Thread 3 - The one with the Grim Giftsets

[Reastie]

Thanks to @SpottyBumPony for giving us such a grim code

I've spent the afternoon going through the Christmas list and feeling very overwhelmed about how much to get and how much it'll all cost. I need to get control and organised.

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!

@ 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

A few pointers to make everyone’s life easier and the thread be as useful as possible:

• It’s handy to put in bold the bargains so they’re easy to spot
• No affiliate links
• No need to place mark or post messages of hello or thanks at the start of a new thread - use the ‘watch thread’ button
• Be nice or leave

The current referral thread for sharing referral codes https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/christmas/4940918-4940918-bargain-referrals-thread-6 . Please use this rather than this page to share referral links to make the sharing fair.

To make clicks links, you set it up like this only without any spaces apart from between the website and the word(s) you’re writing: www.bargainsahoyeveryonecomehere.co.uk

Thanks @RainbowZebraWarrior for the instructions below.
To make something bold, put this star * either side of the word you want to bold (with no spaces in between)

So starhellostar would look like this.

hello

Obviously use the * not the word star

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)

@WimbyAce @daisyboo1 you both asked about Smart Games- it's essentially a brand name, they make games that are essentially logic puzzles.

They have games that are aimed at preschool age all the way to adult. If you go on the smart games website it will show you what games are suitable for what ages, but even lots of the kids games are good to do as an adult.

My kids have a couple and if I take "Grizzly Gears" as an example, you get a booklet with say 50 challenges in. The first few are super easy entry level, then you'll get some easy, then moderate, then hard or expert level.

They also do some little puzzle type games that are more towards grown ups, like the genius square or iq puzzler.

I'd suggest having a look on their website as there are videos of the games, then Amazon sometimes have a few pounds off here or there.

@DuBoo yes girls in love is still a hit

https://www.boots.com/tuesday-offer?criteria.inStock=true

Grab a weekly bargain from the Boots £10 Tuesday offer just for a few hours more. I got a Ted Baker perfume, Soap & Glory eye shadow palette & Nip n Fab facial scrub set for £30 altogether.

I find Gigipop pretty good for Maileg. They usually have some discount going on.

i have stuck a referral code for them on the referral thread - not sure if it will stack but may work out better, depending on what you are buying.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/christmas/4940918-4940918-bargain-referrals-thread-6?reply=138080550&utm_campaign=reply&utm_medium=share

Has anyone else had issues with Claire’s recently? My DD loves their stuff so I’ve placed a few orders over the past few months but all of them have ended up having items cancelled due to items being out of stock (when they were in stock at the time of order).

This is usually just disappointing but on my last order I used £10 reward points and paid a bit extra on top. They cancelled half of the order due to stock issues, so the order total of the two items I received came to less than the amount paid by cash. They automatically refunded a couple of pounds cash but they haven’t given back the £10 reward points!

You can only contact them by email and customer services take 3-4 weeks to respond at least - I’m still waiting for a response with an issue from a month ago, and now I’ve had to email about this too! Just seems like terrible service all round from such a well known store.

That's happened more than once to me so I've stopped shopping with them, there's no other option

@Brunointhemiddle small kins have some maileg on offer
https://smallkins.com/collections/maileg

They also have jellycat on offer which are normally popular on here
https://smallkins.com/collections/jelly-cats

I've just had a refund for some things from my Claires order but when I look online, they are still showing as in stock! Luckily they are still 50% off and the 2 things cancelled I can order to pick up in store.

@djfjfj I had this happen a couple of times when I first signed up, I contacted them through Twitter (or whatever it’s called) and they refunded the vouchers. After it happened a couple of times I complained about their system as I saw the item in the shop and it hasn’t happened again since.

Following on from the T&M seeds, Homebase have lots of seeds and other garden bits reduced plus an extra 10% off everything with code EXTRA10. I also went through vouchercodes.co.uk VIP thing which should give a £5 voucher for every two shops.

I know absolutely nothing about gardening but enjoy buying the stuff so everyone’s now getting garden hampers this year!

This code also worked for me, thank you so much.
we are finally having planters in the garden next year and as a newbie I’ve bought seed packets, delivered for under £20
fingers crossed I can make them grow!

Thank you, I will try that.

It’s so frustrating.

@djfjfj another one here who’s had that issue with Claire’s, at least twice.

The Green Toys boats are indestructible - they have been thoroughly tested by my twins😂. Sometimes you can find them in TK Maxx.

What's nano tape please I can't figure it out

The bath sticks look much better than the bath crayons we've had before, thanks!

@Cupofteaandbiscuits Does she have a non-slip silicone pastry mat? I have one and it's brilliant for rolling out pastry but also bread dough, pasta dough, fondant icing... Basically anything that sticks annoyingly to a surface. Makes cleaning up ten times easier too. Not the most beautiful thing but my best-loved kitchen 'gadget'!

If anyone is looking for wireless Xbox controllers they are currently £39.99 on Amazon saving £20!

Thanks so much for the recommendation for the heated throw from OHS. With blue light discount(5%) it came out as £30.20. I've never heard of them so hoping it's all fine, they had loads of stuff in their clearance section including a king size duvet set for £10 and a 2 pack of single size camo duvet sets for £8. Will see what the quality is like when it comes. The discount code effectively gave me free delivery (usually £3.95)

One more recommendation please - warm lined, shorter waterproof wellies. I've seen lots that say they are lined but it is only on the leg part and the warmth needs to be for the toes. Ideally not a super bulky pair, for someone with arthritis. Thank you!

@DuBoo - from my work, I am quite well up on what 11 year old girls like reading atm. I am sure some kids still like Judy Blume, but her books aren’t widely read by tweens nowadays ime.

Current favourites amongst 11 year old girls of my acquaintance include:

High Rise Mystery: Sharna Jackson
Hope in a Ballet Shoe: Elaine and Michaela DePrince (autobiography)
Rooftoppers: Katherine Rundell
Geek Girl: Holly Smale
The Collector: KR Alexander
The Good Bear: Sarah Lean
When the Sky Falls: Phil Earle

@Qwerty21 Its like a thick sellotape they can use to make squishy shapes with. It's a you tube thing I think. Like a little craft activity

B&M also has a little nano tape kit thing for £1.99, I bought it after many many failed attempts using nano tape bought from ebay. Hopefully these ones actually work!

I can't find who was asking about the Barbie Dreamhouse in the last thread but Frasers have it for £120 & code OUTLET20 gives 20% off which takes it to under £100 delivered!
I've bit the bullet & bought it because the camels say it hasn't gone lower than £140 on Amazon... & if it doesn't turn up, I've enough time to find a replacement😅