Thread 8 - the one with Poopy the troll

[Reastie]

@NobodyGivesADamn thanks for the title

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)

@Serenitesanta we have a velvetiser and use Lindt hot chocolate powder in it - any hot chocolate powder that doesn’t have powdered milk in should work fine. It doesn’t come out as thick but my children like daily hot chocolate in the winter and I don’t want to bankrupt myself buying HC branded chocolate.

I’ve also bought hot chocolate flakes from Pendragon drinks which was nice - theirs are a sweeter more ‘milk chocolate’ flavour IMO, I find a lot of the hotel chocolat blends to be quite high % dark chocolate.
The Sainsbury’s best hot chocolate is no good for the velvetiser - it’s like chocolate chips rather than flakes and the whisk bit cant spin properly.

Thanks for the links @RainbowZebraWarrior @handmademitlove @Londonmummy66 😄 I might accidentally put something in the basket for myself from the Ebay seller 🤭

Thank you for the heads up. My daughters have asked for insulated water bottles for Christmas, so this is perfect.

@jlg22 New customers can get £40 off an £80 spend with a referral code

Little People Airport Playset

Currently £13! Just bought for my 18 month old Nephew.

Nice set on offer at Clinique for £50.

I can’t link as on my Facebook feed but it’s a moisturiser, eye cream, makeup remover and mascara. On the Clinique home page.

If we are doing hot chocolate recommendations. This stuff is amazing, they do individual sachets for stockings as well. It’s really creamy chocolate and the only one my kids will mow drink
www.milesteaandcoffee.com/products/121-miles-heavenly-hot-chocolate-400g?v=495&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAC1TXr6Ii9U7QA11Mx9eT6GGLQ8fC&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI76rPj5K-iQMVhJRQBh3oGxsEEAQYASABEgKkyPD_BwE

I now want a velvetiser, but will wait til Black Friday! Also I am on a permanent diet so maybe not my best idea 😃

Quick check and they're around 200 calories a sachet, plus the milk, so not too bad for a treat!

@Stelmosfire1 thank you- well worth the money spent.

Thought I'd post in here as this is where i learnt about it and signed up........, Amazon shopper panel has now changed. Instead of uploading 10 receipts and receiving £5, it's now only 10 pence per receipt 🙄

You can absolutely use normal hot chocolate powder. DS has normal powder, I have the fancy stuff

Thanks @Stelmosfire1

I have a Garmin mini 2 and have bought one for DH for his birthday. I like that it connects to my phone and it is small and unobtrusive! Both mine came from Argos, no clue how much mine cost but DH was £90 then shortly after it went up to £120, think it's dropped again since then and there's usually some Argos codes kicking about!

I have a £6 off a £60 spend at Argos if anyone wants it? It needs used by 3/11/24.

@Stelmosfire1 Thats a good selection of products for £30! I’d have been happy with that. Sadly I dithered because I’d already bought 2 AC’s but I’m finding myself tempted by things almost daily 😅

the box also contained a 20% off voucher so I’m deliberately ordering another box. I like the buzz of not knowing what I’m getting 😂

@Wholetthedogsoutwhowhowho I'm so disappointed they've changed it!

@Elphaba17 Thanks for the Hismile recommendation, I popped out this afternoon and managed to get some of the peach toothpaste, they do a red velvet one as well but didn’t have any in stock, real shame as this would have been perfect for DS stocking

We love our velvetiser! Customer service is good as well - a tiny tiny bit of the non sticking coating came off so they sent us a new machine. Which is now in the loft, while we use the current one to death! We do buy the official ones in our favourite flavours, but also buy whittards and similar, heat the milk and pour it over the powder in the mug.

When I ventured out today I saw some great things in Home Bargains, dupes of so many skincare products, and lots of lovely Christmas bits.
I picked up a Byoma serum dupe, Swizzles bubblegum “flavour” dry shampoo & Bubble Tea bubble bath in a cute milk-style carton, all for gifting.

Also picked up a couple of “grabber” sticks (litter picking style) for grandparents, I don’t have the receipt handy but they were only a couple of pounds - random but useful gift

@DangerDangerHighMoisture oooh, I'd be really interested in your experience. I would love to get a metal detector for my 9 year old. But feel a bit clueless about it. Also don't mind second hand.

I’ll also jump in on the Velvetiser chat. I bought DS one a couple of years ago, which he/we used to death for the first year, the second year he didn’t really bother with it, mostly just a few drinks during winter, which meant that the rather expensive HC pouches went to waste as they didn’t have long dates on.
However, he’s now gotten into coffee and always uses the velvetiser to make the milk warm and frothy then pours over coffee & hot water.

Though it doesn’t get used half as much as it did in the first year, it was definitely worth the money, and a great gift when I was at a loss for teen DS

I’m very tempted by the velvetiser but i like my hot chocs very hot and so slightly concerned from what ive read that they wouldnt be hot enough, can anyone confirm?

Thank you to whoever posted the Ariana Grande cracker. It's arrived and it's a great size. Perfect for a gift. Wish I had ordered another for my niece...will have to keep an eye out for another offer

Can I ask if anyone remember if Apple AirPods get reduced for Black Friday?

Not sure whether or not to bite the bullet now or wait for Black Friday.