Christmas Gift Ideas : Splash The Cash – Gift Guide Part 3
While I put this together for those with chronic illness/chronic pain in mind, they’re equally suited to those without chronic conditions. Some products I own and use myself so I personally recommend them, others I’ve not tried. It’s a guide for gifting to others and self-gifting in the name of self-care and small joys.
Home Helpers & Gadgets
Home helpers and gadgets can be great for anyone, but some things can really make day to day life that bit easier with chronic illness. I bought my household a cordless Shark vac the other year and it’s been the best investment, absolutely thrilled with it. It’s a pricier purchase but one I couldn’t be happier with, so I’ve included these vacs here. Check out these christmas gift ideas others, or maybe as a treat for yourself.
- Amazon Echo Smart Speaker, Voice Controlled Smart System with Alexa – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- Shark Cordless Stick Vacuum, Anti-Allergy – Amazon UK
- Dyson V7 Cordless Vacuum – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- Robo Vacuum – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- Levoit Air Purifier (previously reviewed & recommended) – Amazon UK / Amazon US
CBD Goodies
I’ve recently been lucky enough to try a 15% CBD oil from Brown’s, gifted so I could share it in a review on here. I wanted to include in my gift guide as it’s something a lot of people are interested in, and many with chronic illness find CBD to be very beneficial. They offer free delivery to the UK and Europe on all orders. You can check out Brown’s CBD here – use the code CAZ10 at the checkout for 10% off!
For the Black Friday weekend, you can also use the discount code BLACKFRIDAY for 30% off. Limited time only until midnight 2nd December!
DNA Health / Ancestry Kits
Interested in learning more about your ancestry, ethnicity and heritage, or your health and potential predispositions based on your DNA? These test kits allow you to do just that and it’s convenient as it can be done from home and the results viewed online.
- AncestryDNA : Genetic Testing Ethnicity – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- 23andme : Ancestry & Traits – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- 23andme : Ancestry & Health (incl Health Predispositions, Carrier Status, Wellness, Trait Reports) – Amazon UK / Amazon US
Gift An Experience
BuyAGift (UK) have a huge range of experiences in the £40+ budget . For instance a spa day with 25 minute treatments for two & full use of the spa facilities.
Circulation Boosters
My father and I bought a joint present for my mother the year before last – a circulation booster! Quite an unusual gift but one I thought could be helpful for tired & uncomfortable leg muscles and restless leg syndrome.
It’s described as being particularly useful for those with “poor circulation, diabetes and osteoarthrits, high blood pressure or high cholesterol… reduces swollen, puffy feet and ankles…helps you to walk further before aches and pains…Improves symptoms associated with varicose veins”.
These things are quite pricey but it has been an excellent investment as it’s reliable, safe, clinically proven, effective and easy to use. It’s been used about 5 times a week since we bought it so it gets plenty of use – far more use than most Christmas presents ever get!
There are two newer versions. I’ll include links for both as I’m not too sure there’d be much difference in efficiency, so I’d suggest just seeing which is the best price at the time. If you have a long term medical condition / chronic illness (ie. rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes etc) you can also claim VAT back, which will save you some money (I was successfully able to do this for her, so if you decide to try one of these and need any help with the VAT claim let me know).
- Revitive Medic Circulation Booster – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- Revitive IX Circulation Booster – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- All other alternative brands at Amazon UK & Amazon US
Tablets & E-Readers
I have an iPad and find it incredibly versatile. I used to have a Mini, now I have the regular 10.2″ iPad, which works with Apple Pencil (which I can’t afford don’t have). Emails, Internet browsing, games, Netflix, iPlayer, sketching, colouring in, notes, music, books and magazines… you can pretty much do it all.
- Kindle 10th gen (new 2019) – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- Kindle Paperwhite – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- Kindle Fire HD 8 (latest) – Amazon UK / Amazon US or save money with the cheaper previous model, the 7th Gen on Amazon UK.
- Samsung Tab – all on Amazon UK / Amazon US
- iPad – all on Amazon UK / Amazon US
Weighted Blankets
These typically come in different sizes & weights, and while most look fairly similar, a couple have different textures. You can find all weighted blankets on Amazon here or check out below a few I’ve discovered with good reviews & reasonable prices.
- Pine & River Plush Warm Weighted Blanket – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- Coolmax Weighted Blanket with 2 covers for hot & cold sleepers – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- YnM Weighted Blanket – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- Quility Weighted Blanket – Amazon US
- Jaymag Weighted Blanket – Amazon UK
Fitness Trackers
Fitness trackers, along with smart watches, are incredibly popular but it can be tricky figuring out which is the best to invest your money in. It’s been suggested to me to try one so having shopped around I’d probably want to look at the Fitbit Inspire HR (better budget-wise, thinner band for my small wrist, sleep/activity functions that I’d want to use). Consider what functions you/the recipient would need and what style may be most comfortable. Here are four top picks that seem effective and get good reviews.
- Fitbit Inspire HR – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- Apple Watch Series 3 – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- Garmin Forerunner 35 – Amazon UK / Amazon US
- Fitbit Versa 2 – Amazon UK / Amazon US
Too pricey? Check out the earlier Gift Guides :
Gifting ideas for £15 / $20 and under
Gift ideas between £15-40 / $20-50
Not got Amazon Prime? I always sign up for a month at Christmas to get free next day delivery, access to Prime-only deals and to check out the latest Prime video series on offer. It gets more use this time of year for me so it’s a worthwhile investment. Find out more & see if you’re eligible for an Amazon Prime free trial in the US or Amazon Prime in the UK here.
