Holiday 2017 Shopping

[melanielll]

I have finally gotten my older daughter to see that getting cash is the way to go. My younger one - still not interested. She does, however, have a Pandora jewelry addiction. So - Nov 2 is when the winter stuff hits the stores. She and I will swoop in and build her a new bracelet. Between now and then I will order her some PS4 games and some anime stuff.

That leaves me with only stockings left to fill. Now - stockings at our house are a huge deal. The contents of 4 stockings cover our entire dining room table. That shopping begins in October.

My husband and I don't exchange gifts. We just buy what we want. This began because he is the worst gift giver I have ever met. He gave me a barometer for my birthday the first year we were married . Why??? He gave me a monitor for his computer on another birthday. I know why on this one. And - the one that would have allowed me to kill him and get away with it - he gave me an exercise bike one year. He told me that I wasn't fat, but that I needed to keep it up. Last gift he ever bought me and close to being the last thing he ever bought.

So - Christmas this year - Pandora in November, some online ordering before that and hitting up various stores for a table full of fun things between October and November.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We refer to cash gifts as "green pictures of dead presidents."

 

[MapleGirl]

Now - stockings at our house area huge deal. The contents of 4 stockings cover our entire dining room table. That shopping begins in October.

I LOVE stockings. DH and I get stockings for each other and my friends and I do stockings too. I also do a stocking for the dogs and cats.

 

[MapleGirl]

I like to use this site https://www.bfads.net/Hot-Deals.

It does all the Black Friday sales closer to the Holidays however, year round you find some good stuff.

I also like slickdeals.net

 

[holden]

The only gift I bought so far is a toy called a Fingerling. A friend of mine (known as Mama Cheaps) told me she thinks it will be the hot toy if the holiday season, so I picked one up just to have it. It was only $15.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I don't shop early because I like to get my kids and SO things they actually want. Not just things I find on sale that they don't really care about. They aren't thinking about Christmas just yet. I start around mid November.

 

[Meriweather]

Subject for family dinner tonight......I need ideas.

I am almost done with DGS other than some clothes. Need to wait and see what size he is going to be in when the time is closer.
I think I know what I am getting DGD, but want to check with DS.
BFF is done.
The rest of the family.......couple stocking stuffers, nothing else. I do have an idea for DD but haven't bought anything yet

 

[MetalMasterC]

I really don't have people to shop for, nor have the money. So I don't worry about holiday shopping.

 

[Mizzoufan]

It's not Dec 24 lol

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

I LOVE stockings! We could not do presents and just do stockings and I'd be ok with that.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

I LOVE stockings! We could not do presents and just do stockings and I'd be ok with that.

I'm with you on that point. I LOVE stockings! My sister's inlaws have a giant stocking for each family member. They never wrapped gifts, just kept adding the gifts to the big stocking and then stitched them up at the top before Christmas. Christmas Day they just cut the stitching and dove in!

I saw some larger "Santa's bags" that cinched at the top at Marshall's last Christmas. They were in all different styles and I was so tempted to buy them and give up gift wrapping for just "tons of fun stuff in a bag," but the entire clan voted me off Christmas Island for that suggestion.

 

[la79al]

The only gift I bought so far is a toy called a Fingerling. A friend of mine (known as Mama Cheaps) told me she thinks it will be the hot toy if the holiday season, so I picked one up just to have it. It was only $15.

I think I might need one of these! I already got DD9 a Little Live Pets turtle she was begging for and I'm hoping to get DD2 a Little Live Pets ladybug set so a monkey would fit right in. Only decision is how many of my kids are going to want one...

As far as shopping already done? The LLP turtle and 2 hammock swings so far. DD9 is getting classes and stuff and trying to decide bike, handheld game system, both or neither for DD6. DD2 will be hardest because we just have so many toys already!

 

[melanielll]

One kid's stocking haul from a few years ago. It's good to know me sometimes.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

One kid's stocking haul from a few years ago. It's good to know me sometimes.

That must have been one gigantic stocking!

