Frosty the Snowman - it's the 2025 Christmas thread!

Spendless

My daughter's 21st fell on Easter Sunday last year but she went away to Amsterdam on a 2day/3 night  stay, setting off day before her bday so we never saw her. I had visions of having  a bday/Easter celebration for her and combining elements of both for her till she dropped her bombshell that she didn't intend being here. 

I find exactly the same with my ageing relatives Abbafan - I buy for 4 aged between 76-99 and it's hard to come up with something different each year.  

princesskitty29

I took some empty toiletries to Boots recently to recycle but didn’t realise you need an app, so I have downloaded it and will take them back next time I go. I need some bits from there so will easily spend the minimum £10 threshold to get the extra points. Thanks for the initial heads up @mandco!

I got DS2 an Easter egg with a dog teddy from Aldi the other day, he is almost 8 but still loves teddies (he has millions) so I just want to indulge him while I can, one day I’m sure he won’t be interested in them at all!

@_Dolly_Rocker_ to be honest I always check the yellow sticker food in Tesco but don’t often think to go and find the clearance section in the normal food aisles, I will definitely have a look more in future!

@Abbafan1972 good to hear from you! I tend to find my parents difficult to buy for too, although my dad has asked for money towards things the last couple of years which has made my job easier! I’ve also started to ask my mum what she would like and I think she likes to give me ideas, I then just buy a couple of surprise bits too. I struggle to get them food treats or toiletries as my mum is a devil for buying things when they’re on offer and has lots of things squirreled away all over their bungalow!

@Spendless sorry to hear you’ve been struggling with insomnia, I hope you manage a better nights sleep soon.

pixtotts

Hello all! I finally remembered my log in!

I hit the jackpot re mothers day my sister has forked out for a big expensive electrical and I've volunteered to buy the case! haha. At first I was upset like I could never afford to do that, but now I feel like I'm contributing with the case I feel better. 

Last week I discovered the blister pack recycling thing at Boots got my parents on board, have 28 items approved in the app, so this year I am only buying toiletries from boots to claim all those bonus points! What have I started  >.<

On the Christmas front we  should be finally rounding things off this week with Christmas no5. We had lots of family illness over Christmas so we've been slowly getting rid of presents as we get round to "doing Christmas". We had 1 early before Christmas, 2 in December, one start of Feb and the final should be this week hopefully! This one involves Children so we'll be very keen to clear some space of big bulky toys that have been wrapped up since December. x

Coxy11

Gosh @pixtotts that's a lot of Christmas's (can there ever be too many?!) Enjoy clearing the space of the bulky toys.

I haven't found the B00ts recycling in either of my local stores because they are so tiny. Did get a bonus of 300 points the other day for spending over £30 in-store. I needed a new eye pencil and mascara so No7 came to the rescue and because I bought 2 items I got a freebie of day/night creams and a highlighter cream. Points balance now at £14.96.

I bought Easter eggs today in A!di. Probably not the cheapest but no Tesco or Sainsbury's close by and I know if I'd left it I'd end up wandering around the bigger SMs and getting other stuff. I'm going away on my hike on 3 April and returning on BH Easter Monday so best to get them sorted and distributed now.

A!di is my weekly go to shop and the medium eggs were £3.45, with smaller ones £1.35. I got the Maltesers small ones as they looked bigger than the small Mini Egg/Smarties ones. I spent a total of £19.95 by getting 5 medium and 2 small eggs for little nephews. 

I've started a new job today. Part time, 3 days a week. I had the induction this morning and an afternoon check in - all good. First day in the office will be Friday eeek.

Spendless

I also got Easter eggs today. Sorted a Nectar card out and  got both kids one each. . DH had also been saying he'd like to treat his dept to an egg each but the days of £1 eggs are gone and he needed around 20. We thought we'd need to buy the multipacks of small wrapped eggs and just get everyone to share but tonight in sainsbury's I saw these small boxed eggs.   They are currently £1 each with a Nectar card £1.50 without.. 
https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/libeert-creamy-milk-chocolate-30g

I picked 20 up. Cashier said 'school teacher?' I should have just said yes instead of explaining, it would have been quicker - lol

mandco

I know some of the smaller store don’t have recycling points me newest store doesn’t but there is a location finder if that helps https://www.boots.com/boots-recycling-scheme - it also has a product list for everything that can be recycled and it’s loads more that I thought. 
My store that does do it has finally got a blister pack recycling point point too it’s right by the pharmacy so I’ve started saving those too- we have a few prescription meds so saves the packaging going to landfill. I’m not too fussed about keeping drop offs to the minimum with those as we get thought quite a few packets and I’d rather get them out of the way. The points aren’t as good on that at 100 points on a £5 spend so I won’t do as many of those probably just 1/2 a month as I think there’s a max of 8 vouchers combined per month but it all adds up and last time I was able to combine both coupons on 1 shop though not sure if your actually meant to?? The scheme is a really good way to boost points as long as your not buying for the sake of it - I’ve earnt about £47 from it so far this year.  Dd had a pampering night with some friends at the weekend and kept all the branded face mask packets for me so that’s another drop off to do once she drops them off to me.
it did confuse me a bit at first as it really wasnt that clear but it’s actually Pretty easy once you know what you’re doing, upload a photo on the app select the relevant info and submit - it can take a while for items to be accepted I have had a few that took a couple of days but generally it’s pretty quick. Go in store find the drop off point scan the qr code it’ll take a photo of the drop off box ( sometimes its a little glitchy and does it twice) it’ll ask what your dropping off you just tick next to the items ( you don’t have to do everything on the list at once I currently have 12 items on mine -  just has to be at least 5) and then confirm and drop the items in the box. I wait for it to process fully and confirm before I actually put them in the box as the signal in my branch can be a bit weak and it has timed out before though that’s rare, You’ll then get a reward voucher in the app when your ready to go to the till you activate the voucher ( you get 3 days to use it once you get it and 30 mins to use it once activated) you scan it as a coupon before you pay.

