Help - what to buy rich friends with no money!

[Justsayit123]

Got great friends and have been invited to theirs for Christmas Day. However, they are likely to get us expensive gifts probably costing a few hundred each and we can’t reciprocate. Plus there is 5 of us and 3 of them. They have harrods tea bags like I buy sainsbury red label! Any suggestions of what I could buy which is nice but not costing the earth?

Either a nice hamper for them as someone suggested or something small for their specific interests. Do they have any hobbies? Collect anything?

I'd see if I could find a picture on your phone of them that you could print and have framed. My picture.co.uk do a print onto glass or slate.

What about a small cherry tree sapling (or similar) to plant in their garden? It's a gift with longevity!

This is what I'd do. Paper whites, amaryllis, are classy along with a nice planter, moss, twig, cones, etc. There's loads of inspiration on Instagram.

I would take a nice bottle of wine, some nibbles and a board game.

Maybe have a conversation beforehand that money is tight so you'd like to bring a few things rather than individual gifts. Decent friends would understand.

something that you've put thought into, but not spent a fortune on. A homemade hamper? What are their hobbies? Something personalised? Something like an Etsy - sourced picture of their house?

Find a photograph you know they love. Needs to be some thing special about it. Striking, brightly coloured or graphic. Not too complex. Look up the companies that do paint by numbers from photographs. It's great fun and and a very absorbing way to relax. It is virtually fool proof. They'll have massive fun and laughter creating their art. They can frame it afterwards. You can choose the size of the piece to match your budget. Have fun! :)

Do they have children? How about a family games night hamper? This can be as cheap as you want to make it.
Could include a pack of cards and rules for different games, along with crisps, sweets etc. Or if you wanted to something for adults, maybe a babysitting voucher and a £15 sainsburys/tesco voucher for a dine in for 2 meal.

Tell them the situation and how you feel.

If they really are great friends, then ask them. What’s your budget? The psychology of gift giving is fascinating and complex and has been studied right back to Tudor times. The daft thing is that people give the more expensive gifts to wealthy people.

Harrods tea bags?! Show them Fortnums haha.
Jokes aside - I won't discuss which side I'm on BUT thoughtful goes a long way. Fun stuff like beer making kit went down well, cheese making also, home made cake or cookies, decorated Christmas bag with dried orange pieces. Oooo and like little collection of cheaper stuff but thoughtful like things they like - if they like harrods tea then instead maybe independent or smaller, I recall winchester tea (I'm unsure if its a company or whatever but it was flavours that were liked just a different brand to what was the norm) you can even make those balls with champagne, truffles? And chocolate on outside (although idk budget and callebaut is expensive so maybe not they have pink chocolate I replicated from fortnum) omggggggg I just remembered!!!!!

If you have fortnums close - if you look at the back of their items somewhere will say who their supplier is and you can get items cheaper going directly as it won't have the fancy label but it's the same item. Like sparkling tea Copenhagen- Fenwicks has it cheaper than fortnum but its the same item just fortnum put their own label on it.

So if you want quality but cheaper then I'd hunt for supplier info on back in fortnum BUT same time nothing wrong with little things put together, favourite cookie flavours etc.

I always bake specific cookies for an uncle because he loves them. An aunt got a mushroom picking knife. Ooooo also gifts were like courgettes from an allotment that was pickled! Omg last year a gift was also pumpkins home grown too. Things like this are so special as its someone's time and effort.

A mini collection of the things they love - showing you know them and things about them and thought of them - biggest gift of all. Have an amazing celebration!

white company seychelles candle
or nice photo of you all in a frame

Chocolate mint vodka. It's Fry's peppermint cream , 2 bars to a bottle of vodka. Blitz together a Nd place somewhere warm shaking it twice a day. Decant into a pretty bottle. Everyone whose had it raves about it
You can use after eights but they don't taste as good.

@Justsayit123 home made pickles/chutneys are really simple to make and taste fab , homemade pickled sprouts need about four weeks to "sit"
Great for the cheeseboard

If they have kids, the Uniqlo Anya Hindmarsh collab pieces are super cute. I'm loving the merino wool jumpers so much for myself I've bought every colour.

