This post is in conjunction with Boots UK but all thoughts are my own
Honestly, the phrase ‘cost of living crisis’ really is my most hated phrase right now. I hate that so many families across the UK are struggling with life’s essentials like heating their house and putting food on their table and fuel in their cars, let alone being able to afford the nice-to-have things in life.
It’s really influenced the way that I’ve approached Christmas this year as I’m sure it has many of you and this year, there won’t be a pile of presents on the floor when the kids come downstairs on Christmas morning.
Don’t get me wrong, there will be presents and there’ll be some lovely presents for them as I’m pretty organised for Christmas usually but there won’t be the usual fillers that I buy them to pad out their present piles and there’ll be nothing in their piles that I don’t think they’ll love for one reason or another.
Master Frugal for example loves rice (he’s still a fussy eater) and lately, he’s been cooking for himself more and more and rice is often the main ingredient in his meals. He struggles a bit with getting it perfect though so I’ve bought him a rice cooker using some vouchers that I’ve saved up over the year as one of his presents.
And I know I tell you this every year but I save up my Boots Advantage points throughout the year to pay for the bottle of perfume that I always buy Miss Frugal. She’ll get another one for her Birthday part way through the year which she usually buys herself with her own Birthday money and that’s her sorted for perfume for most of the year – she just wears cheaper perfume for the bits in between when she has none of her favourite perfume to wear.
I won’t tell you too much about what else I’ve bought the kids in case they have a sneaky read of this post (it’s unlikely) but these are just a couple of things that I’ve bought them that I know they’ll love – Master Frugal’s is practical and will get loads of use making his meal prep more fun and Miss Frugal’s is something she loves and won’t have to buy herself through the year.
Another thing we did this year was to get a shared Advent Calendar rather than one each which saved a few pounds. We’re not really all that keen on chocolate and last year’s calendars didn’t get opened every day so we thought we’d share this year. We did pick a good one though. 😉
The Practical Present
I’ve asked Miss Frugal for the Scholl 2-in-1 Electronic Foot File System for Christmas which feels like a super practical grown-up thing to ask for as a Christmas gift. I’ve wanted one since someone treated me to a pedicure and the lovely lady used something similar on my feet and I came away with lovely smooth feet. Smooth feet and the bright red nail polish that she used on my toes really did make me happy – it’s the little joys in life that we need to hold onto at the moment so I want to be able to recreate that for myself. I have the red nail polish and some lovely foot cream that I use so this is all I need to give myself a little mini foot spa at home when I fancy a pamper.
The ‘Looks way more expensive than it was’ Present
Miss Frugal does like to wear nice makeup (just like me) and would rather have a couple of staple items in her makeup bag than having a drawer full to choose from in a whole range of colours, brands, and finishes. That’s why I’ve bought her this Too Faced Greatest Hits gift set – it contains all her favourite products from Too Faced in one gift set and I know she’ll love it and get a lot of use from it.
It looks way more expensive than it actually was and contains over £100 of makeup products in there which I’d not pay for individually but am more than happy to buy as a bundle that costs so much less than the RRP. There are lots of similar pressies that you can find in the Christmas Gifts for Her section on the Boots website.
The Obligatory Presents
Is it even Christmas if you’re a teenage boy and you don’t find some Lynx Africa in your present pile on Christmas morning?
I don’t mind buying smellies for Christmas as I know they’re needed and they’ll get used and the Boots 3 for 2 deals mean that I can get what I need without spending a fortune as you get the cheapest item free. I was in Bootsyesterday and so many people were wandering through the aisles with at least one Lynx gift set in their baskets that it did make me smile. The world will smell of Lynx Africa on Boxing Day. If Lynx Africa isn’t your preferred gifting option for the obligitary smellies present then have a look in the Christmas Gifts for him section on the Boots website for other ideas.
The Fun Present
OK, this is my one random present but I have a good reason and I know it will bring so much laughter as well as actually get used I think.
I must have told you so many times now that we get some small random things for the kids as a bit of a tradition each year and one of them is a teeny tiny stretchy little yellow man that you can pull about all over the place and he stretched back in to shape. He costs about 20p and I’ve bought one every year for about 15 years now for Master Frugal.
Imagine my face when I was browsing the Boots website and found a huge version of the stretch man. He’s not yellow and is actually a Stretch Armstrong toy but I genuinely couldn’t resist putting him in my basket as the perfect stocking filler.
The Secret Santa Present
I struggled to think of a gift for my work Secret Santa this year as I drew someone who I don’t really know that well as they’ve not worked with us for too long so I had a look at the Secret Santa Gifts section for some inspiration and came up with this. super cute little socks and mug gift set to which I added some flavoured coffee syrups that took it up to our budget as I know she loves her coffee.
So there’s some ideas for practical, good value presents to give your loved ones this Christmas. I hope they’ve helped you a little bit!
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