4 million party invitations...very skint...any brilliant ideas for presents?

[tinatutor]

ok, not 4 million but they seem to be coming thick and fast...I have NO IDEA what to get for presents. I'm not too bad with girls (sometimes get crafty, sticker books) but I really struggle for boys.

What do you do about party invites from school? I usually spend about a £5 but....£5 x 26 is more than I can afford.

Any brilliant ideas? websites?

I mourn the passing of Woolies. My gift closet is empty and I am in the same position as you. Needs some bargains.

I'm a Home Bargains girl, if you have one near you. They always have gifts in that are brand names and are mightily discounted. Also there's another cheapish store called In Line or something like that? They similarly stock some nice quality toys at great prices.

I also check out the supermarket when I go as they sometimes have deals - eg Sainsbury's currently have a little Roman Playmobil playfigure that would normally cost around a fiver for £1. IMO you can't beat a bit of Playmobil.

Ebay can be good for toys, but of course you have to bear in mind your postage. Argos sometimes offer good deals and there is even an Argos Outlet on Ebay now, so you can get their clearance stuff direct from there.

Oh...and finally TK Maxx sometimes have nice toys, but they're not as cheap as they used to be ime.

Hope this is some help...and good luck with the shopping.

how old are they?

The entertainer had a star wars book of the film in cartoon form for £1 reduced down from £5 or £6

also at £3 reduced from £12 pop up dalek

£3 reduced from £18! Dr Who Space Travels Book

£2.50 Pirates of the Caribbean Jigsaw

Second Home Bargains and another one, B&M Bargains, loads of good stuff there.

I know it's not going to be greeted with universal accord, but you can usually get cheap DVDs at your local supermarket.

could you split this lot into say groups of 5? http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/Boys-Toys/City-Racer-Set-30-Piece/invt/0174557?htxt=PsAGyAqy%2FDSGVBgOH PBfATKVETOKIWHcwqoICuDrG%2FxTcDPfxIrYzUvEu76RzzM6wutKTeo9AOCB%0AtDs76aYYKg%3D%3D cars from wilkinsons

or £1.99 flip over car

oops PBfATKVETOKIWHcwqoICuDrG%2FxTcDPfxIrYzUvEu76RzzM6wutKTeo9AOCB%0AtDs76aYYKg%3D%3D cars from wilkinsons

Sorry - The link still works but I don't know why thats happened like that

B&M...that was the one I was trying to think of! Doh!

Packs of books from The Book People. Divide them up and maybe add a bar of chocolate. Fab present.

The Book People usually have a good selection of crafty/sticker books for boys as well as girls. And having run book fairs at DS's school for the last 3 years I have noticed that a lot of boys love factual books and The Book People usually have great sets of the Dorling Kindersely ones.

If you collect Tesco clubcard vouchers you could use those on tesco direct. Or make polite apologies that you are busy on some of the party dates ;-) Boys (I have 2) can never have enough cars and you can buy packs of those in supermarkets quite cheaply. They also love 'Cars' film sticker books or small boxes of lego. Also pokemon cards or 'gogos' are hugely popular and you get 3 in a pack for £1. They love them!

My ds1 (6) loves getting craft type things. Many of the shops are clearing out back to school stationary at silly prices. I picked up several packets watercolour pencils originally £2.99 down to 65p the other week at a supermarket, add a pencil case (again slashed at many shops) and some age appropriate colouring/activity books.

I also try to browse through the year, they had some great Roary bargains in Sainsburys last month (ballpits/skates/waterslides) down to around £5 each.

I find joint parties can be a nightmare as having to find cash for double the presents can be tough so try to keep my stash cupboard replenished where possible.

top trumps at 2.50 each and something else small?my 5yo ds loves top trumps...

And if the parties your child is going to are for the whole class, let's face it, the birthday child is already going to be getting a huge number of presents. Says the woman who forgot about that downside when she invited the whole reception class plus pre-school friends last year. We had boxes and boxes of stuff.

Little playmobil figures are £1.99 or £2.99 and look good. "Pocket money" toys are still very exciting to little children - you know, squishy snakes and dodgy slinkies. I often get craft packs from a cheap shop (the works is the only one in my town, sadly, rip woollies again). You can get good packs for £2-£4. The packaging is not upmarket but the pipecleaners and sparkly pompoms are exactly the same. I also buy in sales and on 3 for 2 for my "present box".

torches from pound shops
pencil cases

I've started buying water bottles for boys from the sports shops with the favoured football team's logo on them. They're usually about £4. The boys love them and so do the mums as they 're useful!

As well as the boook people there's their outlet site that's even cheaper - bananas.

If you get the book sets they often work out at under a pound - eg there's a horrid henry set of 8 for £6 and 14 simply science books for £8 at the moment. Plus if you buy 10 of their £1 books you get them for £7.50 or 10 of their £2 books/book sets you get them for £16. And if you can stretch to splashing out £25 quid at once you get free delivery which saves a bit. But for that you would have loads of books!

The Range does good arty crafty stuff that seems to be cheaper than other places. Yellow Moon have a few things on special offer atm.

Also both Sainsbury's and Tesco often have stuff going cheap (now may be good for stuff they couldn't sell over our dismal summer).

Order of one of the book clubs (Book People is good)

Buy a 'bundle' offer, they're often discounted

You can often get 12 or so books for £12 or so if they're on special offer

Then you can divvy them out as required

Apologies for cross-posts

Boys usually love lego, even a small kit, and you can often get them quite cheap in big supermarkets, £3 or so. Also agree about the pocket money toys - our John Lewis has a shelf of them mostly £2-3, and those that DS has are among the toys he loves and plays with the most. Rubbery squidgy spiders, racing clockwork snails, etc. For craft stuff, Ikea do some good bargains.

Depending on their age- how about one of those boxes of novelty cake mix from the supermarket i.e Postman Pat Cakes, Barbie cup cakes? They cost a couple of quid and most children love cooking. Either that or a bottle of Matey Bubble Bath goes down well.
Don't worry about spending a lot- those you mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

Also save on cards and wrapping paper, they add up if you just buy them individually at the time - make your own cards or buy boxes (£1 for 10, that sort of thing, in Range or the Artworkds or similar cheap shops).

Make your own wrapping paper or bulk buy it somewhere cheap (Ikea) or reuse children's pictures.

Great link to the Bananas website Zipzap; had never heard of it before although I'm a huge Book People fan.

I try to buy bargain prezzies in advance and keep a supply in - girls seem easier, can often get 5 things for £5 at Claire's, reduced price pencil cases, notelets, personalized phone charms (talking older children here obviously).

My DC often make their own greetings cards - either by hand or on computer. Keeps them out of mischief and saves up to £2.50 a time. Although places like Tesco have really good value cards.

Good idea to go shopping away from own town -then when you find some real bargains, people won't know how little you've spent.

It's the thought that counts, I never forget going to a niece's party. Some very rich friends had bought her a Swaroski crystal pendant and the next gift was a pack of felt-tips from Poundland - guess which she was most thrilled with?!