A woman has saved £300 by getting almost all of her Christmas presents from the charity shop - bagging bargains for family members for as little as £1.



Jessica Apps, 31, is a self-proclaimed "grandma at heart", and loves spending her weekends trawling through local charity shops to find hidden gems."



And with the cost of living crisis meaning money is tight this Christmas, the photographer, from Newquay, Cornwall,

has decided to save some cash by buying her loved ones second hand gifts.



On average, Jessica has spent £5 each on her gifts, and has spent just £175 in total on gifts for 35 people.

She said: "I'm a bit of a grandma at heart, and I love mooching around charity shops."



"I love the quirky things you can find that you wouldn't get anywhere else. "

"Christmas is so expensive, so this year I've decided to save money, and I've bought about 70% of my presents from the charity shop. "

"I've saved £300 so far, I'd usually spend £60 on my sister, but I've managed to get her gifts for £10."



"On average, I spent £5 on people's gifts, and I've managed to get gifts for 35 people for just £175."

"I got my auntie some coffee and tea jars for £1 each - they were originally £36 from Next! "

"I also managed to get a silver platter for a fiver that probably would have cost hundreds new." "

Jessica describes her charity shopping habit as like an "addiction", and said she can't walk past a second-hand store without going in. "

"I love to have a rummage and see what I can find," she said."

"I get about 60% of my clothes from charity shops. "

"There's a store quite close to me that I go in every week, because I love it so much." "

Jessica is currently building her own house, and loves heading to the bric a brac section to find unusual homeware.

"I like to be able to find special things that you can't find in regular shops," she said."

In previous years, Jessica has picked up bits and bobs for loved ones from the charity shop, but this year, she has decided to save cash, by buying almost everything second hand.



"It's so good because you can hit two birds with one stone by donating to charity and getting some lovely things for friends and family as well", she said."



"It's like a treasure hunt. You never know what you're going to find, but when you do find something, it means so much more than just buying it from a regular shop." "

Jessica said she has saved a whopping £300 through buying gifts from the charity shop and said that although it has taken her a little longer to get the gifts together, she has enjoyed hunting for special items her loved ones will really appreciate.



She added that many of the things she has bought from the charity shop have never been used.

"So many of the gifts are things I would have bought anyway, from regular shops," she said."

"Loads of stuff still has tags on, so I've saved a lot of money." "

Some of Jessica's proudest bargains are a set of tea, coffee and sugar jars for her auntie, that she got for £1 each, and originally cost £36 from Next.



"They were brand new, and they were perfect", she said."



And as a Christmas treat for herself, she picked up a silver platter for a fiver, that she thinks would have originally cost hundreds of pounds.



Jessica said that if you want to find the best charity shop bargains, you should check your local shops regularly.



"Sometimes you can go in and not buy anything, and then the next day you can go in, and they've changed their stock, and they've got so much many more things, and you're like a kid in a candy store", she said."