Please help me think of stocking fillers for my hoarder mother.

[Calvinsmam]

So I’m making a stocking for my mother as we all get one and I want it to be lovely as she’ll be making them for all of us.
The only thing is is that she’s a mega hoarder, like her whole house is rammed full of useless tat and the thought of adding to it makes me want to cry.
She’s also on a diet so I don’t want to just fill it with food.
Everything I think of she’s bought in bulk, she has lifetime supplies of loads of stuff and I just can’t bear to add to it.

So far I’ve bought her some socks

I have already bought her main present so I don’t want to spend a fortune either.
I’m stumped!!!

Nice tea bags/coffee? Nail polish?

The thing is she finds something she likes and then literally buys cupboards of the stuff from Costco.
So she has thousands of different types of teabags in her house and she doesn’t even drink tea. She also has them in her car and she carries a handbag around with loads of stuff in it too (which I can guarantee will have teabags she’s taken from hotels).
Same with nail varnish, she has a gel kit then bought a professional set of nail varnishes that she keeps in a huge tub in her bathroom.

Gosh it’s making me anxious just thinking about it!

Thanks for the ideas though, there must be something!

Snacks and a magazine?

Sorry my reading skills aren’t great obviously

Magazine is a good idea!

A voucher to get hair/nails/make-up done? Or a massage voucher?

Maybe talk to her about not doing stockings anymore. It’s fun but unnecessary. 🤷‍♀️

She’s doing them for all of us, she really likes doing them because it makes her feel like a Mam and Christmas is the one time we all get together.
But then I can’t leave her as the only one without one.

Can you buy her experience tokens?
Tickets for a show or event?
Vouchers for massage/haircut/facial?

Put each in a card and envelope and fill the stocking with packing beans etc so it’s like a lucky dip.

My DM’s a hoarder too.

Scratch card/lottery ticket? Nice shampoo or shower gel? Umm a copy of Marie Kondo?

Are you my sister DD ??

I’ve already got her main present so I’m not wanting to spend lots on her stocking.

Scratch card is good idea!

Would she like a fruit hamper instead of a stocking?

Otherwise, desk/handbag diary. Pocket tissues (the ones with a Christmassy packet). Lip balm. Handcream. Shampoo. A bottle of Winter Pimms or Chocolate Baileys. Writing paper/notecards. Post it notes. Puzzle magazine eg crosswords/suduku/wordsearches.

She also doesn’t really believe in ‘nice things’
She’s rather have loooooads of something cheap.

My grandma once gave her fifteen quid to buy me a nice box of chocolates for my birthday and she bought me fifteen pounds worth of fizzy saucers. I don’t even like them. And fifteen pounds can buy an obscene amount of them.

Charity gift. Some great recommendations from MoneySavingExpert.....

Ok I can buy a Christmas dinner for a homeless teen for £10 I know she’d like that.

So I’ve got, scratch card, socks, winter pimms, a magazine and £10 for a homeless teen.

Great ideas!

dd if your mother gets these things in her stocking then you’ll know.

We do this for my Mum who is a bit of a hoarder so I get the reluctance to buy stuff that will just get lost in the chaos.
We tend to buy lots of little, useful, inexpensive items like a nice gel pen, a packet of tissues (pretty pattern), a Christmas decoration, pair of nice socks, a notebook, fridge magnet with shopping list pad etc.

Look at what toiletries she uses in an everyday basis and put a couple if these in too (soap bars or liquid soap) etc.

Nice mascara if she wears makeup?

Scratch card is a good idea too.

Small things that will disappear. Packets of seeds - you could get a lot for not much money and they will naturally decompose sign time. One of those snap bulb sets for daffodils etc from the super market. Bloom and Wild or equivalent voucher for bunch of flowers.

I hate giving presents to people who don't need anything. Something that doesn't last like a bunch of flowers is perfect (if it doesn't have to go in a stocking how about a small Xmas arrangement fit the dining table?)

With one of my rellies I've gone down the posh ingredients route, so things that cost a bit more but will get used as he's a cook. Pomegranate molasses, long cinnamon sticks, sumac - that sort of stuff.

You sound very nice OP. I'm a level 1 hoarder (in recovery) and I tend to ask for amazon vouchers (that I use for nice skincare that I know I will use up, or school stuff or books for DC). Socks, magazine and scratch cards in a stocking are all lovely ideas. I would have also liked some cute winter mittens or fingerless gloves, hand warmers that I'd keep in my coat pocket, book voucher and low calorie hot chocolate saches (I'm also on a diet ). P.S. I'm 46.

So we've got:

Magazine
Scratchcard

Some [low carb] diet foods are 'luxuries', I guess:

Jar of asparagus
Cashew nuts
Jar of sun-dried tomatoes
Jar of skinless red peppers
Pesto

^^ I love all that shit

P.S: Would have also loved charity gift and cinema vouchers as PP suggested! Costa or Starbucks voucher too.

I’m going to get her a party card game we can all do together on the day as well.

Hot chocolate is a good idea, things that can be used on the day.

She’s a bit of an animal hoarder too so I might get something nice for the pets.