Jingle All The Way - It's the 2023 Christmas Chatter Thread!

Nelliegrace

Thank you @Coxy11 Tea or coffee instead of sweets if BIL us being practical? I hope you can get his slippers in the sales. 
I won a raffle prize at the allotment AGM which was a pack of light bulbs. So much more useful than more sweets with so many people being made diabetic by the factory food and pharmaceutical industry.
For the Smallholders’ raffle I contribute a box of M&S looseleaf tea, or a nice large bar of soap from TKMaxx. WI got a box of our quail eggs. 

sammy_kaye18

Seriously need to sit and start thinking about planning ahead for birthdays and Christmas already. 

I have an amazon Wishlist set up already with ideas for people - Christmas and birthdays but I'm determined to be ahead of myself. 
Have done MIL mothers day - got her a gardening grandma gnome for her garden (they are about £7 on Asda and are in a rewards promotion if that's of use to anyone) and will get her a cookbook that she wants as well. 
My mum I have brought a tiger mug for - she doesn't want any gifts but Id already brought it so shes getting it. 
Now just my bonus mum to buy for (step mum) 

Then have my nan and sisters birthdays coming up. 

My daughter has also given me a list of stuff for her birthday which is in July but some of the things she wants are little bits and pieces so I might buy a couple of them a month up until her birthday. 

princesskitty29

I am trying to get my head together over here but I feel like I’ve got a million things to think about – it’s my mum’s 70th next week, then Mother’s Day, my 10 year wedding anniversary, I’m organising the school disco (which is on my 10 year wedding anniversary), Easter and then we’re going on holiday to Lanzarote. All in the space of a few weeks! We’ve not done a foreign holiday with the boys yet so I need to get my head around what we need to take. We’re away over Easter so I need to get things organised for that before we go. I feel like none of these are getting enough attention at the moment and they’re creeping up fast! I’m sure it’ll all come together in the end.

Spendless I hope you’re ok and everything went as well as it could for your Nan’s funeral. Oh yes Luton was all seated thank goodness!

Oldstyler hello and welcome! It’s lovely to see you on here. Wow it sounds like you’ve got some great bargains already!

Nelligrace your gifts sound wonderful to me and you’re right, children do get a lot of toys already! Practical things are very welcome especially by the parents. I’d certainly love to receive honey and eggs as a gift. 😊

Sammy it’s handy your DD gave you a list now for your birthday and you can spread out the buying.

Spendless

I've mentioned on here before how much I like the shop TK Maxx. I joined their Treasure (loyalty)  scheme. The cards are  abailable at the till. Each time you shop there, you have your treasure card scanned (just like any other loyalty card) and collect a treasure point (you can collect a maximum of 1 treasure point a day). You need to log your treasure card on their website, then when you've collected so many treasure points, you unlock whatever 'treasure' they are offering. I collected 5 treasure points and looked to see what I could get. Tbh there wasn't a great deal but I sent off for a Mr Man character A5 hardback notebook. It came today and has Mr Forgetful on it with a similarly appropriate slogan on the front - I'm putting it away for DD's birthday as an ironic present! 

mandco

sorry I've been mia but with oh home sick and under my feet complaining as he doesn't do sitting around and it seeming like  someone's been ill every week since xmas - we're just getting over a nasty cold/sore throat thing so things have been hectic to say the least. Thankfully he got offered a next day cancellation appointment as his original was at the end of may and while he's still having some tachycardia its a lot less then it was and as he's not had any other symptoms not dizzyness ect they've deemed it within acceptable limits and allowed him back to work this week on reduced duties.
Not really done any xmas or otherwise shopping as moneys been tight ssp does not go far and wasn't sure how long he'd be off for but now hopefully I can get back on track 

Princesskitty sounds like you have a very busy few weeks coming up. The boys 1st trip abroad is probably feeling exciting and daunting in equal measure We've done a few over the years but it still stresses me out in the run up. 

