tips for birthday party present-buying?

[helenainsworth]

I am not mean and stingy but money isnt as available as it used to be and nowadays my DD is invited to so many birthday parties and presents are expected at every one. I cant be the only one who finds this a problem? What do people do about it? I dont want to stop her going and having fun just because we dont have much money!

pound shop pound shop pound shop

Buy stuff in the sales and shove it in a Present Drawer.

TK Maxx can be good.

Message withdrawn

What about getting packs of books from somewhere like the book people and splitting them up?

tesco is usually good or The Works - always find something that looks good but under £3!

I've also started keeping duplicates of things dd gets and set up a present drawer.

I have sil that has given dd the same pressies for the last 2 bdays and xmas (think she hasn't kept track of what has been given!) - I just smile and say thankyou.

our local tkmaxx seems to do always have loads of toys for all ages in their clearance sale - I go here for dd's friends and usually get something really nice but only spend £5.

Thanks for those ideas. For our group of babies all with bdays at the same time we have done a 'secret santa' which means you only buy 1. I was also wondering if anyone makes anything either with their child or just on their own? Time is the issue here, I know... Very tricky issue but your ideas have helped me. THanks!

asda is great too. also, to save on cards that they will throw away anyway, get ur DD to make one!

Sainsburys do age cards for 49P!

helenainsworth I second the Book People idea, got I think 5 "things to make and do" books from Usborne which are fab and cost £4.99 for £10 so £2 each. Very acceptable prezzie imo.
Also we recycle (but be careful who you recycle to....)
Home-made cards nice too.

Present recycling is the name of the game in the frog pond too. But you need to be very organised with a system of post-it notes on each item so you know who the original giver is. Luckily my MIL buys the children such obscene quantities of stuff, at Christmas particularly, that they can't even keep track of it, so it sets my present cupboard up for the rest of the year.

Being organised about buying in bulk also helps, eg. Waterstones and Borders both do a 3 for 2 system which effectively means you get a 33% discount as long as you plan your buying. Discount shops (Lidl, Wilkinsons) often have very good deals on craft items which make good presents.

I don't buy birthday cards on the whole, get the children to make them. For wrapping paper, again you can sometimes get huge rolls v. cheaply from Lidl, otherwise you can get children to decorate sheets of tissue paper or brown packing paper. And I recycle the paper from incoming presents as well.

Woolies often have excellent promos. They were doing MB travel games for ages 5 and up for 2.99 each last week.

Recommend Argos for multipacks too - have just come to the end of a most useful bargain batch of Bionicles.

Having a stash also means no awful last-minute scramble. I have a stash of stocking-fillery things too, which come in handy for playdate treasure hunts/long car journeys at short notice etc.

Museum shops and/or the Traidcraft website can yield things of glittery girlishness at a very reasonable price, too. I bought three fabulous bags for £3.50 each at the Horniman museum recently.

Now I've been reminded - museum shops - my top tip here is Buy Outside London. The Royal Cornwall Museum shop in Truro is about two-thirds the price of the same stuff in London. Eg. I'm sad, aren't I.

I have just batch made homemade cards with DS for lots of birthdays of family and friends in next few weeks. A5 coloured card, folded in half, handprint on each!!

Book people are great as do this kind of thing link as are sales! Def think the present drawer idea is good as no last minute dash which results in spending more than you want

Top tip though - keep your stash secret. I have instituted a rule in the Inferiority Complex by which DP and I alternate Dealing With Parties - ie the whole thing, buying the present the card the paper yada yada yada - but this depends on him not getting his paws on the presents I have carefully put away.

Buy in advance when you see a bargain and not the week before is my best tip.
Sales are an obv. good time, but also watch out for shop end of line sales and end of summer snap up those outdoor toy pressies for the next year.

Alternatively, if you are feeling arty, make your own pressies.

Buy a cheap hardback colouring A4 book (Tesco value for less than £2) and get your child to stick pictures, feathers and glitter all over the top for a cheap pressie with a pack of felt tips.
Another one is to buy a large plastic flower pot and drip tray (under £1), packet of seeds, little hand trowel from Asda, maybe cheap value gardening gloves from pound shop, pop all in the flower pot and wrap with cellophane and a pretty bow.
In craft shops you can buy cheap little craft plain boxes with lids - heart shaped, stars etc - and are perfect for decorating with glittery paint, sequins etc. Line with a little sparkly material - cut bigger than the box and glue in with a bit of cotton wool under for a cushion. Pop in a cheap necklace and ring. Girls love them. We did a bulk batch of these and came in at less than £3 each box.
Are you nifty with a sewing machine? We have made lovely little bags from plain cream tea towels and sewn on a fabric flower - no zip, very basic design. Popped in a small bags of sweets/sunglasses/jewellry etc.

top tip No 2 re present stash - remember it's there and use it!
I infuriate DH by having bigh box of prezzies and then stupidly buying things for birthdays - especially for "special people" which is stupid.
We got several doubles for DD's b/day party at the weekend which are going straight back out there (we are in a summer b/day class so it's parties a-go-go atm)

thanks for all your wonderful help and advice. i am hoping to be able to print the whole thread off so i can use it all. is it possible, does anyone know?