
Gussied up cranberry sauce to give away
I’m up early on Christmas Eve as I was talking to ‘Wake Up To Money’ on BBC Radio 5 Live about last minute Christmas presents. The 5.30am start (!) isn’t actually a bad thing, as I’m also surrounded by scissors, sticky tape and wrapping paper, with a lot of wrapping to do before tomorrow.
But if you still need to finish your Christmas shopping, or your parcels have been delayed (I hear Father Christmas just can’t get the delivery drivers these days) here are some ideas. You don’t have spend a bomb or to resort to three for two toiletry sets either.
I’ve focused on stuff you can do at home, over the Internet or in a supermarket, if you’d rather avoid the high street, and limit the chances of giving family and friends Covid for Christmas.

Feeling hungry now
Home made presents
Make the presents into a Christmas Eve activity, while listening to carols or getting the kids involved.
I’ve given presents of home-made decorated Christmas biscuits, mince pies and chocolate brownies. If you have a nice tin to put them in, or can get one somewhere like Wilko or Poundland, all the better. Otherwise wrap in foil then cover with tissue paper and ribbon.
The photo at the top shows this year’s batch of super easy cranberry sauce. I collect empty jam jars during the year to reuse, and add labels, fabric and ribbon to create festive gifts.
You might be a little late to make sloe gin or flavoured vodka but there’s always next year!
An added bonus with consumables is that they don’t add to clutter and landfill.
Gift vouchers
If you’re looking for something more personal than pressing cash in a card, get a gift voucher related to the recipient’s interests. These can be particularly useful for tricky teens. You can often buy and email e-voucher codes at the last minute, and don’t have to resort to bumping up Amazon’s profits.
For example, get Cineworld or Odeon vouchers for movie lovers, Greggs for the ever-hungry, Forbidden Planet for comic and cult film fans, or iTunes or Google Play for gamers. Books tokens can also be spent beyond books in Waterstones.
The caveat, as ever, with gift vouchers is that they are only as good as the shop you buy them from. If the retailer goes bust, your present goes down the drain, so choose carefully.
On a budget? Give your time, with home-made vouchers for anything from babysitting or gardening, to ironing, dog-walking or DIY. Try to think of whatever skills you have, and the recipient might appreciate. My sister has strong-armed her children into making ‘Mummy Vouchers’ for maternal happiness, including the ‘no complain bedroom tidy’, dash to the corner shop and unloading the dishwasher.

Freddie’s Flowers delivered to their door
Subscriptions
Make a virtue out of the last minute nature of your gift, and explain you’re extending the excitement of Christmas. See if you can snap up a bargain magazine subscription at this time of year that relates to their interests. My kids loved getting The Beano and The Week Junior from their grandparents.
If you want to save money, a bunch of other subscription services offer cut price trials for your first box. Sign up online and send to the recipient, then make sure you cancel afterwards – could be anything from Freddie’s Flowers to the Craft Gin Club, Pong Cheese, Beer 52 or meals from Hello Fresh.

Booking afternoon tea as a present
Experiences to remember
I’m a big fan of giving experiences rather than stuff, although with the prospect of Covid restrictions, do check flexibility about refunds or extending dates.
I’ve given presents from a back massage at a local spa to a nearby manicure, while my husband once got me a course of trampoline lessons at the local leisure centre and I sent him on a cocktail-making class.
A regular favourite is bargain theatre tickets during January and February, thanks to the Society of London Theatre’s New Year Sale.
Check out Groupon and Wowcher for cut-price experiences – highlights for me including taking my Mum for afternoon tea and doing a cheese-making session with friends.
Look at sites such as BuyaGift, Red Letter Days and OffPeakLuxury for meals out, short breaks and for example a driving day for under 17s.
If you’re feeling particularly generous, annual membership of for example English Heritage or the National Trust will get people out and about. Give membership of the Royal Horticultural Society, and they can take advantage of priority tickets to Chelsea Flower Show next year.

Last minute presents from a supermarket sweep
Supermarket sweep
The mahoosive supermarkets sell pretty much anything you can think of – books, DVDs, CDs, headphones, toys, bedding, festive pyjamas – so you can always go wild in the aisles. I got a great escape room game from Sainsbury’s one year, which the whole family enjoyed.
