Frugal Christmas: Budget gifts for all the family

by Chiara Cavaglieri on 08 December 2011  |  4 comments
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Today we’re looking at the best discounts and deals for the whole family. Highlights include the Steve Jobs autobiography for under £12, over £50 off the six-season box set of Grey’s Anatomy, a floral hot water bottle for £3, funky tweezers and a set of three animal print nail files for only £1 each, a retro tea set for £12.95, a six-bottle gift set of handcrafted lagers for £10 and top notch champers for £14.99!

We’re back to doing gifts for everyone today with ideas to suit every budget so dive in. There are bargain books and films for Christmas, stocking fillers for men and women as well as some handy gifts for foodies!

Bargain books and DVDs

For cheap new hardbacks head to WHSmith to buy Pyg by Russell Potter for £7.79 (RRP £12.99), then Amazon for Frozen Planet (to accompany the brilliant TV series) by Alastair Fothergill and Vanessa Berlowitz for £11 (RRP £25) and Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography by Walter Isaacson for £11.97 (RRP £25). Amazon also has the best price for Round The Bend by the (red-faced) Jeremy Clarkson at £8 (RRP £20), but if you want Low Life: One Middle Aged Man in Search of the Point (taken from his very popular Spectator columns) it is £7 (RRP £12.99) at The Book Depository.

On to the best deals on films, season 6 of Grey’s Anatomy is available at the lowest price of £24.99 (RRP £30.99) on Amazon, or buy the box set for £45.97 (RRP £96.99). Lee Evans: Roadrunner Live at The O2 is £13.93 (RRP £21.99) at Tesco and one of the most popular films of the year, The King’s Speech is only £4.79 (RRP £19.99) on Amazon.

Gifts for £5 and under

Matalan is offering some good buys right now and my picks for men would be these belt braces and this 13-in-1 multi tool for £5 each. Perfect for mums, this floral hot water bottle cover is half-price at £3. For more girly stocking fillers, this pack of three animal print nail files and these giraffe print tweezers are only £1 each, this rose mirror is £3 and for boys, this two-pack of Disney Cars socks are also £3.

Even better news is that delivery is only £2 and all of these gifts are included in a 3 for 2 promotion!

Charity and museum shops

If you want to do your bit for charity this Christmas and bag a bargain don’t forget about charity shops. While some aren’t actually as cheap as you might think, particularly in the run up to Christmas there are good buys (check here for your local shops). And don’t forget about the online shops too.

Cancer Research UK’s online shop, Shoptobeatcancer.org.uk is selling this Rabbit night light for £4.95, this retro tea set for £12.95, a set of four rose candles for £1.95, a Victorian glass hanging tea light for £2.95 and a Floral Folk stationery set for £2.95. Others include Marie Curie, Sue Ryder Care (which provides health and social care in communities), the British Heart Foundation and of course, Oxfam.

Online museum sites can be a surprising source of cool Christmas presents too. In the Tate shop I saw this moustache eraser for £2.50, this artist mug for £8.95 and a Warhol magnet set for £5.99.

Prices at The Science Museum shop start from £3.50 for this LED finger torch (although I like this 3D sketch pad for £5) and at the V&A shop there are lots of arts and crafts bits for kids, some really cool jewellery (check out these zip stud earrings for £5) and beautiful accessories that make perfect stocking fillers – these lace mirrors caught my eye at £3, as did this Candy watch for £5 and this camera purse for £7.50.

Christmas gifts for big drinkers!

If you want to treat a loved one to a bit of champagne, remember it’s not always about posh brands. This Champagne Comte de Brismand Brut Reserve from Lidl is already a snip at £14.99 but now has £2 off and came out on top in a recent Which? taste test, beating big brands such as Lanson Black Label, Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot.

The beer sets from department stores are usually around a tenner and often consist of little more than one bottle of a (substandard) lager and a cheap mug or novelty item. Instead, spend that money on award-winning hand-crafted English lagers and stout from Freedom Brewery. Right now you can buy a special celebration gift pack of six different bottles for £10.

You can also buy this Bubbleology Gift Box at Harvey Nichols for £24.95 so that they can make their own favourite cup of bubble tea at home – a delicious Taiwanese soft drink, either fruit or milk-based with chewy tapioca balls at the bottom of the cup which you suck up with a giant straw (lots of fun!). The kit comes with eight cups and over-sized straws plus all the bubble tea ingredients and a shaker to create those bubbles.

Frugal gifts for foodies

If you’re buying for a chilli sauce connoisseur head to Hot-Headz (they stock all things chilli) and see just how hot he or she can take their sauce. You can buy the individual chilli sauces from £1.49 each and if you really want to blow their head off check out the Untouchables!

Get some of their favourite sweets and add a personal touch with Poshpickandmix.com. They offer personalised sweet jars from £9.99 – you pick the size (cheapest is 500ml), then fill it with their favourite sweets and write your own label (you can even choose the ribbon colours!) There are all the old school favourites such as Milk Bottles, Jazzies, Small Gobstoppers, Flying Saucers, Pear Drops and mini Wham Bars! 1st class delivery costs £4.49 but there is enough time to wait for 2nd at £2.99.

For something extra classy, you can buy a very posh Jordanian-infused extra virgin olive gift pack from Terra Rossa, which makes a nice change from the more traditional Christmas hampers or chocolates. Prices start from £13.32 for the gifts, but be warned delivery is based on weight and could be steep – it was £5.63 for 48 hour delivery on the Exquisite Olive Oil Presentation Box – although if you spend over £50 it’s free so ask if any family or friends want to order anything from the site too.

More: Frugal Christmas: Budget gifts for kids | Frugal Christmas: Budget gifts for men