How to buy cheap but make it look good

[Tomatowentsplat]

Aside from my own two young kids I have 27 other people mostly kids to buy for.
4 parents 60yrs+
6 other adults (age 25-43)
Rest kids 9 and under

Not buy the presents isn't really an option but I'll struggle to buy for anyone if I can't find a cheap way of doing it without presents looking shite.

Any ideas?

As other PP have said, The Works is brilliant for children’s gifts, they have loads of deals on books, games, craft sets. They look a decent present without breaking the bank.
They also do jigsaws and books which you could gift for adults, again some great deals.

In the past I have done a movie night hamper containing couple of cheap Christmas DVD’s from Poundland, crisps, sweets, popcorn and a couple of drinks. Cost approx £10. I was lucky enough to find large plastic popcorn buckets in a pound shop and filled them with the treats, but you could get cheap wicker baskets from charity shops, or somewhere like Card Factory.

I’ve also bought packs of mini wine/Prosecco, packs of hand creams and candles, split them and added small chocolate box (mini Lindor, etc) and made up gift packs for multiple people.

Also consider family/couples gifts to reduce the costs (ie the movie night hamper, board games, etc)

Just to add, if you decide to make hampers, you can get cellophane from eBay/Amazon/etc and wrap them up nicely with some cheap Christmas ribbon (I got some last year from Shein, they had a great range of Christmas accessories)

Keep an eye out in your local
Charity shop for adult stuff too. They do lots of new stuff - socks, jewellery, sofa throws etc

@Tomatowentsplat what's your best, total budget for everyone you "need" to buy for? 💐

Some brilliant ideas there. Thank so much everyone.
Also sorry I vanished there I came down with a migraine same night I posted, which then ended up vomiting for 3 days straight and by I got back in my feet and caught with house stuff I missed I totally forgot I started this thread.

My budget ideally would be no more than 200-300 the cheaper the better as that will leave me more for my own kids.

TKMaxx is your friend! Every year I buy loads of gifts from here. This year I’ve got

some really nice sterling silver earrings £9.99
a pretty little silver star bracelet £12.99
small handbag £14.99
kids walkie talkies £6.99
mens socks £9.99
leather jewellery box £12.99

in the past from there I’ve also bought people —
lovely photo frames
leather wallets
belts
lounge pants / PJs sets
smelly or perfume sets
gloves / hat and scarf sets
slippers
marble coasters
books
games
toys
Makeup

honestly most years it is mostly TKMaxx stuff for me!

Ps another way to save money is to buy couples a joint present… even if that’s a board game, something for the house, even a nice candle and a bottle of something. Box or nice biscuits…. It’s the thought that counts!!

some family I have sometimes bought a really beautiful special Christmas tree ornament that will go with their tree. (Only works for some who love that kind of thing).

once as a money saving thing I bought really nice tea towels, and made homemade gingerbread, wrapped it in foil and the wrapped it in the nice tea towel with a big ribbon round it.

Consumables for adults. Books and sweets for kids.

I’m making hampers up but with a slight twist. So if someone is into gardening it will be in a plant pot and I’ll put soap, nail brush, a few seed packets, jar of bird food (buy a big bag of cheap bird food and decant into a jam jar and label nicely, you can do the same for dog or cat treats). A man who like washing his car a bucket, sponge, cloths. I wouldn’t buy the car shampoo as it would put the overall price up. Generally I’m spending £10-15 and I am putting second hand things in as well
If you add a couple of homemade things as well it reduces the spend.

Primark might be good here. They usually have lovely, cosy socks. Would that be acceptable, along with a selection box for the kids. They do good branded Marvel and Disney stuff as well as plan. That could be £3/4 per child. Or a t shirt with a selection box? Selection box is B&M will be about £1.

Adults a bottle of wine and a tin of biscuits? Most supermarkets will do 25% off 6 bottles soon so that would help with the cost.

Aldi has there toy event on the moment. Things like mini magic mixlings for £7. Also look out for deals on things like bath slime on amazon.

I think you need to buy ahead as well if you know this is coming
I do this in general, so we always have something if needed.
Oliver bonas & John lewis clearance sale is good for this.
I get things like a pair of fancy mugs for a fiver or a nice scarf for £4, lovely coasters or a cheese board... Christmas decorations like baubles etc

This Xmas I would also look on vinted for BNTW items a lot of them are very cheap you can also make offers on items that have been listed a while.
Toysforapound and everythingfivepound also have some nice items if you pick carefully.

Primark do some nice hats, gloves and scarfs, how about those for the adults or even everybody? It could be fun everyone opening them and them all getting different colours.

Could you buy a family present (rather than an individual present) for some of them (ie adults and their DC). Something like a family board game that they can all play together.

Have a look on the Christmas bargains thread, I've picked up some really good bargains from there.

https://www.myfrkl.com/collections/necklaces

I was just going to second the suggestion of Primark, especially for kids. They have a very good selection of character wear and toys, including the Grinch and Marvel and some Disney. Are clothes such as a nice new jumper an option? Character umbrellas are £5, and there are branded/character PJs in packs of 2 you could split into two gifts. Stationery is also branded and cheap. There is some decent fun gift wrap that isn't bad quality and could also help here.