Sammy if dd already has a list getting a few bits each month is a great idea

pure chance yesterday but had to go to boots and pick up a prescription and they had the 90% off sale on granted virtually nothing in as my local branch hasn't had anything much for weeks but did pick up a couple of the rocket pinata's £1.50, friends bath fizzers 4 pack £1.20 to put in the donations box & a make your own bath fizzer for Tax 70p
they also had loads of the water bottles with h & k on and some bath salts but that was about it

I'm taking Taz to butlins next week and really looking forward to few days away after the last few months even if the weather isn't looking great - total contrast to last year when it was lovely and sunny. I have some onsite vouchers to spend and we have a kitchen which will help keeps costs down it'll be a cheap and cheerful break but can't wait.

Need to get organised for Easter as other than picking up a pack of freefrom easter egg hunt eggs for taz I've not even started - I usually do the grandkids a easter hamper/gift bag each with a small egg, toy, arts & crafts, easter teddy, new outfit ect but don't think the budgets going to stretch this year.

Coxy11

Hi all,

I collected BIL's slippers from M&S on Saturday. They send items in ziplock bags now so you just get handed the item and a returns label if you need to bring it back - all helps towards a greener planet I guess? I still need to get something to go with - thanks for suggestion of tea/coffee @Nelliegrace. We are seeing him Saturday so I still have time.

The wishlist sounds great @sammy_kaye18 and good that you have some ideas for DD already. The Mothers Day gifts sound fun. I have seedling news in that MIL's basil has sprouted - looks a bit like cress but definitely basil! Mum's chives are yet to make an appearance so at present she has a pot of soil! Please send growing thoughts!!

@princesskitty29 you sound like you've got loads on your plate. First foreign holiday sounds fun but can understand the stress! Calpol is your friend!!

I too have a TK's Treasure card @Spendless and earned a reward at Christmas which I made a donation to charity. It all helps. Love the sound of the book for DD!

Hope things improve for your DH @mandco and he's okay with being at work? Good finds in Boots at 90% off and hope you enjoy the Butlins trip x

Spendless

I bought DH a travel bag from the pre-loved MT site. It is BNWOT. I'd been eyeing it up on the main site for a while as DH travels a lot with his job and mentioned wanting a new one. Admittedly I could have done without spending £40 on it as I'm currently saving for the last instalment of DD's rent but it was cheaper buying this way and I will be glad when it's his birthday/Christmas and I already have something in the present cupboard. Just need him to not buy himself a new bag in advance! 

Mother's day is next. I also have a vgc pre-loved MT bag for Mum as she admired mine. Hers was missing the clutch but I managed to buy that separately in the same colour. It's possibly too big for her for everyday use but she's going on a cruise and I think will be handy for that, maybe for her flight hand luggage, which is what I used mine for. 
DD did ask DH yesterday if she could come home for Mother's day. This would be via train (that we'd pay for!) Told DH that since she's currently lost her bank card then it seems a bit pointless us paying out £50 or more for her to travel home to give me a £5 gift -lol. She decided not to when DH told her she'd already arranged to go out for drinks for her birthday (as it's Easter hols when it falls) and since then she's messaged to say she's having to cancel her drinks plans anyway as she has a rehearsal. Glad we didn't fork out for tickets. I said to DH if she asks again play it down by saying I was looking forward to having an 'unofficial' mother's day with her on a different date. A few years back her birthday and mother's day fell on the same day so she requested I move mother's day to the Monday. I didn't mind because she was very ill back then and and  I was so desperate for her to get well I'd have agreed to anything - I'd have moved Christmas day if she'd wanted to - lol , but she remembers one of her drama teachers being very annoyed with her over it. Possibly why she wanted .to make the journey back on the correct day.  

After that it is on to DD's birthday, She's asked for money so she can sort out her wardrobe, but I also have for her a MK tote bag (free with a perfume I bought myself), some FC sunglasses (£5 in TK Maxx last year) a pre-loved MT case to put them in (forgot cost but included an unused coin purse that I might  gift or keep myself) and 2 tickets to see Miss Saigon in the summer (as I think the 2nd ticket will be for me and as  I chose to buy a little more expensive tickets than I'd originally planned not fully including the total cost from her birthday budget plus the Mr Forgetful notepad and I *might* add some of the Lush stuff to it. We will need to split the gifts over 2 days as she's actually auditioning in a different part of the country the day of her birthday, DH will take her but I'm unable to go with them due to work.   

Coxy11

Some great gift ideas there @Spendless - I hope DMum liked the bag for Mother's Day.

