Thread 12 - the one with an extendable honk

[Reastie]

Thanks @IlovePond 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)

I have been trailing eBay and Vinted too but they are like a cream colour and he wants pure white 🙈 it’s like trying to find gold dust! 😊

I don't know but will find out, this looks perfect, thank you!!

Oh glad I could help 😊

Jojo maman

Half price oral b electric toothbrushes on the Morrisons app just now....if anyone else wants to RUIN their kids' LIVES by giving them practical stuff for Christmas!!

I am drooling over the Balsam Hill trees.....

Thanks so much for the advice on a projector for DS.

I couldn’t decide which one to get. Dithered too long about the one that was linked earlier in the thread (£130 when it was posted, £165 now), so have decided to go with “cheap and dirty” given it is just for movies in a dorm room.

This one seems to have a load of good reviews for the price (£45), and there are dozens of pictures showing the picture quality, which seems to be reasonable - watchable even in daylight.

Smiggle have some amazing discounts on advent calendars. I’ve just impulse bought two at 66% off while looking at the Smiggle website to congratulate myself on saving a small fortune on DS’ preloved Smiggle lunchbox from eBay, so that was only a temporary economy

https://www.smiggle.co.uk/shop/en/smiggleuk/smiggle-advent-calendar

Edited for typos.

Sorry I am all questions today. I’ve had a request for a pillow speaker. One that can go in or under the pillow to listen to audiobooks at night without disturbing others. Needs to connect to an iPhone rather than the many that seem to use a headphone jack.

Does anyone have a recommendation of one that they have actually used?

Interesting Xmas gift lists in the Guardian today, apparently created by kids, which might be useful:

https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2024/nov/16/best-christmas-gifts-tweens-presents-ideas-slime-jellycat-toys

https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2024/nov/16/best-christmas-gifts-kids-teenagers-lego-fashion-beauty-adidas-trainers

Couple of weird ones - I don’t really think the writers should have left ‘a puppy’ in the tweens list, and the inclusion of block shoes in the teenagers list is very specific. (Let’s hope no one tries buying them for a non dancer!)

Apart from that, they might be useful. I was interested to see a projector made one list, given the recent discussion on here.

Here’s one for swimmers’ gifts - very specific!

https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2024/nov/18/christmas-gifts-swimmers-presents-swimming-costume-googles-bags-wild-pool

I have been informed that my SIL would like a gift from Spicery, can anyone advise what is good to buy

Here’s a foodie lovers gift list:

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/nov/17/gourmet-olive-oil-seafood-scarves-essential-christmas-gifts-food

I’m not sure about the garlic earrings, but the penguin cocktail shaker from JL is very cute!

Also if anyone has a code for the dog advent calendar my street dog would be very pleased

@TheGriffle Aldi are quite good for cheap wrapping paper and they have some 8m rolls

It’s an app you download, where you can get money back from shopping that gets deducted off your mobile bill. So if you get 5% back from boots it goes into a pot and you redeem it against your mobile bill. You register your cards (I also registered my DH’s as he has a work phone) and then it registers when they are used online and instore. You don’t need to go via a website or anything, just shop as normal. There’s no voucher codes or anything so you can use other discount codes etc. I have deducted about £150 off my mobile bill this year.

It is legit, there’s a link from the O2 website for example. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/airtime-rewards/

I bought a balsam hill tree on Black Friday last year. Well worth it

I'm looking for small gifts for my siblings and their partners. Any low budget ideas please? Perhaps a hand painted bauble? Or are there any bargainous alpaca socks that are made in the UK? Not super keen on Amazon... Or something else I haven't thought of? Thanks! 🙌

@minsmum i have one if you want it? @IlovePond thanks for sharing, loads of inspiration for DH from the foodie one!

Anyone know much about decent window stickers? I’m after nice but not tacky if there’s such a thing 🙈

Perfect, thank you - it was just down to £38.
I've been looking for a cheap one as I'm not sure how often it'll be used.

If they drink wine, how about a bottle opener? Aldi Special Buys this weekend.

Has anyone seen any of the little puzzles from my childhood. It's like a picture split over about nine or twelve little squares. They are mixed up and you have to slide each tile until you reveal the picture? Looking fo for one for my 8; year olds stocking.

Bargain Hunters I need your help. Having decided on a Harry Potter Lego advent some time ago DD2 is now desperate for a Pokemon advent for her birthday in early Jan. I have bought myself a second advent for my late Jan birthday so have no excuses to not try and source. Except the one she has found on a safari search is this one from Argos which is sold out. The others I can find in stock on Amazon/Smyths have different figures and apparently it is only this one with the Pikachu holding candy canes which will do. The ‘other’ one has Pikachu in a green Christmas hat.

Has anyone seen this advent anywhere other than Argos?!

@DirtyDensDog I'll pm it to you 😊

@winewolfhowls look at Rex London, they have quite a few. They’re generally called sliding puzzles if you want to google more widely.