Thread 3 - the one where things get serious

My gluten free mum loves the M&S chocolate or coffee cakes. They are the treat she buys herself for birthdays etc. but definitely not a bargain!

@ChristmasMad1 - I can second the comments about GF food often being awful. A small number of nice/special things is infinitely better than a basket full of bargains. Go for good quality products that happen to be GF rather than lots of free from that’s full of crap.

https://www.tkmaxx.com/uk/en/home/bed+bath/bedding/bed-linen/sheets+pillowcases/2-piece-green-luxury-satin-pillowcase-set/p/60019908 Satin Pillowcases for a bargain on TKMaxx

I can’t remember who was asking about the Kindle Coloursoft on the previous thread but we bought one earlier in the year along with a Kobo Clara colour. We bought them for my two children, 6 and 8, with the idea that we could read from the kindle kids library on the kindle and the local library on the kobo.

The colour is fairly similar on both. Muted but neither of my children have complained and are happily reading Dogman and Baby sitters club graphic novels.

Kindle operating system is much better and you can easily switch between the kids profiles and an adult one.

Turns out our local library’s digital offering is a bit hit and miss with some long waits but we always find something to read on the kobo. The absolute game changer though - realising that we could log in to the kobo with the school library/sora/borrow box account. That has ALL the books!

My sparks card has a £5 reward if I spend £20 on booze. Great if you’re looking for wine as gifts or if you’re just going to buy it from there anyway. I don’t know if everyone’s deals are the same though.

Sorry, not sure how to link but Calvin Klein boxers are on offer on amazon through the calvin klein store as are the Hugo boss ones.

Some rituals gift sets are reduced on asos.

12 Days Of K-Beauty Advent Calendar £50 (worth £140)

Ferrero Rocher Christmas Chocolate Box, 24 Chocolates, 300g £6.50

Nintendo switch 2’s seem to have gone up to £419.99.
Argos has them on sale for £359.99. Had a £15 off code so managed to pick my son one for £334.99.

what I do still need to find is a decent offer on iPhones. They have also seem to gone up in price. Luckily she doesn’t care for the latest iPhone. But ideally I’d still like to save something. But price watching hasn’t yielded any results yet.

Oh yes, I hear you about the iPhones! The prices are crazy!

I’m so glad it’s just the one this year.

usually both older ones get a new one at same time. But the eldest is now an adult so we don’t purchase expensive items like that.
next year is when our 3rd child will get his first phone

Bit of a random one but my local Lidl has got some electric pencil sharpeners in at the moment for £3.99. Bought one for my 8 year old daughter and she was so delighted with it, I wish I'd saved it for her stocking! Might be a fun extra present for any arty crafty types, especially if you're like us and can never locate a pencil sharpener when you really need one...

Thanks for this. DS3 unsure if he wants one, I need to push him on it so I can get a deal!

@sunshineandrain82 Does it have to be brand new? I got an Iphone SE 3rd gen for £106 on BackMarket a couple of weeks ago for ds, same phone in worse condition was £160 at Cex!

Any Argos codes around? TIA

@AliceinNumberland agree with pp open a Very account and get 20% off. I checked everywhere last year and this really was the best option. I did it a few years ago for a Switch so DP opened one last year for the PS5

@ChristmasMad1 things to look out for that are treaty but don't break the bank and are from supermarkets (noting that all GF things are stupidly expensive).. Schar chocolate fingers, the nairns take on biscoff biscuits, schar version of pringles, I like the asda free from version of time outs, Co-op salt and vinegar kettle chips. I could go on with many many more things!

Yes to all of these. Nairns GF generally is nice, there are “oaties” biscuits they make. And a lot of Lindt is GF.

Extra nice / fun shaped GF pasta is kind of nice too. Morrisons have gf dino pasta, which might be fun depending your daughter’s perspective!

@Realfastfoodie my 25 yr old DD loves gf dino pasta 😁

@ChristmasMad1 it may also be nice to make up a hamper of "normal" food that is accidentally gluten free - it is nice to know what you can grab eg kit kat Chocolate santas! You can often find lists online. Becky excell usually posts on supermarket offerings.

Lazy Day gluten free products are great - Rocky Road, Chocolate Tiffin and Salted Caramel Squares all very popular in this house (3 of wheat free, dairy free, 2 x egg free). You can get them at supermarkets.

Asda and Tesco GF stuff more reliable than M&S in my view - find M&S GF tastes very strongly of sodium bi-carbonate except their hot cross buns which are great though have egg in. Schar also good - packs of mini pretzels, Pringle equivalents and their Christmas Speculaas biscuits are okay too, though I now prefer the Caramelised Moments (?) which might be by Nairns.

Many of the Tesco and Asda Christmas items are brilliant. Tesco and Sainsbury’s do very good GF Christmas puddings inc mini-sized ones if you are doing a Christmas theme. Nomo chocolate is excellent, as are the Buttermilk bars which are free-from dupes of Mars Bars, Snickers, Bounty and Kit Kat Chunky (my absolute favourite, have only seen it in Sainsbury’s) - just double check if they are fully GF though as we have to avoid wheat only, not all Gluten.

Im sure someone is clever enough to make these cheaper but as a recommendation my teen loves the m+s give me smore tin. Apparently it’s all over tik tok- I had bought one early and stashed but we broke into it tonight after she had a difficult week.

also I’ve randomly had a refund from space nk but my order is still showing as being processed. Everything crossed they fulfill it!

I'm looking to buy my BiL a V60 brew kit or Aeropress for Christmas for when they go on holiday. I'm not sure whether to go for a V60 or Aeropress. Any thoughts and any bargains? Thank you!

@ChristmasMad1 Fellow Coeliac here, agree that most GF free from stuff is awful. Don't mean to rain on your parade but it can be upsetting when you can't replicate your fave biscuits. Second the wonderful Asda timeout dupes tho and M&S chocolate cake! I always look out at Christmas for tins or bags of 'cadbury chunks' (milk choc, caramel & whole nut) because I can't have a normal cadbury bar or cadbury caramel but I can have these special Christmas mini version as they do not have the usual may contain warning 🎉

How llong ago did you order?
Shops can only hold your money for a certain length of time (30 days?) without sending the order. They will charge you again when they actually ship it!
It happened to me before and as I'd had no communication from them (Loungefly not SpaceNK) I assumed it was cancelled so I bought the bag elsewhere. A few weeks later they charged me again and shipped it!