credit crunch party bags/birthday presents

[grumpyandtired]

As ds1(5) and ds (3) are both December babies, finances are looking treacherous at this time of year and I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas where I could bulk buy cheap books for their party bags (rather than the usual tat I dole out!).

Also I spend a huge amount of money on birthday cards and games for all the birthday parties they go to and was wondering if anyone had any good ideas about where I could bulk buy them (I don't have a costco card and have already tried amazon) before I go under faster than Lehman Bros. All ideas gratefully received!

schoollink.co.uk

e bay
schoollink
redhousebooks
thebookpeople

recycle their birthday cards (though if sentimental like me you may like to keep all the ones you have given them yourself over the years). cut out and keep all the Thomas/Sam/Pat/winnie the pooh/whatever pictures, buy some cheap coloured card in £1 shop/wilkinsons/ebay, add a bit of glitter and hey presto, cheap, home made, eco friendly card!

Look out for reduced items wherever you go.

I got two sackfuls of toys in woolworths on saturday morning, all reduced to 50p or a £1, the lady sticking the labels on them was seeking me out and handing me them!

Also asda and tesco often have ridiculously cheap offers on toys too.

Recycle wrapping paper like monica from friends. also use old cards cut up for gift tags.

I would say the age your kids are at too,you can get away with buying them almost new things from charity shops, car boots, and local classified ads in thepaper. I have had some lovely, lovely toys by doing this.

thanks for the ideas - i forgot about tesco and asda doing toys!

If you are in London, Oxfam on Marylebone Road has brilliant 2nd hand kids books which look new.

I mean Marylebone High St.

Knackered, which is why am on mn rather than helping dc with homework.

For your three year old - how about playdoh? They are doing tubs of 4 playdoh in Sainsburys for 99p. All kids love playdoh - decent present and for under a pound! (I'm giving that to the younger children at my DD's party).

Amazon did also have some good summer stuff reduced to under a pound. I bought a bat and ball for 99p (Barbie and superman ones). Okay, it probably won't get much use until the summer, but will be used next year. Tescos have also got a good reduction on their summer stuff this year.

hth

primark sell packs of 8 cards for girls or boys for a quid and also wrapping paper a quid a roll

We went to a party the other day and the bags had a balloon in, a sticker and then 5 or so little sweets. Did they complain? Did they ask where the little bits of plastic junk were? no, kids were absolutely over the moon. Must have cost about 30p a bag. Brilliant! (I am not a fan of sweets, but frankly after a party who cares.)

Agree with clare21. I personally loathe party bags - when we were small we were happy going home with a piece of cake! If you're going to have them then keep them simple.