Christmas bargains thread 1 - just in the (Saint) Nick of time

[Reastie]

I feel like this year is going to be my year of terrible cheesy Christmas pun thread titles

Greetings and welcome one and all to a friendly and joyful corner of mn - the Christmas bargain thread. Here, we share Christmas present purchases, ideas, links and discount codes, with the aim to spread the Christmas magic and joy and reduce the financial stress.

It's a very busy thread, so see the tips below for helping everything run smoothly and avoiding repetitions of Cookiegate etc al. It's a lovely, friendly bunch and I'm so grateful to each and every one of you for building such a warm, fuzzy and generous spot on mn. I know I've save so much over the years and am so grateful to all of you for sharing.

Pull up a sleigh and relax with a mulled wine and mince pie, for Christmas has nearly arrived!

Some of the below is copied and pasted from previous years, so do @ me if the links don't work

Stock informer is a handy site http://www.stockinformer.co.uk/default.aspx?fullsite=1

Camelcamelcamel is a great amazon price tracking tool http://uk.camelcamelcamel.com

The following links compare price products including postage
www.find-book.co.uk
www.find-cd.co.uk
www.find-dvd.co.uk
www.find-game.co.uk (as in PS4/xbox etc)

@ me if you need anything or you want to let me know anything - the thread moves so fast I can't always keep up so this really helps

Thank you so much, got it. Thought it was going to be this years giant dairy milk!

Just order the Adam Frost Gardeners World book from Argos for FIL. Thank you whoever posted 🤗

@Streetcornerchoir i saw a preview of your post before I read it properly and was excited thinking you'd just bought the dairy milk 😂

We have the same truck and my son was hugely impressed on Christmas day regardless! His friend has the megalodon and they've not noticed there's a size difference.

Me too! 🍫 🤣

Hugo Boss Deep Red purfume is reduced to £27 for 90mls on amazon at the moment - this is a bargain!

Thanks so much, that’s good to know. I think I will keep it and maybe ask MiL if she wants to give it from her.

The Dairy Milk has made me smile !!

I am ashamed to say ....it beat us !

We couldn't finish it before it started to taste really off. 🤣🤣..

Even melted into milk for hot chocolate...just didn't taste right .!

Was fun trying to get it though!! 🤣

Not quite the Board for this question but I'll ask anyway. Dh is going on a business trip to Amsterdam and Germany during half term, are there any treats he should be bringing back. Or even bargains? How long should his shopping list be, he's shaking his head as I'm writing this! He'll surely have time for a mooch to rh shops, I'm trying to organise some time to see if I can tag along but in case I can't what should he buy?

Hi @Alongthepineconetrail when my DH goes to Germany he usually brings back Asbach brandy and things like unusual varieties of Ritter sport chocolate, as well as lebkuchen and stollen if they're available. If there are particular cosmetics and fragrances you like, make a note of prices over here, then he (or you if you're there) can compare them with prices over there and see if they're worth buying.

When we went to Amsterdam we brought back stroopwafels, Gouda cheese, speculaas biscuits and Genever spirit. We found Dirk supermarkets there were well priced.

@Alongthepineconetrail Hopefully he'll be able to get Sinterklaas stuff in Amsterdam.

Kruidnoten, and chocolate initials definitely. Taai taai. Basically all the nice spiced biscuits and cakes!

@Alongthepineconetrail

Mustard in a tube (for hot dogs)
A large gherkin in a can 😂
The usual stollen, stropwafels, lebkuchen though you can get those quite easily here these days!

I read something about sleigh things with chocolate etc that someone said they would put on top of stockings but now I can’t find it. Any idea what I’m talking about?? 🫣🫣

The Secret World of Plants: Tales of More Than 100 Remarkable Flowers, Trees, and Seeds (DK Treasures) https://amzn.eu/d/eshpri3

This series of books is lovely. This is the cheapest one at the minute at under £8 but the animals one is also a good price. We have the universe one and the illustrations are gorgeous and I've bought the dinosaur one as a gift before.

Thanks for this. I’ve been looking for a new perfume for awhile. Looking forward to receiving this 😀

@Alongthepineconetrail - I was in Amsterdam in December last year - there are a few arty independent shops in the 9 Straatjes (which are very pretty) where I picked a few bits up. The supermarkets are also worth a look. I picked up a 3 pack of different goudas (in small wax wrapped rounds which would make a great present) in Albert Heijn (one of the neighborhood stores near the hotel rather than a central touristy one). There was an amazing goats cheese gouda which DH now has standing instructions to buy when he's there on business. They were about a third of the price of the cheeses in the touristy gouda shops.

I also bought a couple of craft kits to make models of the canal houses in Dirk van den Broek. They were sold as children's crafts but the houses were black card so ignoring the kiddy stickers and assembling the balck houses with a battery operated tea light inside made a great decoration for my mantelpiece. I think they were about 2 euros for a 6 pack.

Disappointingly, my local Marks and Spencer's does not have the Percy Pig baking kits/jars for 80p. They were full price at £8.

Has anybody found a Marks and Spencer's in the north east with the reduced price on these?

I couldn't find them anywhere in mine. I should have asked a staff member really

None at Silverlink (all scanned at full price) I did get the Bargainous Very Moreish Munch there though. (£1.25 for a 300g bag with March 2025 BB)

How much was everyone paying for the Dreamland throws please? I didn’t clock on at the time but now DH has started moaning about the cold and eyeing up the thermostat, I feel like I’ve overlooked the perfect recipient !

Oh the HMV stuff has all gone up. I wonder if it was a glitch.

Thanks @RainbowZebraWarrior , I'll pop in to Silver link when I go past and see if I can get some!

It was in m&s!

Thank you! I was only in there this afternoon. Oh well, looks like I’ll have to go back!

@Londonmummy66 @yoshiblue @PolkadotsAndMoonbeams @munchbunch12 thank you all so much for taking the time to share your favourite buys. I will definitely ask him to get most the recommended items minus the gherkins 😀

I love spiced biscuits, cake and chocolate so definitely will ask him to buy these.