But if you don’t have a superstore nearby, stick with food and drink. Make it special by selecting something nostalgic they connect with Christmas – a Terry’s Chocolate Orange, jelly babies, turkish delight, crystallised ginger, a selection box.
Supersizing can make presents more special: an enormous bar of Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut, a whole tin of Quality Street to themselves.
Make up hampers for food lovers centred on a theme – smoked fish, fish pate and lemons, or curry spices and sauces with rice and jars of pickle and chutney. Add hot chocolate, mini marshmallows and popcorn to a DVD.
Finally, I reckon many of us could do with a strong drink to survive Christmas. If you’re seeing people in person, go for a favourite wine or fizz, a selection of local beers, or push the boat out with fancy gin, vodka or whisky. Less expensive options include ginger wine by Stones or Crabbies, brilliant after a bracing Boxing Day walk, or Chambord liqueur, which comes in a particularly festive bottle.
Now – over to you. Any last minute Christmas presents left to buy? What are your top tips? Do share in the comments – I’d love to hear!
Mummy Vouchers is a great idea!
Investment is one of the best ways to achieve financial freedom. For a beginner there are so many challenges you face. It’s hard to know how to get started. Trading the Crypto market has really been a life changer for me. I almost gave up on crypto currency at some point not until I got a proficient trader Bernie Doran, he gave me all the information required to succeed in trading. I made more profit than I could ever imagine. I’m not here to converse much but to share my testimony, I invested $5000.00 and got back $50,500.00 within 5 days of investment. His strategies and signals are the best and I have gained more knowledge.
If you are new to cryptocurrency. You can reach to him through Gmail : BERNIEDORANSIGNALS@GMAIL.COM or Telegram : @bernie_fx or his WhatsApp : +1424(285)-0682
Enjoyed reading the article above , really explains everything in detail,
I was depressed some Months ago due to how frustrating it is dealing with bad credits, but reaching out to HACK VANISH via Phone: +1 (747) 293-8514 and Email: HACK VANISH (@) GMAIL. COM gave my life a new meaning, after I found him credible through positive reviews I read on a credit blog, in a twinkle of an eye, this great hacker got my credit score restored from 509 to 784 across the 3 major credit bureaus, all evictions and repossession has been wiped off, my LexisNexis and Chex system fixed respectively, to my greatest surprise, some days later, I received an E-mail confirming the approval of my pending loan application. I can confidently say 2021 was an exceptional year for my husband and I as we are proud owners of a new home and a brand-new SUV courtesy HACK VANISH, I would definitely recommend him to anyone in need of a genuine Hacker.
Articles like these are fun to read and provide with some positive vibes
Found your post interesting to read. I cant wait to see your post soon. Good Luck with the upcoming update. This article is really very interesting and effective.
I Just love your Blog super interesting and informative
I found it very interesting and enjoy reading this blog.
HOW TO RECOVER LOST YOUR STOLEN CRYPTO/BITCOIN 2023
I was actually fooled and scammed over ( $345,000 ) by someone I trusted with my funds through a transaction we did and I feel so disappointed and hurt knowing that someone can steal from you without remorse after trusting them, so I started searching for help legally to recover my stolen funds and came across a lot of Testimonials about ETHICREFINANCE Recovery Expert who helps in recovery lost funds, which I can tell has helped so many people who had contacted them regarding such issues and without a questionable doubt their funds was returned back to their wallet in a very short space of time, it took the expert 24hours to help me recover my funds and the best part of it all was that the scammers was actually located and arrested by local authorities in his region which was very relieving. Hope this helps as many people who have lost their hard earn money to scammers, you can reach him through the link below for help to recover your scammed funds and thank me later.
