Sick of buying tat - help?

If you want to avoid buying tat, ask the recipient for the types of gifts they would appreciate.


Failing that, here are some categories:
Edibles - food (chocolates, jams and pickles etc), alcohol (bottle of wine or spirits)
Something useful - gloves, bus pass holder, torch, book
Experience - cinema tickets, vouchers for favourite restaurant

Some sort of charity buy a chicken/seed type gift? Oxfam unwrapped do this as do many other charities and start as low as £5 so in reach of most people, at least you know it won't be wasted?

Or

Donate to a food bank in that persons name and tell them what you donated in a nice Christmas card?

Experiences: theatre tickets, cinema tickets.
If it's a more personal gift, sometimes I will "plan a day" for my partner. So I will pick a specific breakfast, then an activity during the day and then something special in the evening. Last time I made french toast, took him to Bath to a little coffee shop we used to frequent when we first got together, then booked a table at a restaurant and had drinks afterwards. I wrote all this on a little card so it could be given as a gift.

Hampers are good too, since everything in them will theoretically be used. Food and drink hampers are good, also my brother did me a "movie night in" hamper with a few beers, crisps and popcorn and a DVD.

I think things like this as they can be made as cheap or pricey as you like

I agree with all of the previous posters ideas, if you plan in advance, you can be really creative and look out for deals to stretch your budget.

Firstly, agree who you are buying for and a budget for each person. For siblings/friends, perhaps agree to skip the gifts in favor of time together. My siblings and I agreed 2 years ago just to buy for nieces and nephews - I wasn't sure whether they would go for it, but once we broached the subject, they were relieved not to have to exchange bath sets for the next 20 odd years :rotfl: We have since done the same with OH family.

We have a family get together with each side of the family just before xmas. Nothing fancy - drinks, mince pies/cakes and a small buffet. The bring a plate idea also spreads the cost.

For friends, we go on an xmas meal each year - we find somewhere local and affordable and spend time together as opposed to buying gifts. It works out the same price as doing a secret santa (e.g. this year we are hitting the local Toby Carvery for a set menu 2 course lunch - it will come in at around £15-£20 per head and as we know we do this every year, we budget for it).

Other gift ideas are;
- Hampers
- Charity Donation/Plant a tree scheme
- Cinema Voucher
- Vouchers for babysitting etc - free for you, but priceless for a parent.
- Framed photo (I framed my nan and grandad's wedding photo for my grandad after my nan passed away, as it was hidden in a box in the attic - it now has pride of place by his chair). You could do this of you and a loved one, or of family members together etc.

Take or get a photo of someones pet, get it enlarged & printed and then frame it [can be done fairly cheaply if you shop around] you could even spray paint a charity shop frame.

Phone/tablet charging cables!

Budding artists get sketchbooks, tracing paper pads and drawing pencils/pens, not books about art.
They would get an Amazon gift voucher to buy books.

You could buy someone a trip to an art gallery/museum or an evening class.

I was going to pay for my mum to have her car valeted on the inside, a basic valet is £30.