Thread 6 - the one with Otis and the Christmas miracle

[Reastie]

@Cupofteaandbiscuits and @NewtyCutey loved the happy reunited story with Otis.

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)

I don't think cheese has been mentioned yet, but there are always recommendations each year.

I'm looking to get DD a good quality large cheese wheel (like 1kg or more of mature cheddar) I'm currently looking at the fine cheese company who do free delivery over £20 and there's 8% via top cashback, but if anyone has any better ideas, please give me a shout. Thanks in advance.

Is anyone struggling to add watch items on camel camel camel?

Thanks to all the helpful people contributing - I've had some great bargains! (And treated myself more than I should have!)

I've come for advice about fragrance diffusers. Can anyone recommend a brand (preferably on the barginous side) that actually smells and lasts?

Just spent a fortune at Dunelm and can't smell a thing 😪

25% off New look

They have them in Costco too

Lovely people. We need to send gifts to team members over seas. A few in the States. Any recommendations for how to do this? Do we do Amazon/buy here and send via Royal mail? What do people do when sending to friends or family abroad? Thanks!

ELF lip balms are 3 for 2 on amazon (discount comes off at checkout) - quite a few other brands included in the offer too, it shows you everything if you click on the offer details on the listing

Lipbalms

I really love the Neom oils. I started with a cheap diffuser and then a couple of years later shelled out for the Neom one which is beautiful! But even with a cheap diffuser they still smell lovely. I like that they’re blends rather than single fragrances. They were on offer on M&S recently. Occasionally ion TKMaxx and I’ve also seen offers on look fantastic

@RainbowZebraWarrior this farm is local to me and I highly recommend their cheese. Looks like they have a 10%discount for signing up to a newsletter

I have an Amazon US account which ships to my overseas sister

Do you mean reed diffusers, or the electric ones?

For reed ones I like the Aldi Hotel Collection ones (Jo Malone dupes), or if a gift the Valentte are lovely. Also TK Maxx often have a selection of posh ones reduced.

For electric ones it’s all about the oils. Neom, White Company and Tisserand oils are all lovely.

Do Lush ever do any discounts? My 11 yo DD is just getting into all their products and would love a selection of bits from there....but they are so pricey!

I recommend setting it up in advance of wanting to play it.

Ooh, I meant Reed diffusers, thanks for clarifying!

Will have a look in Aldi when I'm next in and see if I'm lucky!

Any tips on brands to look for in TK Maxx? I'm so fed up of being stung with crappy/non-existant fragrances!

I had an amazing one from Boots, it was a Sanctuary Spa one, grapefruit and bergamot I think... nothing is even close to living up to it 😭

I’ve just ordered 6 months of Good Housekeeper and 6 months of runners world , total price £12 , which I’m happy with , thanks for the heads up . The topcashback has just tracked at £11.90 which I suspect will be declined , but what a bargain if they pay it !

I either buy in Amazon and get them to deliver abroad, or package up and sell myself with Royal Mail. It’s cheaper to buy the postage online than at the post office, and you can choose collect - they’ll collect from your house.

@halloweenscat, yes, me! Assumed it was me being useless, but it just seems to say it can't find the items I'm searching for, even though I've copied them exactly how they are appearing on Amazon.

There was lots of talk about the Toomies Role Play Barista Bath Toy on a previous thread. Currently £15 with £4.99 voucher on Amazon - https://amzn.eu/d/brWg2O2

Does anyone know if amazon normally have another prime day pre Christmas or was October it? Assuming there will be something on black friday.

@Vimaybe yes they will do black Friday and cyber Monday discounts.

I think Lush do a £3 discount for your first online order maybe? But apart from that their only sale is on Boxing Day. I'd recommend going for bubble bars, I always ask for the snow fairy one for Christmas and get around 10 good bubbly baths out of each one as you break pieces off instead of using the whole thing like bath bombs. Or the bottles of shower gel, they're pricey but you only need a little bit so they last a while.

I went to get the bath toy and it has immediately gone up in price! Now £19 and I can't buy it knowing it was £15 mere minutes ago!

The voucher is still showing for me

Definitely look at Wordery - they offer free worldwide delivery apparently. My mum has used to send gifts to Australia with no postage charges. They are pretty well priced for UK stuff too.

It’s £15 on Argos with the 25% off code too