A nice candle and this …
https://www.dior.com/en_ie/beauty/products/candle-snuffer-Y0998080.html
the packaging is gorgeous! And it looks so fancy 😂

If you have any decent photos of them/family pics/their house/pets/car etc - basically anything they really like, then getting a Christmas decoration with the photo printed on it is nice (most photo services like snapfish, Photobox, Cewe, Boots etc do nice photos on metal or china and some other things of you search around. Sort of thing you can give one to each person. Ditto if any of them wear glasses, a photo printed glasses cleaning cloth is cheap but thoughtful and useful.

Think around if there are any other of the odd photo printed gifts that might be enjoyed - personalised game of UNO, coasters, socks, etc. If any of you are any good at turning photos into cartoons or artworks they could also work well.

Cewe /Boots do photo advent calendars - fill one with pics of them, a few of you, things that you do together and send it to them so it’s there for them to open on 1st December , along with a nice note to say that you’re looking forward to seeing them at Christmas and thought they might like a little something to help them count down to the big day. They do them with and without chocolate in so you wouldn’t even need to spend on the choc version if there would be 3 of them opening it together. But it’s thoughtful and in advance when they aren’t expecting something and they don’t need to do the same for you, but shows tour thinking of them and yet keeping it cheap but personal…

Another thing you could get if they love their house/area is a jigsaw puzzle that’s centred on their house from the ordinance survey maps company. Fun thing to do over Christmas and for them to keep that’s personal to them. Depending on how much they like to do jigsaw you could get them a jigsaw roll to use to make it on for eat off doing.

Homemade chocolates. There's really easy ones like chocolate covered nuts or crystallised ginger, or more complicated like truffles - and they are much nicer than bought ones.
Homemade candied orange and lemon peel or marzipan fruits.

Our DS always makes DH a big box of plain chocolate covered ginger for Christmas 😁because he's impossible to buy for.

At christmas we all spend £20 on a single gift which we put on a table. The oldest person in the room gets to pick a gift and open it. Then its the next oldest person's turn - they can either choose to steal the first person's gift if they like it or open a present of their choosing. Its a lot of fun to play the game and it means everyone only spends £20. Its sort of like a secret Santa but with a twist.

Something handmade and personalised from Etsy or not on the high street. Xx

I once made a complete hamper but I often do food gifts.

Chutneys, pickles etc. I made some for a secret Santa and the thing that was most appreciated and passed around the office was a pickled egg.

Why would a single pickled egg be passed around? Because I had used a Japanese mould on it so it looked like a fish.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/QEEQPF-Accessories-Suitable-Kitchen-Schools/dp/B0BHWMP813

Flavoured oils are also easy to do.

We are much more well off than most of our friends. We do not expect anything from them. Their time and company are the best gift. You can make something for them, bake a cake? Bring a dish when you visit them?

I am in a similar situation to yours, but with my sons' girlfriends. I have previously gifted them expensive handbags for birthdays and beauty boxes. However, for Christmas this year, I have decided to give them personalized latte mugs. These mugs allow you to create a character based on the individual and their name. Currently, they are priced at £29.99 for a set of three. You could pair these mugs with a bottle of wine and chocolates, creating your own stylish hamper from stores like The Works or TK Maxx. The website for the personalized mugs is a small company called toxicfox.co.uk. I thoroughly enjoyed designing the characters to resemble the girls, and they also have a male option available. 🎅🎄

I agree that you shouldn’t feel pressured to spend anything you can’t afford, but if you had say £30 or £40 to spend, I’d make a DIY hamper. You can order a basket and plastic wrap on Amazon for under £10, then fill it with some bits like cheese, crackers, bottle of wine, hot chocolate, a box of chocolates. Get a smaller sized hamper so it looks fuller. Lidl do some great festive bits you could fill it with and it shouldn’t cost you more than £20/£30 😊

We had this once, and we did a set price Christmas gifts...
Talk to your friend see if they will go for it...
Everyone gets £21 and has to buy gifts for everyone else on the day...worth £3
The whole idea is it naff...but everyone will get 7 gifts to open... it was so much fun.

I have a relative like this, she only likes certain 'pieces' in her home! I have seen previous presents I've bought her just chucked on top of the kitchen worktop or even re gifted to someone else we know! I try to get consumables now, or something she can exchange, it's frustrating.