There's no need to spend a fortune to celebrate the festive season. The hundreds of entrants of MoneySavingExpert's Festive Fivers competition show that with a little imagination, creativity or research there's a vast array of wonderful presents available that don't cost the earth.
Don't break the bank over Xmas: Top festive pressies for under a fiver
What's the idea?
The Festive Fivers competition is designed to build a database of children's or adult gift ideas for under £5. The gifts can be bought, made or a combination of the two. I first did this two years ago and it was so popular I decided to do it again this year. The contest has been run in 2005 and 2007; and below you'll find the best ideas from both. Huge thanks to all MoneySavers who entered (see all the original entries).
The top Festive Fivers for adults
- A Picture With Your Hero.
Buy/Make: Make it. Cost: Under £1 Contest Entry Year: 2007
Simply use the web to source a photo of your friend's favourite celeb and then provided you've a little computer nowse you can super-impose their picture onto it. If you don't have picture editing software, just download the free paint.net programme to help. Once done, print it out at home or professionally, stick it in a photo frame, or even have it blown up into poster size and they'll love it. Do always check when you're finding the photo though that it's not copyright protected.
- A Relaxation Wheat Bag.
Buy/Make: Make it. Cost: Under £1 Contest Entry Year: 2005
Normally you'd fork out around a tenner in the shops for this, yet it's easy and cheap to make. Using a remnant of thick material, fold in half and sew down three sides. Stuff with wheat and dried lavender, which most supermarkets will have and sew up the remaining side. Heat in the microwave until comfortably warm; include an eggcup full of water in the microwave when heating so as not to burn the bag. If you've got a flair for sewing you could even personalise it by stitching on the recipient's initials or a nice design. It's perfect for relieving aches and pains or just for keeping hands warm.
- A Restaurant Dinner Date for a Fiver.
Buy/Make: Buy it. Cost: £5 Contest Entry Year: 2007
The key here is with the clever use of any Tesco Clubcard vouchers you have. Instead of spending them instore as most people do, swap them for special 'Deals' from the Deals brochure and they're worth four times their face value. A fiver voucher is enough to get £20 to spend in restuarants such as Cafe Rouge or Chez Gerrard. Alternatively you can buy watches, magazine subscriptions and more to give as gifts also for around a fiver using the Tesco deals brochure.
- Discover Theatre-land's secrets.
Buy/Make: Buy it. Cost: c. £5 Contest Entry Year: 2007
Lots of theatres around the UK offer tickets for backstage tours; taking you behind the scenes of your favourite show or play, revealing the ins and the outs of the theatre. For example, The National Theatre in London does a tour costing £5; so put some luvvie into the love of your life.
- DIY Page 3 Calendar.
Buy/Make: Make it. Cost: c. £1 Contest Entry Year: 2005
Give your other half their favourite page three lovely: you! Simply get snapping, upload the pics whether naughty or nice and then use the HP Photo calendar maker to make a calendar. Cheap and easy (the gift not you!)
- Festive Fruit Vodka Shots.
Buy/Make: Make it. Cost: c. £3 Contest Entry Year: 2007
Homemade festive fruit vodka is cheap and easy to make. Get a small bottle and fill it with three-quarters vodka and one quarter sugar. Then put some of their favourite fruit into the mixture and leave to soak for 2-3 weeks. To really cut the cost check out the supermarket's reduced items at the end of the day, or your local market for cheap fruit. To add a personal touch, tart up the bottle with a DIY label or gift tag.
- A personal football programme.
Buy/Make: Buy it. Cost: c. £3 Contest Entry Year: 2007
On eBay there are sections with old football programmes that you can buy for a pound or two. So simply find a programme of a match involving a fan's favourite team near the day they were born; buy it and frame it.
- Kids DVDs' for adults.
Buy/Make: Buy it. Cost: c. £5 Contest Entry Year: 2005
Bring back fond childhood memories by giving someone a DVD of their favourite children's TV show. There are loads of kid's classics to be had for under a fiver. Play.com has Postman Pat for £3.99, Blah DVD has Flash Gordon for £4.99 and Woolworths has The Magic Roundabout for £4.99, all including delivery. Though don't forget to compare prices on a shopping robot such as Find DVD or Pricerunner before ordering. (Read the Cheapest Online Shopping for more details).
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 Here's one a MoneySaver made! |
- Why I Love You.
Buy/Make: Make it. Cost: Under £1 Contest Entry Year: 2007
In this modern technology age, there's still something special about receiving a handwritten note. Whether you do it as a scroll of paper tied with a ribbon or just a simple sheet; write each other a love letter detailing why you love them so much. You could include things you've never told each other before, special stories or memories. Or you could write 101 reasons why you love your partner, each on seperate slips of paper, fold them up and place in a jar. They can pick one everyday!
- Turn your key into a torch.
Buy/Make: Buy-it. Cost: £4 Contest Entry Year: 2007
There's a clever little gadget called the Locklite mini key light; which fits onto any normal house key and turns it into a mini torch so you'll never need to fumble around in the dark again. It's like a tiny little pad that you add to the key head, and when you press it a 3 meter shaft of LED light shines ahead lighting up the door lock. These typically sell for between £3.50 and £4.00; and you can buy them online from gadgetpoint or Iwantoneofthose, although then the delivery cost will take it over the £5 limit.
