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There is one week to go until Valentines Day and I’m betting most people haven’t settled on just what to get their partner this year. Flowers are too predictable, Chocolates too unhealthy, Tiffany’s- there’s a recession people!

To help you in your hour of need, we’ve done a search of online stores that have packed a discount ahead of Valentine’s Day, and will still provide shipping to make sure you don’t get into trouble on Saturday.

Amazon have up to a whopping 60% off selected jewelery for your special someone.
Digital Frames Direct have their biggest Valentine’s sale to keep it personal and cheap.
Le Beau lingerie have 50% off everything until February 11. Nice and Naughty!
JeweleryBoxx has 50% of selected lines and a range of inspiring ideas for him and her.
The Perfume Shop has a number of fragrances nicely discounted.
PrezzyBox.com have up to 50% off items and a pretty great range of unique Valentine’s ideas.
Truprint has a discount code of LOVE09 for 20% off a personalised photo gift.
Viva Box has 25% off selected experience boxes. For her there’s a fragrance box available, and for him a BBQ box.

Leave us a comment if you come across any other discounts that may just save a marriage or two!

If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, chances are you can’t feel your feet right now thanks to temperatures in the negative. This is the perfect chance to warm up your Valentine with some heartwarming and footwarming gift ideas. Add a small box of chocolates and a gift card and you’ve got yourself a nice Valentine’s gift package for your beloved!

Check out some hot ideas below which are more personal and much cheaper than a diamond encrusted necklace.

Hot Dog

This fido won’t come when you call but he will sit on your girlfriend’s freezing toes so she doesn’t have to put them on you. The Hot Dog is fully microwavable, as he is stuffed full of wheat grains. He’s both practical and really rather cute and will be cherished by any girl in the Winter months.

Price: £14.99 / USD$21.89
Source: needapresent.com

Heart Mini Water Bottle

Everyone loves the toasty feel of a traditional water bottle, and this one comes with the Valentine’s seal. The Heart Mini Water Bottle comes with a little jacket with (you guessed it) a heart on it. Aww! It’s also slightly smaller than an average-sized water bottle, making it perfect for traveling or sitting on the couch with.

Price:£5.99 / USD$8.75
Source: thegadgetroom.com

Cozy Feet Microwavable Foot Warmers

These plush slippers may not exactly be Prada material, but they’re a life saver in Winter. Simply throw them in the microwave for a few seconds and say goodbye to icy toes. These slippers even have non-slip soles so will keep you upright on a wet bathroom floor.

Price: £14.99 / USD$21.89
Source: thegadgetshop.com

Valentine’s day has become so commercialised that it’s easy to forget the basic celebration of being in love with someone. All girls know that it’s the small things that count in life, so we’ve found some ideas that will let her know you’re really a thoughtful kind of guy.

For girls, these ideas work based on the premise that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Oh and for both sexes- these ideas are inexpensive, so you don’t need to take out a loan to let your partner know that you love them!

Breakfast

Why not start the day on the right foot by making a special breakfast for your loved one. This sounds like a very uninspired idea, so to keep it in theme, we’ve found some helping tools to make this breakfast a memorable one.

Mood Message Toast from findmeagift.com allows you to imprint her toast with a love message which is bound to make her smile. To accompany the toast, a heart-shaped fried egg will complete the Valentine’s breakfast, and if your partner is the type to like tomato sauce with eggs (a phenomenon that I am yet to understand) the red colour scheme will also fit in nicely!

If your partner has more of a sweet tooth, the heart shaped frying pan is also perfect for making pancakes. The necessary pan can be found at Amazon.

If you’re looking for a unique way to present a small gift like a piece of jewelery, buy a small box of cereal. How is this better than an old-fashioned ring box? Well open the cereal box from the bottom end and place your gift in amongst the cereal like a free toy you used to get as a kid. Remember how excited you were to be the first one to open the packet? If your partner is a romantic at heart, they’ll love this little bit of detail.

Go with any of these ideas and by 9am you’ll be in their good books for months!

Dinner

The traditional Valentines celebration is going out for a nice dinner, but that gets expensive and if you’ve left it a bit late (which I suspect you have if you’re reading an article on Valentines gift ideas so close to the big day) you won’t get a reservation anywhere- including your local pub.

If you’re facing this dilemma why not make a nice dinner at home? This is also a good idea if you’ve got kids, so they don’t feel left out of the celebration. You don’t need to be Gordon Ramsay to do this, and no doubt she’ll be touched at the idea that you’re going to do the cooking tonight.

To make dinner “Valentined”, a quick google search will find you some heart shaped pasta to serve. You can either make a delicious creamy sauce or serve it as a side to grilled chicken and salad. The Pasta Shoppe has some white and pink dyed heart shaped pasta that would be fantastic with a basic tomato and basil sauce. For some interesting pasta recipes check out If I Had To Pick Five and My Famous Recipe.

For desert, why not roll  up your sleeves in the kitchen for 15 minutes and make some heart shaped cookies? Once they’re in the oven, you can relax with a glass of wine and spend the next 30 minutes reminding her that the delicious baking smell in the house is a result of your handiwork. Popular home made cookie recipes can be found on Erin Cooks and The Cookie Blog.

These simple home cooking ideas will make Valentine’s Day special without having to bend to the will of the media and fork out for expensive jewelery or a trip to Paris. And really, what better way to spend the day of love than by eating wonderful food with your loved one?

I may seem to be going on a bit about ways to save money this Christmas, but with lots of people getting to grips with financial woes recently, there’s a reason I’m playing Scrooge’s advocate.

