Santa Baby - it's the 2026 Christmas Chatter Thread!!

Spendless

Laughing at the idea of having a range of bags/purses that all say Spend less on them - Pip. 😆

Ive decided to get my Mum one of the phone bags in anticpation of Mother's day, Also initial as they dont have her name. She's going on a cruise later this year so will be ideal for that. I'll also keep a look out for a suitable coin purse to go with it - either new or good condition pre-loved. Failing that I'll just add some flowers. I know of 1 shop and 1 market stall that sell reasonably priced bouquets so even allowing for a price mark up not anticipating it being too dear.

We've now  had the 1st bday of the year, Mums. I gave her money, DD a disney ornament (reduced in sale) and DS some ear-rings which have a 'holiday feel' to them so were aimed at the cruise too.

Card factory were doing buy 3 cards, get 4th free, so in buying Mum cards from the family, I also picked up some for Dad whose bday is next in February. 

Forgot to mention - the 3 toiletry bag set I bought in Primark reduced to £6, described online as a clear travel bag, a washbag and a make up bag. I wasnt sure of what purpose Id put them all to but it turns out the wash bag is the ideal size for my meds when we go away. I always take my meds in original packaging when travelling for fear of being questioned why I have them but I have found them bulky to take in hand luggage. Id not realised I hadnt had the right shape toiletry bag to make things easier. As this one is white Id not put it into everyday use anyway, so ideal to use as a travel item. 

pixtotts

Happy New Year! 

Thanks for keeping us going @Coxy11

Sorry I did that thing again where I disappear about half way through the year until the next Jan >.< 

I'm not sure I've fully got going this year yet, I was ill after Christmas, the joy of Christmas day with 4 year old twins... then the snow meant I had an extra week at my boyfriends - I've not even bought a calendar or a diary yet!

Sales shopping so far though: 
I treated myself to wide leg trousers from Asda, and a couple of jumpers click and collected from Primark to go with some trousers I had for Christmas. 

I'm totally going to spell this wrong but I bought some gorgeous gift bags from Sostrene Grene - my favourite shop! but we call it sausage green which does not help with my spelling the actual name haha! 


I've stocked up on wrapping paper from M&S - On that note where did people buy wrapping paper from this year please?  We've been using up left overs but I wasn't that taken by any I saw in the shops - maybe I'm just fussy though! 

Hope everyones well and I'll try and stick around more this year x

Coxy11

Hiya @pixtotts good to see you! Not sure how you're coping without a calendar or diary lol!!! Sounds like you got some good staples for your wardrobe.

I didn't buy any wrapping paper last year as was using up rolls from previous years. I will need some for Christmas 26 though. I was in The Range earlier looking for something else and they have some Christmas bits left still. A pack of 3 rolls x 3m plus co-ordinating ribbon in various colourways was £7.99 - I didn't want to pay that and couldn't work out if it was included in the 50% off sale so I left it. TBH some of the best wrapping paper I had was from Aldi at 99p for 4m. Not very thick but the designs were really cute and were commented on by family members.

Great to have ideas for those toiletry bags @Spendless and sounds like your Mum had some lovely items for her birthday. A great idea to get her one of those phone bags for her planned holiday.

fionaandphil

@pixtotts I picked up some discounted wrapping paper at Sainsbobs last week at 25p per roll. Sorry can't remember length but I thought it looked decent enough quality

PennysIntoPounds

The Sainsers wrapping looked gorgeous, good call @fionaandphil! I was tempted to get some but came to my senses when I remembered we have several rolls still to use 

pixtotts

@Coxy11 I'm not sure how I'm managing either, as my phone has broken too so I don't even have that diary to fall back on! Thankfully google have been amazing about the phone, it's over 2 years out of warrenty - I got it 2021 - and they are sending me a replacement no quibbles because the battery is swelling so it's a safety concern. 
I really do need to make a decision on what I'm buying though I have so many calendars sat in my Etsy basket.  

A coordinating ribbon is enough to sway me! haha! I haven't been to the range in ages, I might have to go for a mooch.

Sainsbobs is a very good shout!  One of my favourite papers this Christmas was one we picked up last year (or the year before....) after Christmas I wish we'd bought more, had the matching bags and bottle bags too.

We always used to raid the paperchase sale for the next year. x

Coxy11

Morning all,

We received a V!rgin RLD voucher for Christmas from DS1 and DDIL. It’s tickets to Back to the Future musical in London. I tried to redeem on the weekend but kept getting an error but happy to say I persevered and we are going on 12 March. I chose the matinee as DH will still need to work at the school when we get back (even if it’s just locking up). 

We also received tickets for A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong at Canterbury for February, so two theatre trips to look forward to. 

DS2 received a whisky tour and tasting voucher for his 21st last January and will go with DH on 24 Jan. this is 5 days before the voucher expires, so a reminder to check your vouchers lol! 

Coxy11

Hi all,

First birthday of this year is DS2 on 29 Jan. Ideas he’s given me so far are Sqwatch soap bars and funky tea blends. B00ts sell the soap bars but nothing in my little local store, so I’m planning a trip to Canterbury and will do a recycle drop at the same time to get some bonus points 👍

There’s a Bird and Blend tea shop there too, so I’ll have a look and see what they’ve got. He will also get some hard cash as he’s still just working 15 hours/week at Morrisons until something else comes along. He does, however have an interview this morning for Camp America to go and work there this Summer. I’m not sure how I feel about that - guess it’s good to travel whilst young and without any ties, but worried about how that country is atm. 

princesskitty29

Hi all, I hope you are all well? I am so sorry for the radio silence, I never intended to be absent from this thread especially over Chtristmas but unfortunately my anxiety came back with a vengeance at the beginning of November. Despite the challenges we’ve had with DS1 last year I was doing pretty well over the spring/summer so thought maybe the initial bout of anxiety I had the Christmas before was a one off, but sadly not. Unfortunately at it’s worst I struggle to do anything, everything is overwhelming and I’m just in survival mode during the day. I think this may be something I have to learn to deal with, it’s just a bit of a shock having not really experienced anxiety like that in my lifetime. Anyway thankfully I improved enough to enjoy Christmas and I’m actually doing a lot better now. I purposefully kept December very quiet which helped a lot. Another thing that helped is that I made a real effort to be organised early, I had bought a lot of presents by October and wrapped many of them in October so when the anxiety hit I had done a lot already, which was a godsend as I literally couldn’t bear to think about Christmas for a good five weeks. So people may mock us but there is something to be said about getting ready early!

 As I said we had a lovely Christmas, we went to my in laws and my BiL and his wife were there this year and I don’t think we’ve ever spent Christmas day with both of them which was nice and then we went to my parents over the new year which was also lovely.

I haven’t managed to read back but will try to do so in the next few days.

Coxy thank you so much for setting up the new thread in my absence! xx

Spendless

Good to hear from you @princesskitty29 - hope you are able to seek some help re your anxiety. 

@Coxy11 - Ive not heard of those soaps. Ill look out for DH he prefers bar soap to shower gel/bodywash.
My DD's BFF did Camp America a few years ago. She found it a bit of a mixed bag and came home early though she later regretted not seeing it thru. There's definately some 'need to knows' to look into from the people who have done it not just the company's take on what the experience will be like.