- Take an away day for a quid
Buy/Make: Buy-it. Cost: £1 per person Contest Entry Year: 2007
Why not take your loved one to a place they've never been before; megatrain offers fares from £1 each-way if you book ahead, so pick a date and have a day away in a part of a glorious isle you've never visited before. There are many hidden gems in the UK; just look up a City, even if it doesn’t sound glamourous and see what it has to offer. If you’re on a strict budget, why not take a packed lunch. Of course using the FlightChecker you can often fly away for about the same price; only then airport transport and cheap accommodation will push up the cost substantially.
The top Festive Fivers for kids
- Turn your kids into a hand drawn cartoon character
Buy/Make: Buy-it. Cost: £1.75 Contest Entry Year: 2007
There's a great little website cartoonme where you can send in a photo of your kids and they'll turn it into a hand drawn cartoon version for £2.50. You can then print this out or even blow it up into a poster. Better still if you dress your child up in a superhero outfit first, then they'll become that cartoon superhero.
- Balloon Surprise.
Buy/Make: Make-it Cost: c. £1 Contest Entry Year: 2005
This is very cheap, easy to do and will absolutely delight any nippers under five, after all they do say "they prefer the wrapping to the present." So get the biggest box you can and fill it with blown up balloons. Then wrap the box in Christmas paper so it looks great. It's often said small children are more interested in the packaging than the product; they'll get excited by the huge, huge box and then jump and play with the balloons. A massive pressie for a few pounds (though do carefully supervise, balloons can choke young children).
- Put them back together with a personalised jigsaw.
Buy/Make: Make-it Cost: c. £8 (yes I know, its a little over) Contest Entry Year: 2007
Find a cute or funny picture of your child or pet, upload it to fabulousphotogifts and it'll create a 15 piece puzzle for around eight pounds; and they can have hours of fun picking up the pieces of themselves!
- DIY Construction Kit.
Buy/Make: Make-it Cost: c. £2 for paint Contest Entry Year: 2007
Collect together the cardboard centres of old toilet rolls, kitchen rolls and some old cardboard boxes of various sizes and paint them in lots of different bright colours. Put them all in one big box and you have your very own construction kit, for pennies, which they can build all sorts with.
- Give them a wirring flashing mopod.
Buy/Make: Buy-it Cost: c. £1-£5 Contest Entry Year: 2007
This is the latest craze to sweep the nation! Costing between 99p and £4.99 (see Kelkoo* comparison) these little gizmos can be worn as charms on bags, clothes and mobiles. They're cute little animals that go with a mobile phone and spin and flash when you get a call, so if your phone is on silent, you'll still know.
- Feet of Love.
Buy/Make: Make-it Cost: c. £2 Contest Entry Year: 2005
While it's not actually a present for kids, it's something you can get them to give to grandparents, aunts or uncles; it's especially good to do with small children as it's great fun too. Buy some clay from an art store and mould into a flat circle. Leave an imprint of your baby's foot in the clay, carve in the name and then decorate with glossy paint. You could tie string through it to make a nice wall hanging. Alternatively for a simpler (and messier) version you could do the same with paint and paper and frame the footprints!
- Make or buy your own Origami Set.
Buy/Make: Buy-it/Make-it Cost: under £2.50 Contest Entry Year: 2005
Simply buy a set of paper and then download instructions at Paper Folding; Origami's compelling, fun, and they'll be pouring over it for hours. Alternatively you can buy a set from Muji which will set you back for just £3.95.
- Make your own Slime.
Buy/Make: Make-it Cost: under £5 Contest Entry Year: 2005
Budding Scientists will love this make-your-own slime kit. Similar sets sell for £15 in the shops, yet you can make your own for a few quid. Please note that the mixture isn't edible and is only suitable for ages 8+. Fill a shoe box with: a small bottle of PVA glue; borax solution (1 tablespoon of borax added to 1 cup of water); some food colouring, a pipette, plastic cup and a small, plastic measuring cup. Add an instructions card: ‘To make the slime: add 2 drops of food colouring and 15ml of water to the cup. Next add 15ml of PVA glue and stir. Pour 10ml of the borax solution to the mixture and quickly stir. You should get a bouncy slime ball. To make it more slimy add less borax solution.
- Kit out a developing country's classroom.
Buy/Make: Buy-it Cost: c. £5 Contest Entry Year: 2007
For a fiver you can teach your child about charity giving by buying a bit of a classroom on their behalf. The donation to Oxfam will help build, renovate and furnish class rooms with walls, windows, desks and blackboards, plus they'll get a giftcard and magnet for their stocking. The ultimate feel good Christmas present.
- Personalised Story Book.
Buy/Make: Make it Cost: under £1 Contest Entry Year: 2007
Make them the star of their very own story, just grab some photos and get scribbling; you can include their friends, family and favourite toys. Or if the creative juices aren't flowing, incorporate them into one of their own favourite books. For example turn a little girl into Little Miss Muffet.
For many more ideas see Festive Fivers - The Best Of The Rest
More top deals for Xmas presents in the free weekly MoneySaving Email
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Festive Fivers
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