If you’re doing the big family Christmas this year, one way to keep your gift-giving kudos but still keep your cash in your wallet is to give gifts to family units instead of individual family members. The only challenge with this idea is to find something not only family-friendly, but also interests mum, dad, bro, sis, dog etc.

For a bit of inspiration, here is our choice of Top Five gifts for the family:

Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture 2nd Edition

Who doesn’t like a good game of Trivial Pursuit? Well if you’re playing the version that was made before you were even born, you may find it a bit on the boring side.

This Pop Culture 2nd edition has been updated with a DVD that allows players to view TV clips, songs, commercials and movie scenes from pop culture. And seeing as the main topic is based on the idea of “popular”, kids will even have a fighting chance.

Priced at $34.89 (£23.60) from Amazon

Photo Hooks

What family doesn’t spend the first five minutes of arriving home from any outing, squabbling about where to hang their soggy coat? If you know of some people who aren’t exactly the happy, easy-going Brady Bunch, these Photo Hooks will end future arguments and keep life on the fun side.

Everyone just needs to fit a passport-sized picture of themselves into their particular frame and from then onwards every coat/hat/scarf has its very own place.

Priced at $17.00 (£11.50) from Generate Design

Digital Photo Frame

This is a great idea to capture all of those family moments and even to scroll through everyone’s individual bits of fame. Both parents and kids will have fun choosing which pictures they can cycle through and everyone can decide on new piccies for different times of the year- you can have a Christmas theme, a 21st birthday dedication, a Summer theme, etc. etc.

There are many digital photo frames on the market which will cater to all price ranges. This particular one is from Alura Tek and features a 7″ widescreen hi-resolution panel so as not to distort images. It plays both photo & video files, and has built in speakers and a remote.

Priced at $92.99 (£63.00) from eCost.com

Memory Journal

These Memory Journals are a great way for family members to get to know each other a bit more while they learn about their ancestry. Let’s face it- in some families this is really the only thing that everyone has in common.

The books features questions to prompt memories and stories that may otherwise be forgotten one day, and in the end you’ll have a nice family heirloom to pass down. You can even stick your own photo in the cover to complete this personalised book.

Priced from $9.00 (£6.00) from Linkages & Shoestrings

Candy Bar Fun Cake

When all else fails, head for some chocolate! Any chocolate mix or food hamper would work well as a gift for the whole family, but this Candy Bar Fun Cake takes the… cake.

Made entirely from a range of chocolate bars, everyone can take their pick when this is served after the roast turkey this year. Alternatively you could try to make your own version of this which may be necessary if someone is on a special diet.

Priced at $39.95 (£27.10) from FindGift.com

Everyone has an iPod now- they’ve become so normal. So what better way to make your friend more unique than Michael Jackson, than by giving them ear phones in the un-orthodox shape of lady bugs?

Or if that’s a bit too girly, there are the gross-out flies which would satisfy every boy’s lifelong desire to stick an insect in their ear.

The Ear Bud range also includes pigs and ducks for the more rural-minded of your acquaintances.

Each set of ear buds is fully compatible with devices that have a standard 3.5mm headphone socket, so most iPod devices would still be listenable through your duck.

At just $15 (£10.20) a pop, you’ll be gift wrapping a set for your friend and opening one for yourself!

Available from: fredflare.com

Christmas is almost upon us, but unfortunately so are all of those credit card bills. With enough presents to buy for your extended family, the last thing you need is to rack your brains and your coin purse for is a secret santa gift for someone in the office.

We’re here to take some of the pressure off with a list of Top Five Secret Santa Gifts, all under a tenner!

Tostabags

Our first idea may not look like the most exciting thing to unwrap (You got me disposable bags? How did you know!) but with every office equipped with a kettle and toaster and not much else, these tostabags will come in really handy for a hot meal on a cold day.

To use, simply put a mix of ingredients in the bag and pop it in a regular toaster. You can create omelets, grilled cheese sandwiches, or even cook a lamb chop. This is the perfect gift for anyone with an aversion to cooking.

Price: $9.95 (£6.48) from Firebox

Panic Button Key and Any Button Key

This is something that someone will eventually need when they’re next called into the boss’s office. The Panic Button Key will fix to your keyboard ready to be pressed furiously when things go wrong. It won’t actually do anything, but at least the people sitting around you will know that you’re on the stressed side when you press the special button.

The Any button Key is that handy key for when your computer tells you to “Push any key to continue”… This is the perfect gift for the most literal co-worker.

Price: $10.00 (£6.50) Abernook

Chicken Chucker

This device has the sole purpose of chucking tiny plastic chickens across the room. Seeing as wads of paper are so boring, this chucker will allow you to target senior management and possibly get away with it.

The Chicken Chucker comes with 5 “flingable fowl”, a spring loaded gun and a guaranteed laugh.

Price: discounted $3.99 (£2.60) Amazon.com

Desktop Dartboard
This dartboard will do more than improve your aim while you’re on the clock, it also has a flip side which will give you guidance to all of life’s tough questions. Answers of wisdom include Go to Lunch, Leave Early, Take a Vacation, Buy, Sell, Retire and more.

For a 2-in-1 gift that’s under a tenner, this dartboard will really hit the bulls eye this year.

Price: discounted $9.99 (£6.50) from Kotula’s

The Hoff Mug

Everyone in the office drinks at least 5 cups of coffee a day, making this gift perfect for anyone. The Hoff Mug this is the only vessel anyone in accounts can use ever again for their next dose of caffeine.

If you work with someone as cool as David Hasselhoff (who doesn’t?) this is the Secret Santa gift for them, complete with the words, “Don’t Hassle The Hoff” inside the mug.

Price: $7.65 (£5.00) Red5