I am not one of those mothers who managed to perfectly plan out my conception dates to give the optimum amount of space between children's birthday to allow for money saving and leisurely shopping!
Next month, I have not one other birthday...but two! Both of my other children will celebrate their birthdays within 4 days of each other. Tyne turning 5, and Noah turning 3.
Both of them are hoping for birthday parties but given that their interests are completely different from each other with one wanting a "Minecraft soldier party" and the other wanting a "Frozen princess party" they won't really work well as a joint effort...which means more expense.
They also have their requests for birthday gifts ready and waiting - one of them has his eye on a Nintendo Switch while the other has designs on a My Size Elsa Doll which, at Christmas, was selling for around the £1,000 mark!
Now don't worry...you can rest assured that neither of these super expensive items are likely to actually make it into the house as birthday gifts because I don't agree with giving them whatever they want regardless of the very high price tag (particularly when there's just been a new games console bought for Christmas!)...but of course I do want to make sure that they have gifts they will love and enjoy.
And if I can achieve that without too much of an impact on my bank balance...all the better!
Here's a little look at some of the items on their wishlists that I'm thinking about getting for them based on what they've been asking for lately....their lists could not be more different from each other!
Tyne is absolutely obsessed with Nerf guns at the moment, and although I'm really not a fan of gun toys I don't mind the Nerf style so much as the bullets are soft and he loves building cushion forts with his Dad and having Nerf battles where they pretend they're paintballing - he's got his eye on the Nerf Surge Fire and the vest too! He's also been after a basketball hoop for outside, and I bought him a 4 in 1 air hockey/fuseball/table tennis/pool table in the January sales which I've put away for his birthday as a surprise too!
As for Noah - he is quite clear that he only wants Frozen related presents this year, with his main request being for an "Ice Skating Elsa" doll...I was both surprised and relieved that this is not something he's made up but is actually a thing! He also really wants Elsa's latest dress from the new movie along with the latest Elsa Plush too. He also spotted the Elsa Colour Change bag which changes to match whatever color outfit the wearer has on...he's desperate for that too!
I think a new bike each would be a really nice thing for throughout the Summer too, as it will give us the chance to go on some nice bike rides through the woods when the weather picks up a bit.
I like to think of myself as quite a savvy shopper. I'm the kind of person who has notifications switched on for all of the best sales, I make sure I buy the boys wardrobes a year ahead of time in end of season sales, and I am ALWAYS on the lookout for a bargain - but when I stumbled across a new shopping site called Peddler.com recently, I was shocked to discover a way of shopping that I had never come across before.
Peddler.com offers consumers the chance to effectively team up with other buyers in order to entice a retailer into offering a better price.
The way it works is really beautifully simple - you decide which item you want to buy, you enter it's link and you share that link around to encourage anybody else who's interested in buying it to express their interest too.
When retailers see that there are a number of potential customers wanting to purchase the item - they see an opportunity and want to encourage them to make that purchase, so they give offers.
Buyers are notified of this, and anyone can join in - the more people who purchase, the lower the offer price is likely to go and that's it! Using the power of crowd purchasing, you get your item for a lower price!
How simple is that?!
I will definitely be taking advantage of Peddler.com for my boys birthdays. Now, anyone fancy joining me to get a Peddler.com price on a My-Size Elsa doll?!
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