Christmas is coming! 2007 - merged thread

shelovestobuystuff

My big tip is to save money on branded christmas presents by buying from abroad.
I am buying my daughter a really nice Tonner Harry Potter doll as she is Harry Potter daft.They are about £120-£150 in Britain but from american companies they are about $120-$150.With the strong pound I can get one delivered for £78.Almost half price.

EagerLearner

I am thinking of making some extra vouchers to add as a final thought to pressies.

Something like creating a 'Coffee, Cake & Chinwag' for a friend who may want to redeem the vouchers throughout the year rather than just Xmas. You can do this by hand or on a PC. It also means you don't have to pay the money out at Xmas, but at a later date that they choose, which also helps you spread the cost.

Personally I would love to receive a voucher like that I could then redeem with a friend in say Feb when it's cold and I have no money but they do!

You could also design a voucher for these kind of things:
- a free movie and popcorn
- a personal shopper morning and a brunch?
- a manicure/pedicure/massage (if you know how to do these things)
- Cut someone's lawn or another gardeing favour?
- Walk the dogs?
- Washing up / cleaning?

I think these are fun and sometimes more valuable than whatever the present was. A couple of 'coffee and cake' vouchers to use whenever I want with a friend would be better than a £20 present at Xmas.

rosieben

EagerLearner wrote: »

I am thinking of making some extra vouchers to add as a final thought to pressies.

Something like a voucher for a 'Coffee, Cake & Chinwag' for a friend who may want to redeem the vouchers throughout the year rather than just Xmas.

I think these are fun and sometimes more valuable than whatever the present was. A couple of 'coffee and cake' vouchers to use whenever I want with a friend would be better than a £20 present at Xmas.

Great idea EL. I did some last year for my kids and they were a huge success; I made up a sort of cheque book each for them with fancy covers (I do a lot of pc graphic stuff)

I gave my dd, ds and dsil vouchers for a roast dinner or lasagne (my dsil favourite!) or a home made cake, babysitting, help with housework, gardening etc. My son is holding on to his until he moves into his own place!

I did some for my dgd too, a lesson in scrapbooking, Paint Shop Pro lesson, painting sessions, baking, chick flick evening (when she stays with me)

I'd do all these things for them anyway but it was such a lot of fun!

savvy

rosieben wrote: »

Great idea EL. I did some last year for my kids and they were a huge success; I made up a sort of cheque book each for them with fancy covers (I do a lot of pc graphic stuff)

I gave my dd, ds and dsil vouchers for a roast dinner or lasagne (my dsil favourite!) or a home made cake, babysitting, help with housework, gardening etc. My son is holding on to his until he moves into his own place!

I did some for my dgd too, a lesson in scrapbooking, Paint Shop Pro lesson, painting sessions, baking, chick flick evening (when she stays with me)

I'd do all these things for them anyway but it was such a lot of fun!

We did this a couple of years back cos we were away snowboarding on Christmas day.

We bought them a 4x4 experience day and did vouchers for that, then made up the rest of the pressies as big cheques (nice and lightweight for the plane over LOL), then when we got back after boxing day (AND pay day!), we took them shopping in the sales for whatever they wanted up to the amount on the cheque. It actually made them shop a lot more savvier, and they got tons more for their money in the sales

LOL also did an advent calendar type thing for the week we were away leading up to Christmas day, they each had a Kinder Egg container with one Heroes choc and a message in, the message was one thing that I loved about them

SSB

Hi
I'm a great fan of the gift vouchers too:j , they are fun to do and it makes you think what a particular person would really like.

Ohhh, I am getting quite chrismassy already... I love this time of the year; Halloween, Bonfire night, Christmas. Most of our presents are now ready, I had to take all the bits and pieces out of the gift cupboard since I forgot what I've bought ( note to self, make a list next time).

Whittard's had a massive sale, some really good items there. What are people doing about Christmas cards? For a third year running, we are just sending cards for friends/family living far away and children makes cards for their own friends. Our card list was massive, it can so easily get out of hand. My husband's workplace has a no card policy, a small donation to charity is given instead.

Well, I'm off to Nottingham to see if I can find some bargains to complete last of my presents. Take care

mae

Right I have bought nothing.

BUT I am going to start as you are all putting me to shame

So I have decided firstly that I am going to donate £10 to charity instead of sending cards as I feel they are a waste of money and people receive so many they get sick of them (or is that just me being a baa hum bug?) BUT how would you communicate this to everyone by word of mouth or type a little note to people that from now on every year at Christmas I willing be making a donation to charity and not sending cards?

Secondly I was thinking in the spirit of money saving I would buy the children (nieces/nephews) a themed money box for Christmas with a little money in them so I will start looking for them.
My son is older so I was think of a coin tray for his loose change when he empties his pockets BUT I have no idea where to buy one of these?? Anyone any ideas? And a new wallet too.

May do my nan a little tv hamper with goodies in.

Luckily we don't buy for the adults but I do like to buy my parents something so will start looking now for ideas.

And I will also start looking out for wrapping paper, gift tages and ribbon now to save the last minute usual rush.

Thanks everyone for your motivation.

mae

Also sorry but does anyone know if Blockbusters do a voucher for just one film hire so I could maybe do a movie night hamper for older nieces??

Ellidee

mae wrote: »

Also sorry but does anyone know if Blockbusters do a voucher for just one film hire so I could maybe do a movie night hamper for older nieces??

I don't know about Blockbuster but Tesco were selling DVDs for £3 the other day and HMV have some good offers online with free p+p. HTH

mooosh

If you're posting parcels this Christmas - Tesco is currently doing 4 big rolls of parcel tape for £1 - a real bargain!

LynT_2

mae wrote: »

My son is older so I was think of a coin tray for his loose change when he empties his pockets BUT I have no idea where to buy one of these?? Anyone any ideas? And a new wallet too.
quote]
Studio Catalogue do a personalised Coin Caddy