products, these were on 3 for 2 and the offer doesn't exclude the miniatures so I got 7 miniature products (still quite a decent size and priced between £1.70 and £2.50) for the price of 5 (had to buy an extra to take my total over £10), the normal 4 AC Points per £, a double points voucher plus the extra points coupon, AND I paid using a Pigsback Voucher - so I spent nothing, and got £2.80 back in points

lemonade_money

Brilliant thread, thanks for posting it sammy_kaye18. I am also thinking ahead to this Christmas (although wish I'd started back in the Jan sales) and I am also thinking of giving a hamper to each couple. I think your ideas are great, I might have to use a few myself! The romantic hamper is a fab idea - and a brilliant idea from Roz-V - I will certainly keep my eyes open for post valentines goodies now!

I'm off to join pigsback now!