£5 gifts

[Imissprosecco]

So yesterday at a family BBQ, we all got talking about Christmas and the cost of living. We agreed that for adults we would get a token gift with a budget of £5 each (or £10 for a couple). The more inventive the gift, the better!

I'm going to guess that millions of people will be having similar conversations and so I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread for suggestions for gifts for £5 or less.

Anyone like to join me? I really don't want to give cheap bottles of wine/boxes of chocolate if i can avoid it, but also don't want to give useless tat. All ideas welcome!

I dont think the budget is the issue, I could buy something for pretty much everyone I buy for for £5 easily, but its stuff personal to their likes.

My DH loves beer, I could easily get 4 fun unusual bears from B&M etc... for £5

My dad love camo and warm clothes or oudoorsy stuff like flasks etc... I have bought loads over the years for £5

My mother is spiritual and loves tarot cards and magic ruins etc... easy to get something for £5

My BIL loves anything fantasy and sci-fi etc... see stuff nerdy stuff they love all the time for £5

Thing is My DH is athiest and find spirituality wierd, my dad doesnt drink, my BIL is not outdoorsy and my mother has no interest in star trek - so while I can get stuff £5 that applies to their interest those gifts arent mix and matchable, it has to be specific to the person.

Maybe Im lucky and no one I know is into designer things and expensive luxuary items but even so everybody must have SOMETHING they like under £5 even if its just a token gift like a Lush Bath bomb (SIL loves them) or Hotel Chocolate or Burts Bees lip balm etc...

Go to the charity shops, you'll probably be able to find something worth much more than your £5 and there are often some really quirky bits to be found. If nothing else it might give you some inspiration.

There's a lot of new stuff in charity shops too. Products the company buys in rather than donated.
£5 gifts are actually not that hard to do if people don't get so obsessed about gifts being 'tat'. A vague word that I had never heard of until reading Mumsnet. A lot of mumsnetters seem to dismiss everything as 'tat' or 'clutter' when often they are just normal perfectly nice things.

Making things is a good idea too. I made chocolate orange fudge a few years ago which was delicious and didn't cost a lot to make (chocolate orange, icing sugar, condensed milk).www.janespatisserie.com/2016/07/21/terrys-chocolate-orange-fudge/

Sex toys from Poundland, how very un-MN 😂

If you can get a worthwhile gift for £5, all power to you, there is no way I could find something non-tat for that price! I’m a crap present buyer.

Natural beeswax food wraps are a lovely small gift. Loads available in that price range on Etsy.

@MassiveSalad22 here is an example of a jigsaw for £5.
Perfectly normal thing. Not 'tat' in my opinion. Something to do on those dark winter evenings. Once done, pack it up and pass on to someone else/charity shop.

Agree that’s nice. Where do you find these things though? Is there a nice-gifts-for-£5 website? The stress of physically going Christmas shopping and hunting for £5 gifts is not worth the savings to me 😄

@MassiveSalad22 the jigsaw is from The Works. They sell loads.

I would not want tat !
i would not want a book. I like to choose my own. I think it’s personal and part of the decision to read a book in making the purchase (or borrowing from a library).

I would not want a spice set or toiletries. I have spices in my kitchen that I use and toiletries I like to use. Cheap toiletry gift sets are nasty and not good for sensitive skin.

if you can buy what the person likes to use it could be useful. But isn’t very exciting.

we don’t usually spend lots on Xmas gifts within the family (we could. But we don’t, because people just end up with stuff they don’t want and it’s a waste of time money and effort).
we often gift things that can be shared if used later in the year. Jam, preserves, cheese an biscuits, nice pickles/chutney, bottle of wine, or a small bottle of homemade flavoured gin (easy to make, but do it now not December).

a poincetta plant, or some hyacinth bulbs are other things we’ve given/received in recent years.

a token. But something people can enjoy several times, rather then just be consumed quickly, or end up in the bin or see in the 50p sale in January.

Homemade consumables make quite nice gifts. Things like jam, sloe gin, fudge, gingerbread biscuits. Little pamper kits containing a scented candle, face mask, nail varnish, nail file etc. A nice cheese and some crackers, possible with a miniature p

Sorry, was meant to add miniature bottle of port, if you got one of those sets from home bargain or somewhere and split the miniatures between 3 gifts.

For £5 I would also be happy with a book, cosy socks, nice hand cream, a nice notebook, a box of chocolates. I think my dh would be happy with shower gel, jelly sweets, socks, hair products, a notebook or a book.

Been doing this in our family for a few years now. The range do some lovely ornaments for £5 or less

Fill a pretty dish /jug/mug/glass from a charity shop with sweets.

The RNLI website has some absolute bargains at the moment.

UNO, played it this year, and I’ve never laughed so much in years…it’s so much fun

Every year in his stocking DH gets a new kitchen gadget as he loves them. Nothing electrical - a parmesan shaver/butter curler/pasty brush with a reservoir in the handle. Usually under £5 but sometimes slightly over. They get used!

Kids go to charity shops to buy presents for each other and parents. Usual things include jigsaws, books (knowing people’s taste eg DH again loves those awful ghostwritten ‘autobiographies’ of footballers that often end up being given away), jewellery, scarves, photo frames, occasionally a knick knack type thing that actually suits the taste of the recipient. Mostly well under £5.

Oh, these Archivist matchboxes are lovely - thanks for the tip!

I would rather not receive a gift and just buy for any children.

I think cheap gifts is a big no.
With the in laws we just get gifts for the nieces and nephews (4 gifts). For my family we do secret Santa, one gift 50 quid. Then one gift for each niece or nephew, we are each assigned a child. Usually about 20 quid.
It's made Christmas so much easier, and cheaper.
We've been doing it since the last recession in 2008!

The adults in our family are having a "spend time, not money" Christmas this year.
Instead of buying gifts for each we've arranged an evening where we all bring something (someone brings sandwiches, someone else sausage rolls, someone crisps etc etc) and spend the evening playing games and enjoying each others company. We have a very large family when you include partners and children (almost 30 people) so we are never all together at the same time on Xmas day anyway.

For the kids in the family this year we're going to do a secret santa for them, so we each only buy for the one child (won't be our own, will be for a neice/nephew) there are 14 children in the family so this will cut costs massively.
The children will all have a present to open (no doubt they will still get plenty as normal from their parents on Xmas day).

I think now is the time to go back to what Christmas used to be about, time with family.

This thread wasn't asking "Is it a good idea to do a £5 gift limit?" It was asking for ideas for a family the idea appeals to. No one was suggesting people should get £5 gifts if it doesn't suit them, but there is nothing wrong with those of us who could enjoy a small gift. I'd personally be perfectly pleased with a well chosen book, box of chocs or nice socks.

I thought @HMReturnsBag's list was good and more or less what I think too.

In years gone buy when money was rather tighter DP once bought me a coin purse for a few pounds as a gift and I still use it.

Very much this.

My contribution - to avoid waste, minimise faffing and maximize joy: a shared price limit is identified, everyone spends that on themselves. Wrap the presents and put them under the tree, open in front of each other as usual. It's fascinating seeing what people choose for themselves, and it feels like a real treat to buy yourself your 'perfect' present. We did it one year, it was great.