I’d love to know if you use any of these, or if there are any suggestions here you’d like to try for yourself or buy for someone else this Christmas. Do you have any ideas to add to the list?
Caz ♥
29 comments
Fabulous suggestions!
Glad you liked them – thanks, Ashley! ???? xx
We were just talking about ancestry kits last night, we’ve done AncestryDNA, but our friend decided she should try more than one company as she wasn’t satisfied with the results – not exotic enough! It would be fun to give a kit to aonmeone who hasn’t tried it.
I got a Kindle Paperwhite when the family clubbed together for a special birthday and it’s been one of my best presents.
It’s interesting that the metrics differ between companies. I know even Ancestry updated theirs recently, so you now get different results to what you may have got before. I agree, it would be fun to give the kit to someone who’s not tried it. I’d definitely be interested, especially ancestry plus health. Aw I’m glad you like your Kindle Paperwhite! My mum had one from a few years ago as a birthday present, then I got her a little Fire tablet for last Christmas. I fear I’ve set off an addiction as 99% of the time now she’s got it in her hand! Thanks for the comment, Janet. Have a lovely week ???? xx
A terrific list of gifts….the Amazon Echo is terrific, playing any music you ask for, and can be programmed to do so much more as well….and the iWatch is a great exercise device as well!
Do you have an iWatch then, John? Would you say it seems accurate with the likes of heart rate, calories, sleep etc? It’s amazing to see how far technology is coming and the things it can help with in our day to day lives! Thanks for the comment ????x
Great gift ideas. I’ve been thinking about the iPad with pencil 🙂 I do have the mini one and I love it, I have the Kindle app on it, so I buy most of my books on Kindle and have them wherever I go, great for when you go to doctor office or travel. Those circulation boosters sound great. Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. <3
I went for the regular iPad (I think the 2018 version?) which I got a little more cheaply through eBay. That works with the first gen Apple pencil, but I can’t bring myself to pay so much for it as I’m not sure how much I’d really use it. However, I know a fellow blogger who’s got one (with an iPad Pro) and absolutely loves it, so if you do go for the pencil one day I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun with it! Thank you for the comment, Masha. I hope the week is treating you kindly with lots of WOW moments ♥ xx
Thank you for your response, right now my iPad is still fairly new and works perfect, so I can’t see myself getting a new one just because of the pencil, but if I get a new one in the future most likely I will.
Thank you so much for the info. Happy Holidays
Excellent idea, Caz. I keep reading about those weighted blankets. Might have to treat myself.
I’m very tempted by them too, Liz! Whoever caves and gets one first can let the other know what it’s like ????I currently use a regular blanket and weight it manually with my dressing gown on top! xx
Very good economical choices. I have several older generation Kindle Fires in my dresser drawer doing very little. Amazon has a trade-in program (Not sure for UK) for older Fires. https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Trade-In/b?ie=UTF8&node=10825010011
I have a 3rd. 5th, and 7th gen Kindle. I plan on keeping them (Just cause Im a geek) but no reason for anybody else. They will give up to $30 us dollars and a gift card card for $25 us, when buying the newest Kindle.
Wow, I wonder if you should save one of your old Fire tablets for posterity (may be worth something in future ????) and recycle the others for a few pennies. Or save them all up and go for a Guinness world record! Interesting about the trade-in program, I hadn’t known Amazon offer that so thank you for sharing – that could be very helpful for a lot of people! I find Amazon can be very customer-oriented so it’s always good to know what other initiatives they run.xx
Another great round of ideas! The circulation booster sounds very interesting.
I’m glad you liked the suggestions! The circulation booster is pricey but I think if you have some of the symptoms it proposes it could help with then it can also be a very worthwhile investment, at least that what I’ve found with getting one for my mother. Thanks for the comment! Hope you’re having a good week so far ???? x
My hubby just got us an Echo Dot for Xmas. I’m not really sure what it does yet… See when we open it 😉 Thanks for the gift ideas!
Ooo I’m curious about those too – it’s something you can look forward to playing with at Christmas (don’t get frustrated with it, as I did with a Google Home mini thing I couldn’t get to sync up at all! ????) Thanks for the comment, Christy – have a lovely week! xx
great suggestions. here in Los Angeles, seems like most everyone has a fit bit type of thing on their wrist…
Do you have one? They’re certainly getting very popular. I find myself seeing them more often than not now, too. Makes me curious what the hype it all about! Have a lovely week, da-AL xx
Great List! I now have to re-do my Christmas wish list for Nate and Alex:)
Dream big on your wish list, Cecilia ????xx
These are all really great ideas!! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Glad you liked them, Michelle – thanks for the comment! ???? xx
Some great ideas in here. I’ve got the air purifier – I got it for my dog but I reckon it’s helping me too ????
That’s a lucky doggy! I love the Levoit one, fab purifier. Glad you liked the suggestions – thanks for the comment, Alice ???? xx
Thank You for all the information on new and useful gadgets. Hope you are keeping well <3
I hope you liked them – thanks, Deepa. I hope you’re keeping as well as possible, too – have a restful weekend! ???? xx
My boys are each getting a weighted blanket this Christmas. I’m eager to see if it helps calm some of their moments of fun-filled teenage angst 😛
Aww such a sweet thing to get them ♥ I’d love to know which type you got & how they find them – hope they love their new blankies (but you realise you may never get them out of bed now!) xx