Christmas on a budget help...

[JoJo79]

And i mean a really really small budget!!!

Anyone got any good ideas/tips for presents for people?

This yr we have bugger all to spend, also struggling with what to get our girls

We have to redecorate living/dining room and get stuff for new baby

Any help appreciated

Oh and a ps its also our girls birthdays got one on 8th nov and the other 21st dec!!!!

 

[Smithy1980]

Hey hun....we've just decorated the house and as I've had some time since finishing work I decided to do a picture collage for the bathroom! Sounds random but I got the frame from ikea...it's huge....70cmx50cm and cost £3.99 (love ikea)....I then went on Snapfish website and ordered all my pictures....you currently get 50 free prints with your first order.....so basically my collage cost £3.99.....I love it so much that I've got 4 more of the frames and am
Gonna do one for parents for Xmas, one for OHs parents, one for best friend and another for us! I'll upload a pic! Ours is in black and White, but could do colour too....also could print off own pics if you have a decent printer!

I just thought they would be something different, thoughtful and best of all cheap

Hope this helps? xxx


Sent from my nearly buggared iPhone!!

 

[Mrs N]

Yeah think the key is to make things personal as then they wont mind that is didnt cost much!! I buy my pressies all through the year so that you get things when they are on offer and we used up tescos vouchers last year to get 2 gift subscriptions for family but cost us nothing!! MAybe you could also say to people that you are only going to do presents for the kids?? Im sure your family and friends will be fine with that!!
xxx

 

[JoJo79]

Thank you ladies, loving the pic idea too, i def think home made is the way to go this year, and im swearing to everyone right now next yr im starting in jan!!!! xxx

 

[l_maclean]

my dad's a whizz at bargains. A couple of websites he uses are

UK Hotdeals - http://www.hotukdeals.com/

- tells you what things are on sale in what stores etc. also sometimes gives voucher codes for websites like free delivery. Sometimes they have really odd deals - that are obviously mistakes - last year they had a fairly new video game that was something like 9.99 for 1, £15 for 2, but if you bought 3 of the same game it was £8.89.

Another one if you shop online is Quidco - http://www.quidco.com/

When you search for a website the search engine gets paid a percentage of the sale for taking you there - thats why certain sites are higher up - but if you search through quidco that percentage is paid back into an account for you, and you can transfer the money straight to ur bank. the % is different for diff sites and sometimes depending on what category you buy from - like electronics in amazon get a higher % than cds. There is a £5 a year fee - but this is taken out of ur earnings - if u dont earn £5 you dont pay. Ive had back £30 in the last year and i never remember to use the thing - my dad makes fortune from it.

xxx

 

[titch]

for the grandparents a nice print of the kids in a frame is brilliant, you can get photobook for free from boots if you join the parents club aparently.

I got LO to 'paint' a picture (just a mess of paint really ) then I cut a heart shape in it and put a photo of him behind it in a frame, then you can write a message on it, its really special and cheap as chips!

 

[pinkyprincess]

Home made chocolates. You can buy cheap boxes on eBay and they always go down really well!

 

[WILMAFLINSTONE]

Id def say everything home made...as a lot of the ladies here know Im the queen of all things hand made, jewellery, cakes, cards, cooking oils, cookies in a jar mix, sugar scrubs, food hampers, calendars, pictures, scrap books I could go but your prob getting the picture!

Im not tight by any means but I love recieving hand crafted gifts and love making them so I always do handmade and hand crafted where I can...

If you want any more help or recipes etc just ask! x

 

[titch]

how do you do the handmade cooking oils?

 

[WILMAFLINSTONE]

Just buy a really good quality oil...usually about £3 for a litre and infuse it with either fresh battered chillis, or garlic cloves, not crushed to a pulp just smashed a bit to release the flavours!

I love making them we go through loads of them as were love chilli, garlic and all things spicey! xxx

 

[titch]

so do we, that would be a fab gift, if I can get some nice glass bottles...

 

[WILMAFLINSTONE]

yeah I alwats look on ebay or charity shops for lovely bottles to put them in xxx

 

[titch]

good idea, Im gonna start going to charity shops more often I think.

 

[WILMAFLINSTONE]

Ahhh I love them!!! I get loads of little presentation bits and bobs from them for my cakes and calepops too....love a good bargain xxx

 

[clairemumof3]

I love xmas but it gets harder every year to know what to buy.Im fine for my little girl it just my boys the 9 yr old is worst plus i got 2 of there bdays in nove and one in jan lol x

 

[DaisyPurple]

It's such an expensive time isn't it?
One tip I have is this..
I only actually buy presents for my own child and my mum, mil and step mil,
We have an arrangement that our siblings stick our name on one present for thier kids, and we stick thier name on one present for Josh, value limit £10.

 

[Mamafy]

That's a good idea DP

I need to start gathering for the hampers, I'm seeing little useful bibs and bobs for the girls but my mum is hard She's fussy and hard to please

 

[DaisyPurple]

I always had that problem, but now all the three mums ( that sounds wierd lol) have Pandora bracelets, they get a charm.each .. job done! X

 

[lesleyann23]

I don't have a pic but we made 3 canvass for my sisters birthday one of Lo one of his hands and one of his feet, we used photo frames that cost a pound each the canvas paper cost a pound (got to love poundland lol) and we printed them ourselves, she loved them almost cried when she saw them and they now stand proud on her living room wall.