Email Address: ethicsrefinance@gmail.com
Website: www. ethicsrefinance .com
THEY OFFER THE FOLLOWING SERVICES
* RECOVER LOST/STOLEN CRYPTO
* BLANK ATM CARD
* PAYPAL HACK TRANFER
* CASH APP FLIP
* WESTERN UNION FLIP
* BANK WIRE TRANSFER
* ANY HACK SERVICES YOU NEED…E.T.C
I rarely write reviews, but I had to for this! Because I tried several apps to help with no luck. Back then, I was very confused and always felt awful about my partner’s cheating attitude. I really wanted to track and catch him red-handed. I downloaded this app hoping it would help but I wasn’t satisfied with its features as I needed to monitor my partner closely. I then spoke with a trusted colleague of mine at work and she gave me a genuine recommendation about an ethical private investigator named WIZARD BRIXTON, I wrote to his email at WIZARDBRIXTON AT GMAIL DOT COM explaining how I wanted to have complete access to his call log, iMessage/SMS, social media activities, gallery, texts, deleted or not, his precise location day in day out. I paid for his services and in about 2-3 hours, I had complete access to his phone. I got concrete evidence. it was unbelievable to see the evidence of cheating on me. Who likes to live with a cheater, I used the evidence I got to file for a divorce. I’m thankful to BRIXTON for helping me out of my dilemma and suspicions. His services are highly rated and affordable. If you are having trust issues and need valid evidence, how about you contact WIZARDBRIXTON AT GMAIL DOT COM? Thank you BRIXTON for an incredible job !! I highly recommend his services, simply the best.
Contact : WIZARDBRIXTON AT GMAIL DOT COM
Cell Number : (+) 44 7383450230
Telegram : https://t.me/wizardbrixtongrouphackers
YOU CAN GET YOUR BTC RECOVERED 98.9% by through any renounce recovery company who has helped many others like me get back their stolen Bitcoin.
This agent help me recover mine, therefore i recommend them to you, they are Legit, you can help yourself by email dhackerspot@gmail.com
But make sure you have all the transactions evidence for the recovery to be easier for them, note do not give out any detail to any recovery company when you are not yet ready for the recovery, play safe.
Good luck.
HOW I RECOVER MY LOST BTC WALLET THROUGH OMEGA CRYPTO RECOVERY SPECIALIST
I am by name Dung Hung from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Losing a BTC wallet can be a nightmare for anyone who has invested a lot in cryptocurrency. Unfortunately, I found myself in this exact situation a few days ago when I realized that I had lost my BTC wallet. The panic and anxiety that came with losing something so valuable were overwhelming, and I was desperate to find a solution. After extensive research, I finally decided to reach out to OMEGA CRYPTO RECOVERY SPECIALIST, a recovery service that helped me recover my lost BTC wallet. I am a living testifier and I am putting this out here to anyone who also requires their service. They are fast and reliable
Contact Line;
www . omegarecoveryspecialist . c o m
+1 (251), 2 16. 64 6 6
Mail; support@omegarecoveryspecialist . c o m
HOW I RECOVER MY LOST BTC WALLET THROUGH OMEGA CRYPTO RECOVERY SPECIALIST
I am by name Dung Hung from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Losing a BTC wallet can be a nightmare for anyone who has invested a lot in cryptocurrency. Unfortunately, I found myself in this exact situation a few days ago when I realized that I had lost my BTC wallet. The panic and anxiety that came with losing something so valuable were overwhelming, and I was desperate to find a solution. After extensive research, I finally decided to reach out to OMEGA CRYPTO RECOVERY SPECIALIST, a recovery service that helped me recover my lost BTC wallet. I am a living testifier and I am putting this out here to anyone who also requires their service. They are fast and reliable
Contact Line;..
www . omegarecoveryspecialist . c o m
+1 (251), 2 16. 64 6 6
Mail; support@omegarecoveryspecialist . c o m
I’m one of those few people who invested in the cryptocurrency market and was hoping to make enough profits after my retirement. Unfortunately, I had invested in a platform that was out to steal from me, I lost around $275,000 to this platform excluding the promised profits. I had lost every penny I invested into it including the money I had to borrow from friends. I thought it was all over until I came across a Cryptocurrency recovery expert, Elite Wizard Bitcoin Recovery, who helped me recover my money from these fake investors. It took Elite Wizard Bitcoin Recovery 48 hours to recover my money and I was able to track down these people. I’m truly grateful for their service and I highly recommend them to anyone with the same problem.
