A mum has snapped back at social media users calling her “selfish” for buying second-hand Christmas presents.
Sarah Falls is mum to Ella, five, Arlo, two, and seven-month-old Koah, who she shares with husband Aaron.
With such a young family, the 32-year-old says her little ones don’t “need” for anything.
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As such, Sarah, who thinks it is time to change the mentality towards Santa Claus and gift-giving, has only purchased second-hand goods for them this Christmas.
She shared her bargain finds with her 26,100 followers on TikTok, where the news has received mixed reviews with over 109,000 views.
Some people are slamming the mum for not purchasing new gifts.
“I have a young family so when I was asking the kids what they wanted, their answers were toothpicks, cars and cookies,” Sarah, who is currently on maternity leave from her recruitment job, told What’s The Jam.
“It just shows that they don’t ‘need’ for anything.
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“I then started looking at stuff they could play with without purchasing new, which is kinder to the environment and the bank account.
“I have tried to buy exclusively second-hand.
“I thought, why buy a car new when there are a bunch of near new ones [products] in charity shops.
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“I would like to say I’m surprised by the negativity [that I’ve received online] but it’s the internet and it could have gone one of two ways.
“I was shocked at the fact that people still think so negatively about charity shopping in general, especially in this economy.
“But it has not changed my opinion one bit, I know my kids will love everything I’ve gotten them.”
The mum, from Darwin, set herself a strict budget of £75.50 for each child and claims thrifting has saved her £500.
She said: “At the end of the day, my daughter will react the same way to a second-hand back pack as she would a new one.
“The majority of their toys at the moment are second-hand or hand-me-downs from family and friends.
“They don’t know the difference and just love getting ‘new stuff’.”
In the clip shared online, Sarah shares some of the items from her bargain haul.
She pulls out a pack of pencils, stickers, colouring book, toy cars, a bunny rabbit, trainers and some clothing.
The mum captioned the video: “Thrifting for my kids Christmas presents. This was a bit of thrift for everyone. There was so much nice stuff. My kids almost have enough now.”
The clip has 4,600 likes and hundreds of comments.
One person commented: “She’s selfish, rather get lip injections than buy new toys for her kids.”
Shauna said: “That’s just stuff I buy on any given day for my kid…”
Someone else wrote: “You can so tell someone has worn the vans.”
Stormy added: “Wearing brand names but gets her kids charity shop toys for Christmas…”
Maggie said: “I think for Christmas kids deserve something new.”
Larissa added: “I would cry.”
But others were big fans of the idea.
Kaz said: “Love this!”
Ros added: “Good job mum!”
Karynne commented: “Ok I love this because it’s not only about saving money but one day it’ll also teach them to reuse and slow down with consumerism.”
Joanne wrote: “Such an amazing idea.”
READ MORE: Mancunian lad, 7, spends £500 of his own money on Christmas gifts for other kids
