Family gifts on a very tight budget! Ideas?

[Karleeb30]

Extremely tight on money this year.

We have my mum and stepdad.

Dp's mum and stepdad.

My grandmother.

We both have 3 siblings each so 6 gifts and most are quite a bit younger than us apart from dp's sister who is 30. Siblings range from late teens, early twenties to 30! We are the only ones with dc.

I have uncles who have no children. They tend to spoil mine so I like to buy something nice for them.

Budget gift ideas please?

Finding it hard whilst budgeting to buy dc stuff too. Likely that me and dp will not buy each other anything this year.

This is an offer for a calendar which you add your own photo's, you only end up paying for the postage. Perfect for family if you add pictures of kids etc.

www.hotukdeals.com/deals/photo-easel-calendar-free-ps399-delivery-3803191

We've been doing secret santa with the adults for years - we set a budget of £20 per adult - and you can get something nice but for 1 person only - so it doesn't get out of control. I found this company and find curry gifts go down well if you get a man in the secret santa draw!

www.spicepots.com/collections/curry-kits

Try My Abundant Life blog, op. The lady is Australian so does have a slight twist on Christmas but many of her suggestions are excellently thrifty and ingenious.

The Works have some cheap things. Like calendars, the big square ones, for £3 and they come with a diary as well. 3 for £5 on paperbacks. Crossword/Sudoku books £2 each. Plus look online for a discount code and spend over £30 for free postage.

M&M Direct have cheap but nice clothes in their clearances.

Rex London usually have good sale items as well.

I love throws, if you know the persons favourite colour then you're on to a winner.

@AdoraBell

Tell adults you can’t afford gifts this year so don’t buy gifts for you, for children explain to parents that money is super tight so can they suggest a small present. Maybe colouring book with pencils/socks, etc depending on age.

I completely agree. The sooner you tell them the better

I'm doing gift bags this year - specifically a family night in gift bag, it'll have a pack of cards, a netflix voucher, hot chocolate, marshmallows, popcorn, Pringles, Doritos, Dip and sweets in it. And a huge label on it saying what it's for.

A slight variation on Secret Santa is to club together with family members. Eg

I have two siblings, and we each normally spend £20 on a gift for our mum, and £20 for each sibling. A secret Santa would mean one of us ‘drew’ mum and bought her a gift (probably about £40). You can achieve the same ‘budget’ by all buying a joint gift for your mum, and then joint gifts for each sibling.

This means you can slightly reduce the overall budget, people get fewer but ‘better’ presents, but each person gets to think and be thought of by everyone else.

@silky86

Please speak to your family. I would hate to think any of my friends/relatives were using their tight budget on me.

^ This x 1 zillion times.

DP and I have said to adult DC not to buy us any presents this year. We know times are tough and would hate to think they were spending money they can't really afford on gifts for us.

Make them sloe gin. Pick masses of sloes now, wash, then freeze briefly, buy the gin, collect bottles or buy some nicely shaped empty gin jars, sterilise, throw the mix together with sugar next week and should be ready for Xmas. Kids can design and make special labels for each person, make funny names up for the gin. Wrap beautifully.

Alternatively explain your strapped for cash and if you’ve time plan to offer them Labour (baby sitting once a month for 6 months, painting a room)

I mentioned secret Santa to my family, mainly adults and you would have thought I'd suggested skinny dipping off the pier at midnight.

Mind you we are mainly adults and 5 grandchildren of whom all but one have birthdays between the end of December and the end of February.

A pack of good quality filter coffee & or decent make of tea (twinnings?) & some nice shortcake biscuits
Aldi Lydl or the Range have some lovely chocolate
cheese & biscuits
Chocolate from Aldi/Lydl/the range
fancy tin of biscuits