I bought my boyfriend's present in the post-Xmas sales
My fiancé absolutely hates surprises. So when it comes to birthday and Christmas presents, I usually have to let him know what I’m planning in advance.
This year I wanted to buy him a winter coat for Christmas. So we hit Bluewater shopping centre in Kent a week before to get one. Luckily a lot of the sales had already started.
As we were getting tired with all the shopping, he found a Timberland coat in John Lewis which ticked all the right boxes; feather down, windproof and waterproof.
But when I clocked the price-tag – £175 – I felt a little numb! Just my luck that the coat he really wanted wasn’t included in the sale.
So I made a No Unnecessary Present Pact (NUPP) (see MSE Charlotte’s original blog post, Will you be signing a NUPP this Christmas?).
I told my fiancé it was a lot of money, especially for an item which was likely to get dusty and dirty as he works in the building trade. After the Christmas frenzy, I could probably get him the same coat for a cheaper price.
He completely understood, especially as we’re saving for a house deposit and wedding. So our first Christmas pact was born. (Don’t worry, there were still a few presents for him under the Christmas tree on the day).
After Christmas, on 27 December, I popped into John Lewis to see if it had the coat. It didn’t.
So I headed to a Timberland store, and voila! The coat was reduced to £122 – a 30%-ish saving. It’s not the biggest discount, but it’s still an extra £53 in my pocket.
And even though he hates surprises (we said we’d go shopping together for the coat that same weekend), I hung it up in our home for him to find and he was chuffed to bits with his belated Christmas present.
Many of you told us about your Christmas pacts (see MSE Charlotte’s Told us about your NUPPs this Christmas? Here’s what you’re all doing… blog post), but how did they work out for you in the end? Let us know your thoughts on the discussion below, on the forum thread.