pixtotts that is a lot if xmases though having them spread out it’s probably not as stressful than the main season tends to be, I’m sure you’ll be glad of the space once it’s over.
 I swapped most of my toiletries buying to boots to make the most of the recycling scheme but it’s been so worth it - for example i used to get supermarket wet wipes I swapped to boots own brand ones no more expensive but I can recycle the packets & get extra points so double win. I’ll still check prices first and it’s 1/2 price elsewhere and full price on boots then I’ll get it there instead. 

coxy glad your first day went well it’s always a bit daunting dd started a new job Monday too and she was so nervous. Good luck with the rest of the week

Princesskitty those Aldi eggs with teddy sets are cute I debated them for the grandkids but ended to going with the chocolate kittens instead
I totally get wanting to make the most of it with ds while you can they grow up so fast and it’s hard to see them change to fit into what society deems acceptable for their gender. I’m Not sure they ever really grow out of teddies more something they feel they shouldn’t admit too as they get older as it gets deemed babyish/ girly particularly for boys- peer pressure sucks. There’s a huge market for collectible plushies for adults and every holiday there are endless cuddlies aim at women - mum sister girlfriends ect and no one questions that so why should it be any different for boys? Taz still loves a teddy especially squshmallows as they are very sensory one of the joys of asd is he doesn’t care what others think. 

Spendless not seen those in my local store but they look lovely I’m sure his team will appreciate the gesture. Lol at explaining rather than saying yes - why it is it in the moment you never think to just go with it? That said I’d have probably done the same 


Semi productive trip to the outlets at the weekend return the trainers and managed to find some joggers for taz and some lovely m&s pjs for me reduced to £10 from £35. Debated the Lindt offer but decided against it as couldn’t find anything I really needed - most of the Easter chocs were cheaper elsewhere and the free box is only £4.75 in Tesco at the moment anyway. The birthday voucher is valid for another month yet anyway so might have another look before it expires. Dd got 2 pairs of vans for £28 some shoes & outfits for work as her new job has a more formal dress code.

Coxy11

Thanks for the link @mandco - whaddyaa know, my little local store DOES accept recycling I just didn't see the collection point. TBF DH and I went in for nicotine patches (for him!) and they were having a refit so it was pretty chaotic. I've signed up to the app and will give it a go.

Youngest nephew birthday ideas - well SIL said yes to Lego and Minecraft as apparently he wants to be a farmer! The two newest Lego sets linked to the movie are out of my price range so I'm going to go for the Pig House which is £18 in Argos. Will add some sweeties too to make it up to the £20 budget.

BIL (DSis's DH) has a birthday tomorrow but only now doing cards, so will drop that round later today.

Spendless

Tell me about them not outgrowing teddies. DD wants one to take when she's an exchange student later this year as something to 'look cute'  but apparently the only acceptable brand for someone her age is 'jellycat' - ok then (rolls eyes).

This is on her bday wish list along with a masterclass/course (I'm ok with this). A longchamp bag (because again it fits all the criteria that she says she  'needs' to be a student abroad!) and some Chloe perfume as she's ran out but only if I can find some cheap??!! 

Think some creative thinking/accountancy is going to have to take place here! I have got a confessional story about how we got round the original longchamp bag request a few years ago. DD had finished her first short drama course and had landed a job as an actor at a tourist attraction in another city. For this commute she 'needed' this brand bag. I looked them up, they were £100 then (more now) so I told her to buy  herself one out of her  first wages!. That fell on deaf ears because she 'needed' one before her first payday etc and would def  pay us back! I was in between jobs at the time  so couldn't afford this outlay. Instead me and  Mr S hatched a plan. We found a £20 dupe online and ordered it but knew we couldn't present it  to her that way so instead Mr S said that it had been donated by a supplier as part of a fund raising raffle at work and he'd won it. She then used it for the next 6 months that she was working until she moved away again for her education by which time it had developed a hole in it and was no use.    Job done! She was 18 and fell for it. Don't think she will again at 22 - lol.

princesskitty29

I’ve picked up another couple of things for the present box, in Tesco I found a 2 pair pack of socks for £3 reduced from £7 that I bought for my mum, they’re thicker than normal socks but not too thick to wear with normal shoes/boots so they’ll be good for winter. I found another Guinness rub in Aldi for my brother, this one was Guinness smoky bbq flavour rub so I picked up a couple of sachets for his hamper.

@pixtotts good to hear from you! Wow 5 Christmases, that’s going some! I bet you’ll be relieved to have the space back. We are going out for a meal with my inlaws and BiL and Sil tomorrow as we didn’t manage to get together at Christmas as planned for various reasons, but we have already exchanged presents so we won’t have any of that to do.

@Coxy it sounds like you’re all sorted for Easter, very organised. Good luck with your new job, I hope it is everything you want it to be.

@Spendless good spot with those Easter eggs, those days of £1 for the mainstream eggs are certainly long gone! I find that with the chocolate pouches too, I always used to get them for £1 on offer but that seems many moons ago now. It gets harder to pull the wool over our children eyes as they get older doesn’t it?!

@mandco yes it is sad isn’t it? My eldest has a few teddies at the end of his bed but he hid them in the wardrobe the last time his friend came over to play.   

Abbafan1972

I didn't even know there were recycling points in Boots - haven't been in there for ages to be honest, even though I do have an advantage card and have had it for years.

I have checked the website and my 2 local stores do have the recycling points.