Stockpiling for Christmas

QuincyBella

I'm determined not to have another December like last year where I worried that my pay cheque wouldn't make it to new year, so this year I've started early! I started a change pot in July and have put all the random loose change from our house in it. So far we're up to forty quid, hopefully by December we will be at the £80 or so mark.

As we are hosting Christmas this year I have also been buying a bottle of spirits each time I see a good offer, and have squirreled this away. I am now on the look out for chocolates, biscuits, crackers etc that I can stock pile. I have already bought the m and s half price Swiss chocolates but somehow they keep getting eaten. Any one else spotted any good non perishable buys?

DomRavioli

Try posting on the food shopping & groceries board, or maybe the Old Style board - the OS board has a Xmas 2013 thread on it.

nitnurse-not2

I do the same and buy pickles, crackers etc when I see them reduced or BOGOF. I also save £10 per month on Asda and Morrisons savings card up to around £60 each and save all my nectar points. I top up my Wilkos savings card each time I go in. Aldi/ Lidl do some delish meats, cheeses, choc treats etc always at good prices and they often have long dates on.
xxx

QuincyBella

nitnurse-not2 wrote: »

I do the same and buy pickles, crackers etc when I see them reduced or BOGOF. I also save £10 per month on Asda and Morrisons savings card up to around £60 each and save all my nectar points. I top up my Wilkos savings card each time I go in. Aldi/ Lidl do some delish meats, cheeses, choc treats etc always at good prices and they often have long dates on.
xxx

Am saving up my nectar points too - want to be able to do a big shop there in Christmas week. I know people say not to spend the points at the til but frankly there is nothing else we want to spend the points on. We could spend them at homebase I suppose but it's the same difference...

I have been guilty of being a tad casual about my nectar card use in the past but I am a bit addicted to collecting the points now - especially since they brought in the til spit vouchers. Sainsburys have just sent me a load more vouchers in the post so I'm planning my next few shops around them

I've now made a list of the liqueurs we want:

Bailey's
Sheridans
Kahlua
Sailor Jerry/Kraken

Now all I have to is spot the best buys! Here's hoping there will be a Bailey's price war like there is most other years:rotfl:

Own_My_Own

I buy a toiletry or household item a week. Hate buying them at Christmas and they come in handy in January as well.

So far I have

36 Toilet rolls
3 Jumbo Kitchen Towel
2 large Clothes Softeners.

All bought when on offer.

QuincyBella

Own_My_Own wrote: »

I buy a toiletry or household item a week. Hate buying them at Christmas and they come in handy in January as well.

So far I have

36 Toilet rolls
3 Jumbo Kitchen Towel
2 large Clothes Softeners.

All bought when on offer.

That's a really good idea. I'd forgotten about household stuff. At the moment the co op have their kitchen rolls on offer - buy one get two free. Think I will tuck them away for Christmas as they are useful when cooking roasties etc :T

lillie_put

QuincyBella wrote: »

Am saving up my nectar points too - want to be able to do a big shop there in Christmas week. I know people say not to spend the points at the til but frankly there is nothing else we want to spend the points on. We could spend them at homebase I suppose but it's the same difference...

I have been guilty of being a tad casual about my nectar card use in the past but I am a bit addicted to collecting the points now - especially since they brought in the til spit vouchers. Sainsburys have just sent me a load more vouchers in the post so I'm planning my next few shops around them

I've now made a list of the liqueurs we want:

Bailey's
Sheridans
Kahlua
Sailor Jerry/Kraken

Now all I have to is spot the best buys! Here's hoping there will be a Bailey's price war like there is most other years:rotfl:

hi
can you please tell me where I can use Nectar points never had before got a few adding up on ebay only because topcashback stopped using ebay
prob sound really stupid but I honestly don't no how to an where to use them
thank you
Lillie_put

QuincyBella

lillie_put wrote: »

hi
can you please tell me where I can use Nectar points never had before got a few adding up on ebay only because topcashback stopped using ebay
prob sound really stupid but I honestly don't no how to an where to use them
thank you
Lillie_put

The main places I guess would be sainsburys and homebase. I know that there are some places where the points can doubled (I think this used to be places like Thorpe Park, Legoland and the various Taussauds attractions. It would probably be worth having a look on the nectar site as they will not only tell you where they can be spent but where you can accrue more too.:)

teacherandmum

ive literally just read this idea on another board and thought it was great.

Check your bank balance every night before bed. Round the balance down to the next pound and transfer the odd pence in a savings acoount ie your balance is £123.45, put the 45p into the savings account.

Obviously you have to have online banking and access each day to the net. Im going to try to do this up until xmas. In a good month you could save up to an extra £30!!

spud

My wife does something similar. Every time she logs on to our online bank account she rounds down the account by £1. and the odds. This goes straight off the mortgage though.

With regards to Christmas she buys a saving stamp every time she does a Morrisons shop. Save £97.00 and £3.00 free. Also all our M&S vouchers are saved for a Chritmas food shop. For the past four years we have not used our salary for a two week food shop. :j

kathrynha

I don't tend to buy Christmas food this early as all those chocolates are much too tempting, but I am stocking up everything else, so I don't have to buy them in December and January, hence sarcastic comments from hubby this weekend about me trying to insulate the loft with toilet rolls.

Every week at the moment I am buying:
1 pack of pasta
1 packet of rice
4 pack of baked beans
1 bottle of squash
3 pack of sweetcorn
2 tins of tomatoes
2 cartons of passatta
12 pack of loo roll/4 pack of kitchen roll - alternate each week
2 boxes of cat food
3 tins of soup

Also when on offer I stock up on:
Coffee
Shampoo
Conditioner
Washing powder

What will fit in the kitchen cupboards (or loo roll in bathroom cupboard) goes there, and the rest goes firstly in big boxes under the stairs, and then up in the loft

December and January shopping is just fresh stuff and Christmassy stuff.