Christmas presents galore…
Sunday 23rd November, 2008 - £7,408.16 in debt…
Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Are you one of those people who starts unfeasibly early, telling all their friends about the bargain jumper you found for your mum which, by the way, she’s going to absolutely adore? Or are you one of those people who listens to their friends’ stories of early purchases while secretly wanting to bash them over the head with a hammer?
Unfortunately for my finances (and my friends), I fall into the latter group. Although I love getting excited about Christmas - sometimes as early as September - I can never quite bring myself to start buying stuff, and have been known to enjoy the odd Christmas Eve panic. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear I was a disorganised mess.
Of course, this year will be different. I can no longer rely on my credit cards to bail me out if I leave it too late to grab a bargain. So are there any half-decent bargains around right now? Hmmmm…
The WHSmith Christmas gift sale
WHSmith is offering money off loads of tacky rubbish you’d never normally buy for your arch nemesis, let alone your friends and family. Perfect for Christmas then. They’re advertising it as an ‘up to half price’ sale but, frankly, I’d still shop around if I were you because Smith’s isn’t exactly Poundland, sale prices or no sale prices.
Curry’s £10 voucher offer
Yes, Curry’s is offering you a £10 gift card with every games console, sat nav, camera, camcorder or iPod (nano, classic or touch). Lucky you. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that you’ll probably pay at least £10 over the odds at Curry’s though, and you’ve still got time to order your camera, camcorder or what-have-you from a reputable, cheap online source such as www.eBuyer.com
And by the way, if you must shop at Curry’s and get your gift card, you have to redeem it between December 5th and 24th, and it can’t be used against online purchases.
Boots 3 for 2 ‘Mix and Match’ gifts
With all the horrifying inevitability of our slow march towards the grave, Boots is yet again wheeling out the annual 3 for 2 ‘Mix and Match’ offer on gifts. Hooray. Why any sane person would want to celebrate the festive season with a five-piece set of ‘classic’ make-up brushes is beyond me, so I’m sure you can do better than this.
So the answer is no: there are no half-decent bargains around at the moment. But, if we get this rumoured 2.5% cut in VAT, and the resulting savings are passed on to shoppers and not just soaked up by retailers, then there’s a chance we’ll see a few good deals over the next couple of weeks. Keep ‘em peeled, readers.
