Family Christmas presents?

Christopher_mooney

What do you buy a family of 8 or 9 people of varying ages for Christmas that they can all benefit from? Simple.... A hamper!!

We have been buying items throughout the year and filling up a wicker hamper... Special deals and items from lidls and aldi..... We got the Martin Lewis cosmetic hamper for £50 recently, special offers on ebay and amazon.... Making purchases starting January spreads the cost... Some foods like chorizo etc have long shelf life's and don't need refrigeration, Groupon also has some good offers as well... The most popular item last year?..... Spanish hot chocolate powder... Was used up by the 1st January!!

pattypan4

oh my goodness, something new, what a good idea op, would not have thought of it. We always looked forward to the hampers in the 50s

Keen_Green

We've been doing this for a few years now, it's such a big money saver! We give each family a hamper, no individual presents anymore. Each hamper contains 2/3 things for each family member, it can be anything really. Food, clothes, alcohol, toys, every hamper is different and specific to each family.


We never spend more than £50 per hamper, usually a much less than that. Everyone always says they look forward to our hamper the most, more than the more expensive gifts because it is so personal.

-taff

My sister has been making me one for the past few years, it's certainly entertaining to try the new foods she adds.
I'll be using the thing last years came int o do one for a couple of friends who, while not that difficult to buy for, are having repetitive presents lately...

rach_k

I think I must be the only person who hates gift hampers! I just find them such a 'meh' gift.

I'd much prefer either one well-thought out gift that really suits me or a token gift (small box of chocs?) or a gift card or even nothing. To me, a hamper says, "I don't know you that well/I couldn't be bothered finding something proper so I bought a load of random stuff in the hope that you'll like something in there".

I appreciate that a lot of people put a lot of thought into hampers but I'd still just prefer they didn't!

happydays89

I give hampers as gifts,I do a cosy night in hamper...dvd,wine,Chocs and luxury treats.
Cinema hampers for the kids. Pamper hampers with lots of luxury pamper items.

bexster1975

I also make things I know the recipients like to put into hampers. Some are short life so made the week before Christmas, others are much longer life so made/acquired months before so spreads cost. Sometimes put cinema gift cards in a film hamper, or Superdrug/boots vouchers in a pamper hamper depending on how well I know the recipients tastes. Lovely to have a hamper of treats just for you. We have previously done a national trust hamper with me,bership for the couple for the year, then some nice coffee for their thermos, hand warming gadgets for winter days out etc. Much more thoughtful than a lot of the tat wrapped up for Christmas for the sake of it. We only buy for a handful of people now ( immediate family and a few close friends. This means we can avoid the stress and rush of it all, and enjoy time with the people we buy for. The mist valuable gift we can give.

If I don't know someone well enough to be able to give a thoughtful gift, then we don't exchange gifts.

Bexster

Pollycat

Lots of suggestions for hampers on this thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/414524/the-gift-basket-and-hampers-index

on the 'Special occasions and other celebrations' board (which is usually renamed 'Christmas and other celebrations' around this time.

I think making up a hamper with items that are known to be favourites is very different from just buying one from M&S.

bexster1975 wrote: »

If I don't know someone well enough to be able to give a thoughtful gift, then we don't exchange gifts.

Bexster

Me too.
I don't get this swopping bottles of wine or boxes of chocolates or tins of biscuits for the sake of saying 'we're giving gifts'.

-taff

rach_k wrote: »

I think I must be the only person who hates gift hampers! I just find them such a 'meh' gift.

Ah well see....I love food. I love having something new to try that I wouldn't normally, like chilli pasta, or have something terribly expensive that I wouldn't normally buy, like truffles, or caviar, or something made with perfectly ripe fruit/veg like a really good tomato pasta sauce or something a bit indulgent like honeycomb honey.

This is why I;m going ot be a fixture at WW for a few months....

Camomile

What can you buy people who don’t need anything and are alrightish moneywise?
We started giving hamper to my in laws. Things they would not treat themselves to something nice but Like a bit of smoked salmon, liqueur, some stuff from the farm shop-fancy cheese (beautiful smoked cheddar and locally made chilli jam).
Friends- we know what we like so a nice book, diary, pack of sweets, bar of soap or home spiced gin/ made preserve is nice and inexpensive.
Saying that each to their own.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Rule of nana.


One pen, and a diary!


The diary always had her birthday in it!