 

[SallySkelington]

I don't have any little ones yet, so I'll be doing stockings for most of my family. The only thing outside of that will be DBF, he's getting a pair of Sanuks. He wore a hole through his last pair and I've had to hide them because he's insistent on wearing them everywhere.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

OMG I know it will be upon us before we know it, but I have yet to begin shopping for it.

 

[luvsJack]

For those you who really enjoy the stockings, on average how much do you spend on stocking stuffers per person?

I used to do a stocking for each kid, then added dils and did one stocking for each couple plus one for dd. Then the grands came. So one for each of them was added. Problems were I was spending more on stockings than anything else and I felt like it was a lot of "junk". So, maybe I am looking at it all wrong. So just as an idea, what do you usually spend?

 

[McKelly]

Four months from today!

 

[Frozen Canuck]

For those you who really enjoy the stockings, on average how much do you spend on stocking stuffers per person?

I used to do a stocking for each kid, then added dils and did one stocking for each couple plus one for dd. Then the grands came. So one for each of them was added. Problems were I was spending more on stockings than anything else and I felt like it was a lot of "junk". So, maybe I am looking at it all wrong. So just as an idea, what do you usually spend?

Okay, so this is just for me personally. I buy mostly for my three kids, two of whom are college-aged/adults and a child. I also do a few things for my husband and if we are together with any other family members like parents or daughter-in-law, then I try to put some things together for them as well so everybody has something to look forward to. For my immediate family, I would guess that I might spend about $50/stocking, which may sound like a lot, BUT I do my best not to put in any "junk" just for the sake of having stuff in there. (Editing to add that for other guests it might be about $20-$25 depending on who it is and what I can pick up.)

I put some serious thought into what each person's interests and likes are (food, hobbies, pastimes, etc.) and try to assemble items for them personally. I figure that even if it is a quality item, but the person will never use it, then it is also pretty much "junk" to that person. (Exhibit A: I hate candles, but let me tell you how many candles I have been given as gifts throughout the years!) The items don't have to be overly expensive. Consumable items like single serving snacks, seasonings, or other food items like a specialty soda (buy a four or six-pack and put one in each sock) may end up in there. I bought my younger son some kids fruit-flavoured toothpaste last year for his stocking and his older sister kept using it up on him saying that it reminded her of her childhood (because I used to buy it for her at Christmas). Guess what is going in both stockings this year? Sometimes you can find sets of things available around Christmas time for a reasonable price, like perhaps beauty items all packaged together. Go ahead and open the set up, dump the entire contents in and consider the stocking filled.

Obviously, the more people you are buying for, the more costs add up, no matter how economical you are trying to be. And some people are just hard to buy for. I find that for my husband, his stocking usually ends up with just a few things, but I try to make sure that they are quality items he will use. For the kids, I can get away with adding more inexpensive items like fun band-aids, puzzle books or card games, toothbrushes, candy, etc.

There are lots of other ideas for relatively inexpensive stocking stuffer ideas over on the Stocking Stuffer thread. Perhaps it will give you some ideas and help you keep costs down.

 

[wenrob]

View attachment 264293

One kid's stocking haul from a few years ago. It's good to know me sometimes.

I thought I had a stocking problem but...

Oldest DD just had her birthday and about now is when I start thinking/planning Christmas but not quite shopping yet. She is getting harder and harder to shop for since she has her own money and buys what she wants. Younger two are just about out of the toy phase I think and have been briefed on Santa Mama. (they knew, we were just dancing around each other about it)

Younger two will also be turning 12 a week after Thanksgiving so I have to figure that into my list as well.

So far (not bought just planning stage):

Older DD- Go Pro with accessories. A waterproof bag for her hiking backpack. Hiking poles. Real GPS. (anyone have suggestions on a GPS?)

Younger two- Upgrade their iPads. Their Mini 2's are starting to get long in the tooth and storage is starting to become a problem. Wireless earbuds. An Xbox One or a Nintendo Switch. I'm leaning towards the Xbox One. (I'll take opinions on them gladly.) Video Games.