It’s that time of year again when I challenge myself to see if I can still fill a shoebox for under £10.00, without using any free items 😊.  I first challenged myself in 2020 and so far, have still managed to do it.  Some prices have gone up but amazingly some have gone down.  I do use sites like Temu and Amazon Haul now, and some of the shops I used to visit such as Poundstretcher no longer have a store near me.

The first box is filled with items I’ve been picking up over the year, so some items will now be more expensive. Based on the Link to Hope leaflet I’ve included the 6 essential items and then added 5 additional items.

As you can see this has come to well under £5.00, and so leaves lots of money to add further items to make the box extra special. 

This brings the combined total to £9.96, with plenty of items for the whole family. You could swap items out and add another pair of gloves, a beanie hat, or more sweets.

The second Family £10.00 Challenge is filled using items available in September and October 2026

The items for the basic shoebox using items available in September or October has cost nearly £2.00 more than the first box. However that still leaves nearly £3.50 to make the box extra special.

That also comes to a combined total of £9.96 the same as the first box but with half the number of additional items.  It still makes a great box.

If you knit or crochet, you could probably knit 3 beanie hats from one ball of wool.  Aldi had reduced some wool to 69p a ball – though they had limited colours.  I’ve gone for a more expensive pencil sharpener, but you can get packs with 5 erasers and 4 plastic pencil sharpeners for £1.00 in places like The Range or Home Bargains. Or if you do several shoeboxes buy a multi pack from Temu or Amazon.

Both boxes provide well beyond the minimum requirements and would bring happiness to any family receiving them. Even if you just choose some of the cheaper options suggested for toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and playing cards, you could spend extra on more sweets, extra colouring pencils and drawing paper. If you only need one face cloth, Home Bargains sell individual ones in several pastel shades for 29p.