Have a thrifty christmas (Decorations & Trees in general)

Member Name: sue26

Product:	Decorations & Trees in general
Date:	02/12/01 (236 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Save loadsa money

Disadvantages: The stuff may not be the best quality but who cares

Ok, being the stingy bargain hunter that I am, my stinginess doesn`t end just because it`s christmas, I`m the alternative stooge. Alternative because although I will spend as little as possible, my house will still look like tinsel town.

First off the christmas tree, now I know you will get many years use out of this even if it is only once a year, but it doesn`t mean you have to spend an arm and a leg.

You will invariably see lots of people rushing to the stores as soon as the trees go on sale, what is the point of that, it`s the same overpriced pieces of plastic you see on sale every year.

Instead, now is the time to visit your local car boot sales before they end for the christmas season, you`ll be surprised at how many trees are being sold. I bought mine, which by the way was in excellent condition, and also included a bag of tree decorations, about 2 years ago from my local boot sale. Rising up at nearly 6ft tall, this little beauty cost me a mere £2.

My kids also love the novelty items, and I must admit so do I. You know the sort of thing I mean, the plastic pieces of tat that make an enormous racket. You see them in other peoples houses as soon as it hits December, then you have the kids shouting out, that`s brilliant can we get one. This is where it`s time to shop around. You`ll normally find loads of varieties of this stuff in most supermarkets, and quite frankly they`re just not worth the prices that these shops charge.

This is when all the little discount stores are worth their weight in gold. Rock Bottom, that my local discount store and I`m in my element in here. Last year we got the dancing snowman, you know the one where you press it`s hands and it will sing and dance. Usually these are priced anywhere between about £10 and £25, the difference in prices for the same item is shocking. I picked mine up for £6, and by a sroke of luck the kids didn`t manage to break it last year so it`s out again for this xmas.


Among the other novely crap I also picked up a musical bubble blowing santa and snowman. These were only £3 each, and you can tell they`re only cheaply made, but that didn`t bother my kids, they went absolutely wild over these. You`ll have noticed that most of the novelty stuff is musical, and you`ll also notice that none of them have a volume control, and you also can`t fail to spot that the sound coming from them are soooooo annoying after the first 30 seconds. I will give you a little tip to help you cope with these things. As soon as you`ve bought one, attack it with a screwdriver and immediately disconnect the speaker.

Next stop is the charity shops, around December time you`ll find quite a lot of christmas tree decorations. You know the baubles that normally come in packs of 6 all identical, and that are sold at stupid prices for what they are. Well why don`t you get them from a charity shop, that way you can buy a selection of all different ones for only a fraction of the cost. I bought quite a few the other day for only a quid, and some of them are really different.

Last year we went into the town centre to watch the lights being switched on, and amongst all the usual promotional stuff being handed out, Nationwide were handing out these little fluffy snowman lapel stickers. By the time we got home my kids` pockets were stuffed with these little snowmen, and they look absolutely brilliant sat on the branches of the christmas tree, well they do when you cut off the Nationwide label.

Tree toppings, that`s an easy one. Just cut a star shape from a piece of card and let your kids decorate it with glitter and paint, then just stick a toilet roll tube or a smartie tube on the back and it will slot nicely on the top of your tree.

Advent calendars. Now if you really want to be a tight arse just use the ones from last year. All you need to do is melt some chocolate into a jug then pour it into the original moulds and close
the doors back up. Don`t worry I`m not that tight, well, not yet anyway. But we do reuse these after christmas, they make brilliant jelly moulds for the kids.

Each year fold up the wrapping paper from the presents and use it to wrap up small empty boxes to put under the tree. Or alternatively, something different for the kids, is to buy small individual cereal boxes throughout December, wrap them up, put them under the tree, and let them have a lucky dip each morning.

Alright, time to wake up boys and girls, that`s my thrifty tips over and done with for this year.

Happy thrifty christmas everyone. :0)

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