Christmas Gift Ideas – You Don’t Need To Spend a Lot

You don’t need to spend a lot of money at Christmas. Every year I fall into the trap and spend far too much – I’m sure we all do. This year I’m attempting to be sensible – starting with setting a strict £30 budget (which I’ve gone over by £5). It’s doable as long as you have some idea of what you’re buying. (H has been asking for a PlayDoh ice cream parlour since her birthday so I kept my eye out for good offers and got it for £15 in the end – it has a RRP of £25)

playdoh ice cream parlour

This year I started picking up bargains I spotted online and in stores – Tiger Stores has loads of traditional games, often wooden ones which appealed – they’ve got a kids toys section on their UK site (it’s not an online store) and most gifts come in at less than £5.

Tiger Stores Pin PIcture

The Entertainer has a store near work, and I’m pleased they have games like Mouse Trap and Operation on offer. Someone in-store told me they were holding stock back as the offer had been so popular so they’d have enough to keep them going until Christmas. I got Operation for £6 which I’m happy with. We had both games when I was young and I know that H will enjoy them too – and I’m looking at games we might not play with immediately but could be ones that stick around for a while. H keeps requesting the Doggie Doo game…. well she is four!

Operation

Amazon have had some book deals lately – I’ve picked up some classics for just £1 new which are great stocking fillers. We’ve also had some good local markets near us which have great deals on new books that we’ve stocked up on, so don’t rule out shopping locally!

I’m always on the lookout for good toy deals in shops – we’ve recently had a Kiddicare store open in Croydon which is fantastic, they’ve got a 3 for 2 on ALL toys going on at the moment. They’ve also got free next day delivery on all orders over £29.99 – and considering I have an extra child to buy for this year, this works out a really good deal –  I’ve just saved myself £17, and can get delivery to work tomorrow as well. Now THAT is convenient! Oh, and they accept PayPal as payment too – more shops should do this.

Homemade book

I’ve bought a book ‘Homemade‘ as a present which has some brilliant ideas. Essentially, you can make your own everyday items – from baking preserves, home remedies, cleaning solutions, beauty products, confectionery and pet care. I know someone who will enjoy this book a lot… hopefully she won’t be reading this post…

So far, not too much spent anyway… there’ll be more Christmas Gift Ideas tomorrow…

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