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Christmas

Stupid budget...how do I maximise, or cheat convincingly?

14 replies

WetDogLovesHubert · 14/11/2013 18:06

Rather blindly DH and I set a £10 budget for buying each other something this year. Now I'm beginning to panic as I would like to get him something not tokenistic. Ideas would be most welcome, or suggestions on how to cheat, and spend more without being obvious Grin I've previously bought him a cookery class, jumpers, books, but would like to do something different if possible.

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ShoeWhore · 14/11/2013 18:10

What are his interests?

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Beccawoo · 14/11/2013 21:08

How about putting a £10 deposit down on something as a way of cheating?

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WetDogLovesHubert · 14/11/2013 22:17

I like the deposit idea, thank you!

In terms of interests, cooking is the main one but our cookbook collection is already too bloated (if you'll pardon the pun!)

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Wiifitmama · 14/11/2013 22:20

Check out //www.thespicery.com. Their sale section has little spice/recipe lots for as little as £1.50. You could get a bunch of these (well 6!) plus a £1 raita kit and it all looks quite a lot. I have three boxes of stuff from there for dh for Xmas! I bought a subscription for a friends birthday recently and she gave it rave reviews.

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rwepi · 14/11/2013 22:25

My best ever present for DH, when we were truly skint, was a coconut. He loves them but somehow not what you buy every week so a bit special -here anyway

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MyBoilsAreFab · 14/11/2013 22:26

Have a look in TK Maxx - they have all sorts of random things there for much less than the rrp.

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TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 14/11/2013 22:29

Not sure how to maximise or cheat convincingly but what about buying a tiny amount of a really really expensive ingredient that you would never in the normal course of things spend money on as part of your grocery shop e.g. truffle oil / truffles / saffron / caviar. Maybe wrap it up in a jewel box?!

DH is into cooking and his favourite ever gift was a garlic press that peeled the garlic - it's either lakeland or pampered chef.

Or are there wine clubs or food specialists where you pay a monthly direct debit and get lovely things sent to you? So you could put the first month's payment down...

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MrsCakesPremonition · 14/11/2013 22:31

We loved the gift we were given from the spicery last year - but do be aware you have to buy all the non-spice ingredients so there may be some additional expense on top of your regular food bill.

TKMaxx have some nice leather belts and wallets reduced from IRO £30 down to £10 - might be worth a visit if you have one locally. That way you could also have a dig through their cookware. I got my DSis a lovely Le Crueset pestle and mortar from TKMass last year (she had asked for it) - that's the sort of thing you might be able to add some herbs and spices too to make the present look bigger.

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ShoeWhore · 14/11/2013 22:35

How about a cheese making kit? He presumably wouldn't know you'd gone a bit over budget?

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Babelange · 14/11/2013 22:40

One year when I was specially skint I made some homemade chutney - I made 3 jars and tagged the bag with "Nigella saved Christmas" in fact the recipe was probably a Nigella/Constance Spry/Jamie recipe - together with a gourmet cheese wrapped in waxed paper with a cheese knife might squeak under a tender.

One year I bought a whole bunch of favourite things eg. Soap, moisturiser, chocolate, mini bottle of Baileys and put it in a Christmas sock. A variant of this was buying a bin (!) from Muji and packing it with shredded paper and doing the same like a lucky dip, except everyone thought a bin was a slightly odd gift to buy (it was £30!)

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TeeBee · 15/11/2013 05:29

Have you looked on Groupon? Or you could always say you got something from Groupon?

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Theimpossiblegirl · 15/11/2013 09:24

Can you not agree to raise the budget a bit? He may be struggling to find you something nice too. Or put the money together for a shared treat?

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CreamyCooler · 15/11/2013 13:59

An IOY voucher for something he really likes!

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WetDogLovesHubert · 15/11/2013 15:16

I love you guys Grin The wine/food club idea may be a winner. Thank you! Please keep suggesting if there's anything else.

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