THE ONE WITH CHRISTMAS!

[Reastie]

I'm taking a punt here that we won't need another thread before Christmas, but feel free to prove me wrong!

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

If you have any voucher codes to share (or want to check for any) then have a look https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/christmas/5212144-sharing-voucher-codes

The current referral thread for sharing referral codes here . 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)

There is a referral thread.

I believe the giver of referalls for Lucy and Yak receives £15 for each referral.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/christmas/5212180-bargain-referrals-thread-7

I have a request please, given all the chat over the Vertuo coffee machine.

I have now run out of the Vertuo coffee pods (thank you @rhubarbhandsoap for exchanging pods with me!). I can’t bring myself to pay the price of the Vertuo ones. I tried the converter someone suggested from eBay, but didn’t get in with it.

Aldi pods are less than £2 a pack, and seem to have nice flavours. They seem to have “Nespresso compatible” pods in Tesco/asda/sainsburys too.

Where would I find a bargain coffee making compatible with the old Nespresso (not Vertuo) pods? I’m finding it really difficult to tell which ones are compatible with which.

I only need it to make espresso (or ideally double espresso), but bonus if it makes hot chocolate too (I suspect that’s a different type of system?)

I believe they only get £15 off a £70 spend. So a 20% discount. And given that they have already ordered, I suspect they won’t actually be using it.

For those who did a snackverse subscription- how long did it take for the first box come once you ordered? Just wondering if I order tonight will it come in time for a January 1st birthday?

Can anyone recommend a smallish general gift for a 17 year old girl? Budget £10 but can stretch to £20.

It's for DH's friend's daughter. They've said they'll pop round Sunday with a present for each of our daughters so now I'm worrying we haven't got anything. Part of me thinks she's older now so don't bother but the other part thinks I need a wee gift.

@PumpkinSpicedTea - maybe a couple of cute LUSH bathbombs or a little bath/shower set from the Body Shop. She’s probably got quite specific preferences in makeup/skincare, etc. but I don’t think you can go wrong with a bath/shower product from either place.

Yeah I probably wouldn’t use my £15 discount tbh for the referrals just thought I’d share it so other people can get 25% off which is quite substantial on top of sale prices too 😊

Can I have your referral too please @hugsandpugs 🙏🙏 I keep looking at them but couldn’t afford them normally 💛

It’s the standard Nespresso machine you need, any that isn’t the Vertuo type will be compatible with the standard pods. I think the reason the Vertuo is often on offer is because the customer is then tied in to using the expensive pods. L’or sometimes have deals on their machines online and Aldi / Lidl sell their own brand from time to time. I’ve not seen any bargainous Nespresso branded ones recently but Marketplace could also be worth a try at this time of year!

Big bar of chocolate with a tenner stuck to it. At 17 cash is king.

Does anyone ever collect Christmas things for next year at this time? I normally buy cards, wrap etc but I'm finding the post-Christmas studio sale pants this year!!

Good advice thanks 😄

@Ladyoftheapple I usually get my wrapping paper on Boxing Day or today but the 2 stores I've been to is like Christmas has been cleared away. No sign of any cheap wrapping paper

Whistlefish have nice paper in their sale. It’s not the cheapest but it is lovely. I treated myself to an order - Christmas wrap, birthday wrap, gift bags and a couple of the storage tins. I am all set for the whole year now 😅

JOIN20 works on top of sale. Free delivery over £25.

Fahlo pros! We bought them for my ds and other family children, we all have the apps but I'm seeing no reason why we all can't just scan each other's QRs and track multiple. Has anyone tried this?

Yes I have done this on my app and DD1’s - love seeing all the different animals in different parts of the world! We have a red wolf, a polar bear, a manatee and a giraffe.

Thanks @BadgerFace we are catching up again on new years eve so I will request QR codes 😅

Hi,

Went rl sale shopping today - found M&S very disappointing, ditto Boots.

JL wasn’t much better, but I did use my reward vouchers at BB and MB respectively. Happy to get an already reduced Bobbi Brown Xmas eye pencil for under a tenner, when combined with my £10 reward. I then got a Molton Brown mini fragrance, shower gel and lotion Xmas set further reduced to under £15, when combined with another £5 reward token.

Do check you haven’t got an unused Jl reward in your account - my were due to expire next week.

Also: My £10 reward was for ‘skincare’ but worked for the eyeshadow pencil!

@IlovePond I popped to boots & thought the same. I think it's a bit samey. I got a couple of bath bombs & some so body sprays to go away for next year but I wasn't overly inspired.

Aldi had some good bargains though! They had some really cute craft bits. I got 2 make your own cat cushion sewing kits down to £1.49 each. They also had the slime vending machines, bluey chairs (not reduced) lots of large Xmas Aldi squishies reduced which looked good

Those who have the Fahlo bracelets, when does tracking start? From when you purchase, or from when you activate the app?
I would like to buy some for presents, but don't want to buy in advance if I'm losing tracking time on them.

I looked back at my orders this year, and Fraser group (Studio, Game, HoF etc) had the better reductions and stock of things mid February. Argos did deep discounts mid January. It's a bit early for the good bargains yet.

Ooh Aldi @hby9628 - I should have gone there instead, (Boots was just empty shelves at 8.30 this morning!)

Can anyone help with suggesting a unit for a record player and speakers and small amp? Needs to not be overly wide or deep as it needs to fit in a fairly small space. Looked on Amazon but can’t find one that would work with the equipment I have. Photo attached

You don’t lose any time on it. The bracelets themselves are just bracelets. With them you get a QR code giving you access to track their tagged animals. It’s the same (largish) group of animals and they have been tracked for quite a long time. They give you access to one per bracelet/QRcode.

Does anyone have any recommendations for bargainous dinner plate sets please?