We visited the mums on Saturday. Gave my Mum her gift - tealight holder and tealights were wrapped up, and the pot of chive seeds were still a pot of soil as of that morning, so had to buy a plant from Ts. I couldn't get a chive plant and only other options were rosemary or mint so I got mint as figured she could have mint tea and use it in fruit salads. She only unwrapped the other gifts yesterday and W'App'd me to say they were lovely. MIL opened her mug and soaps on Saturday and was pleased (I had an inner giggle as she's such a snob and would be horrified if she knew both were from a CS!). She also loved the basil plant/seedlings. Total spend was £5.98 on MIL and £8.49 on Mum as mint plant was £1.49.

DS1 and DIL2B gave me a pot plant which arrived by courier on Friday. I received hand creams from DS2, and DD had bought me an orchid a couple of weeks ago, so despite me saying don't buy me anything, I ended up with some lovely gifts. 

Hope all those who are Mums or who mother, had a lovely day x

Next up is DH's 50th a week today. I have bought him a decanter he has wanted for a while and will also get him a camping gadget he hinted about. Will order that from big river site today. The 3 children are buying him a camping hammock! We are away this coming weekend to Marrakech.

I have decided to save points/vouchers until Christmas this year. These include B00ts, Sainsbobs, Ts and also big river site ones that I earn through surveys. It will all help towards the cost.

princesskitty29

Hi all, gosh I don’t mean to be AWOL for so long but there’s just so much going on at the moment. We went back to Gloucestershire last weekend to see my mum for her 70th which was nice and we managed to go out for lunch despite my dad’s mobility issues and my mum not being able to eat very well. It did mean however Mother’s Day was a travelling and packing/unpacking day, and my eldest was playing up as usual so not a very relaxing day. I’ve got a busy week ahead as there’s various PTA events happening including the school disco and then there’s my 10th wedding anniversary on the same day. DH and I are hoping to go out for lunch beforehand and we have a spa day booked on Saturday. I also have to make sure I get everything together for Lanzarote the following week.

I managed to get DH some Superdry gloves in the Next sale so I’ve popped them away for Christmas. Honestly, the whole time I’ve known him (14yrs!) he’s used these ridiculous golf gloves, not ridiculous when walking around a golf course in cold weather but pretty useless for every day use as they’re these huge mitten things. I’ve never thought to buy him any before but I think it’s only come to light how unusable they are since we’ve had a dog and we’ve been going out in cold weather, he can’t really hold the lead with them on. He is honestly hopeless at buying himself stuff, he will go on for years like it! I feel like I’ve also bought something else in the last few weeks but can’t for the life of me remember what it is right now! I’ll have to pop my head in the present cupboard to see.

mandco I’m glad to hear your OH is doing better and that they have allowed him back to work, it sounds like the best thing for both of you! I hope you’ve had a great time at Butlins, we’re hoping to go in October and want to book up before Tesco changes it’s loyalty scheme as we use our clubcard points for this.

Spendless You’ve got some lovely gifts for your DD, she’s a lucky girl!

Coxy Wow you did so well with Mother’s Day! I think with your MiL it just goes to show, she didn’t even know they were from a charity shop so you wonder why people are snobby about these things. I hope you’ve had a lovely time in Marrakesh. 

Spendless

princesskitty - my son is like your husband - doesn't speak up when he needs things. That's a situation that's only rectifying itself now because his gf tells us what he lacks. It's frustrating because for years family members would ask for suggestions for gifts/stocking fillers for him and I wouldn't be able to  give them any ideas. He'd have been bombarded with underwear from my late MIL if we'd known, she never gave a gift that she didn't deem practical and she adored buying socks.

Coxy - I smiled about your MIL and her gifts from the CS. Years ago I knew a lady on here  whose sister  was also a frightful snob.  Lady's  sister got married and on her wish list was a really expensive vase with some pebble arrangement in it from somewhere like John Lewis.  Sis received that from the lady on here however what sis didn't know was the vase had come from a CS and the pebbles were from Home Bargains you bought in a plastic bag for about £3 and had been tipped in to the vase. The sis loved it and had it out on display in her living room and the lady used to smile to herself each time she visited. 

Today is my day off and with DD away as she's auditioning all round the country this week, I need to make sure that everything for her birthday is  got out and wrapped.