My £10.00 Family Shoebox Challenge 2022 – Link to Hope

A few weeks ago I challenged myself to see if it was still possible to fill a shoebox for an elderly couple for under £10.00 for Link to Hope which I managed, – but could I also do a family box and include items for all the family in 2022?

There are 2 boxes – The first is using bargains I’ve picked up so far this year, which might no-longer be available, and the second is items that you should still be able to get in August/September 2022.

First Box

The first box is to see how cheaply I could fill a family box using my best buys during the year.

As I said above – this is based on bargains I’ve found from shopping around, throughout the year, buying them when they are on offer, so some items are no longer available at these prices, but there are still bargains around. A 4 pack of 12 small coloured pencils for £1.50 from Poundland working out 38p per pack of 12, instead of the pack of 8 felt pens, and you could just put one pack of toothbrushes in the box instead of 2 but I like to put at least 4 toothbrushes in family boxes. It’s also possible to buy 5 packs of Love Hearts for £1.00 from Asda so 20p per pack, or 10 mini packs of Skittles from Poundland or Tesco, so 10p per pack. (Personally I’d put more than one mini pack of Skittles in the box as they are very small.)

I use this link for a free download of snakes and ladders to print out, but there are others https://classplayground.com/shared/pdf/Snakes_And_Ladders_US_Letter2.pdf .   You would need to find a dice to add to the snakes and ladders print along with some buttons or counters.   I got 5 dice with packs of playing cards so there was no extra cost for me. (I usually fold the game and put it in a plastic bag along with the dice and counters to keep them safe.)

In reality, I would add more items – socks, drawing paper, more sweets, more toys, hair accessories etc etc.  This is just to show if you shop around it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.

Second box

Items you should still be able to purchase around the UK in August, September 2022.

Link to Hope suggest adding at least 5 additional items and above I’ve added 9 additional items, and there is still scope to add more.  A yoyo 25p (from 4 pack from Home Bargains), and mini activity book 13p each from pack of 8 Poundland, or more sweets, or, mini pliers or screwdriver 50p Poundland.

Alternatively Poundland have several different toy car options for a £1.00 if you don’t have a One Below near you, which you could add instead of the 3 pairs of socks, and still add another pair of gloves or sweets etc, or maybe just one pair of socks.

Get Creative

If you can knit basic knit (garter) stitch you can easily knit a headband, and if you can increase and decrease you could knit a beanie hat.  If you have sewing accessories at home, you could create a mini sewing kit to add to the shoebox.  Do you have any costume jewellery you don’t wear that you could add? Drawing pads seem quite pricey at the moment but if you have any printing paper – you could cut sheets in half, and staple of paper clip them together to provide some A5 drawing paper to go with the felt pens.  Make a reusable noughts and crosses game. I hope to add some instructions in the next few weeks for some of the above.

There are lots of options to fill a shoebox for under £10.00 if you shop around – I personally avoid spending £1.00 or more on one toothbrush when I know I could get 8 toothbrushes from Tesco , or Asda for the same price (My local One Below have some packs of 8 toothbrushes for £1.00 back in stock – though they also have 6 for £1.00 also on display!)   Primark also do a pack of 5 for 75p not quite as good value as 8 for £1.00 but still good value and ensures most of the family get their own toothbrush 😊.  

Search around and find those bargains 😊