I used to spend £600-a-year on my girl at Xmas now she still gets everything she wants but for £100 instead – here’s how

WATCHING her seven-year-old daughter flick excitedly through the Smyths Toys catalogue, Nicole Ratcliffe felt a wave of panic.

As her girl begins circling potential gifts ranging from Mario Kart to Rainbow High Dolls, Nicole sees nothing but pound signs when the youngster smiles and turns to her mum.

“It’s a good thing you and Daddy don’t have to pay for these and Santa will bring them,” she says.

The thought of how much everything on her daughter’s wish list will cost is enough to bring the 42-year-old mum-of-two out in a cold sweat.

In previous years Nicole, from Manchester, would typically spend £600 on presents for two daughters, seven and three, but the cost of living crisis meant that last year she was forced to seriously cut back.

Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, Nicole says: “I wanted my daughters to get the presents they wanted and to keep the magic and excitement of Christmas alive. 

“I wanted them to have the same Christmas experience I had as a child. 

“But I felt a huge amount of pressure. I was going along with it while secretly hoping I could talk my eldest daughter into taking the items off her list.”

Her eldest’s wishlist to Santa were Rainbow High dolls, coming in at £40 a pop.

“It was a lot of money for a doll – but I knew she’d be heartbroken if Santa didn’t deliver it,” Nicole says.

But a few days later in November the mum was hit by a brainwave.

“I’d recently joined Vinted – the second-hand buying and selling site-and I was online when I spotted Rainbow High Dolls on there,” she says. 

“On Vinted I could get two of them second hand for £16-  a fraction of the cost and saving me £64.”

Nicole set herself the challenge to buy all of her gifts on Vinted. She was already using the site to sell items from around the house.  

She adds: “I was already making money selling items on the site and realised if I decluttered the house and sold enough items I would have money in my Vinted account that I could use to buy all the Christmas presents. 

“My girls could have everything on their lists and it wouldn’t cost me a penny.”

The following day Nicole set about clearing her children’s rooms for old toys which she could sell to boost her Christmas budget last year.

“To my kids’ delight, I rediscovered favourite toys that had been hidden away,” she says. 

“Before I joined Vinted, the idea of selling things on seemed huge, so instead, I just had more and more toys adding to the piles. 

“I’d had nowhere to store them and the toys were never getting played with.  

“Once I cleared out the toys I was delighted to see my youngest child start playing with toys she’d never played with before – probably because she could finally get near them.”

To be able to get everything on the kids’ lists without spending anything felt amazing

Nicole Ratcliffe

Nicole uploaded her items to the pre-loved app where sellers can set the price of items but buyers can negotiate for less.

The first item Nicole sold was a pair of shoes for £1. 

She says: “It might have only been £1, but it meant someone got what they needed for less, I wasn’t taking it to the tip so it became sustainable and I was getting a little bit of money in my account.”

Nicole also cleared out plenty of her youngest’s clothes that no longer fit.  

“I found the whole process so simple,” she says.

“I sold coats, leggings, tops and pj’s and it felt like I was doing something good for everyone.

“I knew there would be so many people like me looking for bargains during the cost-of-living crisis.”

While Nicole found the selling process simple, she admits there was one prospect that she had been ‘dreading.’

“Before I joined Vinted the idea of printing labels, decent packaging and never ending trips to the post office filled me with dread,” she says.

“I thought it would be a lot of effort.  But it’s actually surprisingly quick and easy. 

“I found the uploading really easy, then I got the surprise that I didn’t need to print labels or pay for postage and then I found out about the lockers at the bottom of my street. 

“I even use old cereal boxes to post things and just pop them in a pedal bin liner for waterproof protection.

“I also sell items as bundles now as that is even more cost effective.”

The whole room was filled with presents

Nicole Ratcliffe

As well as her selling success Nicole, who works full time as a sleep consultant running her own business (baby2sleep.co.uk), found some gems while present shopping on the app.

She says: “I managed to get incredible bargains on the items on their Christmas lists – as well as the two rainbow high dolls for £16, my other best buys were a Kiddizoom watch at £10 (usually retails at £45) and a Fire Spirit for £4 (retails at £25). 

“I didn’t just buy Christmas gifts off Vinted – I got a whole Brownie uniform too and recently bought myself a new jumper, coat and bag for just £15.

“To be able to get everything on the kids’ lists without spending anything felt amazing. 

“There was no way I could have got even a quarter of the gifts if they hadn’t come from Vinted. A lot of the items were brand-new. 

“But even if they aren’t in their box, an extra ribbon to make it look like it’s come straight off the elves conveyor-belt can work – and even add to the Christmas magic. 

“I also bought decorative boxes off Amazon for some of the toys so that it looked like there were lots of presents under the tree.”

Come Christmas Eve, Nicole’s house was as filled with gifts as it had been previous years.

“When the children were asleep, I placed the presents in their Santa sacks and arranged the bigger ones under the tree,” Nicole says.

“The whole room was filled with presents.

“Christmas morning was absolutely amazing, the girls couldn’t believe how many presents were under the tree and in their Santa sacks. 

“Just looking at their excited and happy faces felt amazing – I had given them the magical Christmas I wanted and more. 

“I thought they would burst with excitement and delight.”

Nicole says she wouldn’t hesitate when it comes to recommending Vinted to other mums looking to cut back on the cost of Christmas.

“As a sleep consultant I work with lots of parents of young children and many are worried about the cost of Christmas and the cost-of-living crisis,” she says. 

“I recommend Vinted to my clients and my friends. 

“Parents face so much pressure to keep the Christmas magic alive that families are paying through the nose for items they can’t afford. 

“But why do this when you can get items really cheap on Vinted? 

“Plus it’s really nice to know that by selling items on Vinted we are helping other people.  Why clutter the house with unwanted items when others can benefit?”