The Tab Does: Christmas Presents!

Need a present for under a tenner? From the homemade to the cheeky, The Tab gives you some of their ideas.

11 years ago

Right, University ends for the holidays next week and no doubt many of you will be taking part in a secret Santa or just general exchange of gifts in the next couple of weeks. If you are reading this you either aren’t at the Christmas Craft Fayre in the LCR or you have missed it, and a great opportunity to pick up some cheap but decent Christmas presents. But have no fear, The Tab is here to save Christmas by putting together a little list of presents and ideas for around £10 or less.

The most cost effective present the Tab can think of is baked goods. Mince Pies or Christmas cakes or whatever, if you were to spend £10 on ingredients for mince pies you could probably feed all your friends until they are festively plump.

If you are too lazy or just a general failure in the kitchen you can of course go out and buy mince pies from a supermarket for as low as about 75p if you get a value pack from Tesco, but it would still be more cost effective, thoughtful and fun to make them yourself.

Christmas is a time when most of us (barring those whose hearts are two times too small) return to our inner child, so to appeal to this you could for £5 get someone a Disney mug from the Disney Store with their favourite character on it. If you want to make it a real festive treat you could always get them some hot chocolate to fill it up as well!

The Nightmare Before Christmas counts as a Christmas film right?

Feeling a bit cheeky? Either as a joke present for one of the lads, or (possibly not so jokey) present for a girl, the Bullet from Ann Summers is great value at £8. Or if you are willing to splash out an extra couple of quid you could get a really classy Diamante studded Bullet for £10. What a lucky guy or girl!

It is probably worth pointing out that Ann Summers do offer a nice selection of Christmas themed Willy Socks and thongs, so a guy can keep his little friend warm before he gives a very special girl her present.

If you want to go for a less frisky option, you can get really little bottles of different types of alcohol (Jaeger, Smirnoff, Bells) for a couple of quid each (Tesco do little sets with keyrings or chocolates for £3), and if you look around online you can get sets that include a branded glass and sometimes a cocktail shaker with your little bottle of booze for about a tenner.

With the largest Monday-Saturday open air market in the UK at your finger tips by City Hall there is no excuse to not have a look around, you might find an absolute gem!

A parting word of advice. If you know anyone who works at any shop, find out if they have a discount and see if it is worth using! With Christmas, it is the thought that counts, but it doesn’t matter if part of that thought is ‘I can spend less and get more’, to be honest, any present you get will probably have the same thought behind it!

There are (obviously) a lot more personal presents you can get people, but if you are really stuck, take a look at this list for some inspiration!