Email: eliterecovery247@cyber-wizard.com
Call/WhatsApp +1 (805) -386-9670
CONTACT LOST RECOVERY MASTERS SPECIALIST TEAM TO RESTORE YOUR LOST BTC / ETH / BNB / USDT
My name is Bianca Colman from Germany. My cryptocurrency was stolen, which was an unfortunate thing for me. The situation started when I got an email at work alerting me to an attempted login from Indonesia on my wallet. The email directed me to a link where I could reset my password. My computer froze for several minutes after I clicked on the link. After rebooting, I saw that my wallet had been compromised and that all of my funds had been removed. However fortunately for me, thanks to LOST RECOVERY MASTERS, I was able to recover my stolen funds. You can also contact them if you require their services
Contact info:
Website (https://lostrecoverymasters.com/ )
Email(Support@lostrecoverymasters.com) or
Whatsapp: +1(204)819-5505.
I’m Joyce Dole from Richmond, Texas. I was scammed of $127,000 a few weeks ago when I was introduced to cryptocurrency investment opportunities. They locked my account and requested more money before I could access it, and that was how I realized I was being conned. I’ll advise people to be wary of these crypto investment companies as they are all out to steal from you. I was very lucky to come across a cryptocurrency recovery company Spyweb Cyber Security Service who was able to recover my money successfully without any delay. Spyweb Cyber Security Service is a professional and reliable cryptocurrency recovery company and I’m truly grateful for their service. I highly recommend them to everyone who wishes to get back their cryptocurrency funds.
THEIR EMAIL IS: SPYWEB @ CYBERDUDE . COM
WHATS APP: +1 (323) 904 ‑ 8824
Thank you.
RECOVER YOUR STOLEN FUNDS FROM ONLINE SCAMMERS WITH GEO COORDINATES HACKER SECURITY COMPANY.
I’m truly grateful for the service of the Geo Coordinates Hacker security company. I never would have imagined that I could recover my stolen bitcoins and gain back access to my wallet after losing everything to a fake investment platform. It’s truly amazing the kind of service Geo Coordinates Hacker security company provides, I was able to recover all that was stolen from me within 72 hours, Geo Coordinates Hacker security company provides top-notch services and is very professional indeed. If you ever doubt the recovery of cryptocurrency once it is lost, I suggest you rethink and research more before losing hope. There are so many victims of cryptocurrency scams who concluded that it is impossible to recover their funds. Geo Coordinates Hacker security company is here to provide that service for you. I highly recommend their services to everyone who wishes to recover any cryptocurrency. Geo Coordinates Hacker security company can be contacted via their E-mail address: geocoordinateshacker@proton.me. I’m truly grateful for their service and work ethics.
In the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrencies, the loss or theft of digital assets can be devastating. The anonymous nature of transactions and the complexity of blockchain technology make it challenging to regain lost funds. However, I discovered a life-saving solution when computer specialist Recovery came to my rescue. This article aims to provide an in-depth account of how computer specialist Recovery successfully recovered my lost bitcoin, showcasing the invaluable expertise and professionalism exhibited by this renowned firm. computer specialist Recovery has state-of-the-art equipment and a staff of knowledgeable professionals who are familiar with blockchain technology. Their in-depth understanding of digital forensics and bitcoin transactions gave me the assurance that I was working with the proper group to get my money back. Thank you computer specialist recovery as they can be contacted via: email <Computerspeciallist@engineer.com
THE BEST AND MOST TRUSTED BITCOIN HACKER.
I was scammed over ( $98,900) by someone I met online on a fake investment project. I was in total dismay when I lost my entire savings investing in cryptocurrency, I was contacted online by a lady through email pretending to be an account manager of a bank, who told me I could make double my savings through cryptocurrency investment, I never imagined it would be a scam and I was going to lose everything. It went on for weeks until I realized that I had been scammed. All hope was lost, I was devastated and broke, fortunately for me, I came across an article on my local bulletin about Geo Coordinates Hacker security company. I contacted them and provided all the information regarding my case, I was amazed at how quickly they recovered my cryptocurrency funds and were able to trace down those scammers. I’m truly grateful for their service and I recommend them to everyone who needs to recover their funds. I urge you to contact them if you have lost your bitcoin USDT or ETH through bitcoin investment. You can easily reach them via Email: geocoordinateshacker@proton.me.