How is your Christmas bargain hunting going? I am almost there! Hardest to buy for is always Mr Shoestring. He can rarely think of any ideas to give me.
I have cracked it!
I have been looking on BuyaGift.com* and have cracked Mr S’s present! What I bought is top secret, though, as he reads my blog 😀. Suffice to say I am very confident he will like it and it was an absolute bargain!
If you have someone really tricky to buy for, BuyaGift.com does a good range of experiences such as spa days and cream teas.
We had a spa day recently and it was blissful. We also had three cream teas in close succession, using up Mr S’s birthday vouchers. This explains why my jeans are feeling a little tight at the moment!
Aldi shopper
I have been doing a lot of Christmas bargain hunting in Aldi. They have such a great selection of food and drink for a special occasion.
I even found gluten free mince pies in there this week so snapped those up in case my coeliac friend pops on for a cup of tea.
Aldi do a brilliant range of gift items such as slippers, books, PJs, chocolates, etc. They are so good if you have a really small budget for Christmas.
Christmas bargain hunting online
I have done a lot of shopping on Amazon.co.uk too, including some things from my eco friendly Christmas presents guide here.
It’s not that I don’t enjoy going to the town centre and physically choosing presents. There are two reasons why I don’t do this much. One is lack of time. It is easy and convenient to shop on my phone in my lunch break, for example.
The other is that I like to ask people what they want rather than waste money. They nearly always tespond with a couple of links to websites!
I will go into the town centre at the weekend as I need to do a few jobs in person. It will give me the opportunity to see the lights and do a little browsing. I do like the idea of supporting my local shops. It’s just that life gets in the way!
How is your christmas bargain hunting going?
*This post contains my affiliate link. If you click through and make a purchase it won’t cost you anything and I will earn a small commission. Thanks!
Margaret Powling says
As you have suggested, but before you suggested it, if that makes sense, Jane, I asked our family what they would like and so all of those presents have now been ‘sorted’.
Husband and I don’t give presents to each other, we can have what we want, more or less, and within reason, during the year and so we concentrate our efforts on our family (and not having to search for things for each other isn’t mean, it just removes one more burden of the Christmas season.)
I might buy something we can both enjoy; indeed, I’ve been thinking of buying an up-to-date atlas as neither of us knows where so many of the ‘newer’ countries are, those that have come about since the break up of larger countries, such as Yugoslavia. I think my old atlas would still show Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo. So that’s a distinct possibility, but it would be a present per se.
One thing I am doing is taking part in the Shoebox Appeal for the Homeless. I don’t know if this is throughout the country but it’s certainly in our area, where we fill a shoebox (or shoeboxes) with items for the homeless (a suitable list of items is provided, such as warm woolly hat, gloves, scarf, wet wipes, plasters, torch, batteries, tissues, cough sweets, and perhaps some little luxuries such as sweets, chocolates and biscuits.) We ourselves need nothing new, we have a lovely home that is warm, food in the cupboard, and clothes to wear, and so we think filling even one shoebox is something we could all consider this Christmas.
(I don’t know why, Jane, but your blog now has a lot more annoying pop-up adverts! If they bring you in money, I must just learn to put up with them, ha ha! Right now Clarks are hell bent on flogging me some revolting-looking shoes!)
Margaret P
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Thanks Margaret. I don’t know why either! Will have to adjust my settings
Julia says
I’m probably about half way with present buying. Mine really just want money now, but I do like to get one thing for them to unwrap with the rest of us!
I’ve also got a few stocking things for DD but the boys will probably just end up with bottles of pop, cans of Pringles and other such edible consumables! I’ve given up trying to find anything they will like and am even more determined not to waste money since one of them tidied his room the other day and presented me with every gift he’s received over the past 5 years for the charity shop!!
I am a browser. I like to scour the shelves in shops for ideas, but am rapidly losing the will to live, as every single year the same old stuff seems to get wheeled out – smellies, beauty, drinking stuff, sauces in jars, tea gifts, silly games mine won’t play, and an enormous amount of tat!!
Trouble is, I find I need to know what it is I’m looking for before attempting to find it online – and that’s the problem. I want the inspiration before I start looking! 😀
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
It’s so annoying buying for people if you know they won’t use what you buy. My brother in law is like that but I managed to get a suggestion from him this year
ilona says
Julia, why do you do this to yourself? Just stop. That’s all. Stop.