MidwestMama

I'll throw in my mixed up gift giving too.. I have 4 kids, sis has 1, brother has none. He is a Scrooge and never wanted to give gifts, so we don't exchange with him and did with sister. But this year she said she didn't want to, so we will all only give gifts to my dad. Mom passed away this year and she had shopping to an art form. It was so amazing what she would come up with and having a clearance sticker on it was like a badge of honor. So, this year I asked my dad what he wanted and he is spending $100 on each grandchild with the parents buying and wrapping for him. We used to trade with my mom's sister's family, but that has stopped this year too. We never exchanged with my dad's side... 6 siblings and lots of children. Grandma gave each grandchild $10. Dh family... there are lots of divorces and remarriages so it gets complicated. We give each grandparent/stepgrandparent a gift (which is challenging) and each parent/step parent a present. We have finally whittled it down to just exchanging for the kids. We draw names... kind of, really we just call who we want (like maybe we found something already) and since I have 4 kids and 4 nieces/nephews I get each of them something anyways. One of the xmas that we used to go to had a white elephant that was supposed to be gag gifts and then slowly transformed into not gag and it was a mess. People would get mad when someone stole their gift on their turn and some brought yummy chocolates and some brought half burned candles. The hostess got mad and went off on everyone one year because people had left the gag gifts they didn't want (including a big hairdryer system like in a saloon) at her house and she had to dispose of them etc... So we do not bring gifts to that when we do attend that gathering. They did a seperate one for the kids and we just gave the kids a present instead too, we have 4 boys who were always getting barbie movies missing their boxes etc...

In the product description is says "Includes more than 500 plastic logs in small, medium and large sizes." yet in all feedback it sounds as if they are wooden... Can you clarify which it is? I am thinking of buying 2 sets, but not sure how big these are... do they come in something the size of a bathroom garbage can, smaller, bigger??? Trying to keep in mind storage.

Toshiba was my first brand of laptop. It lasted about 15 months and the connection between the keyboard and monitor went out. It was more than $350 to fix so I just bought another.

I usually use bigwords with the ISBN. I put this ones ISBN in and came up with http://www4.bigwords.com/search/index.php?z=getprices&cache=1ab7d01e24eb7307e9b7f2dffdb5518a It shows half.com as cheapest, but barely. It is $8.31 with shipping.

I really want this ad. My plan is currently WalMart, then Kohls, then Target... but Menards may reconfigure that order... Luckily they are all within 1 block.

Their $4 jammies and $8 coats are a killer deal too! I would check with their mom if they need those and if so I would be all over that, and jeans for $4 or $8 depending on size is good too.

I love www.bigwords.com They do a GREAT comparison shopping thing and I use them all the time. It started out for textbooks but now they do all books, dvds, music etc...

Went to Target today, ds had pics taken there. I did find PopTarts with the $1 peelie on them like in the WalMart thread a little while ago. They are $1.82 so that made them $.82. I bought 3 boxes, we NEVER eat pop tarts but thought it may be a tasty treat... no MM yet... someday... Are there ever coupons on MM in general? I need to buy some to get the rebates for the movies, but they were full price so thought I'd check before buying them...

These are on sale now on Amazon for $20.99. They are $25 at WalMart and this has no tax, so another perk... http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0018CEQ1I/ref=nosim/msols-20

Hmmm, I just bought the big cozy blanket at Target to price adjust on BF for $35... do you think these are comparable? I just got it because people on here said it was great. I think I'd get 2 twins instead of 1 king if I did this so we weren't fighting over blankets.

Notice that the first posts are from a month ago, they haven't dropped their prices back down for awhile. But it does drive me nuts that they do switch their prices all around.

I like the Omaha Steak idea, are there any coupons out there? MIL wanted steak knives so this would bundle well. Then that would cover step FIL too. For FIL we got him a sweatshirt (how original huh?) but he doesn't exchange with his kids, we just get him a present. My mom passed away this year but for other years I tried to find little things that went with her hobbies. She quilted so I'd get her a calendar with quilts (She requested this) different fabrics, little tools I'd find at JoAnns on clearance to see if they were helpful. This year I got dad a drill bit set from Sears (BF $9.99) a calendar of Mustangs (the cars as he is totally into Mustangs) and something else that I already have forgotten... Hmmm He used to like getting sweatshirts from his Alma Mater, but he has plenty of those already.

Oh my, at first I thought it was from 10/28/08!!! You'd be having a BIG Christmas with that much new stuff!!! I'd hope to be on your present list! I haven't ordered from them before but my aunt called yesterday and said she wants a cheap laptop now, so I will be watching them. She was mad I didn't tell her about the $298 WalMart laptop, as if I am to KNOW what relatives are looking for and do their shopping for them!

I go shopping alone, so this doesn't work for me, but last year, in line at Kohls, there were several groups in line by me that would have one person stand in line while the other 2 or so in their group, would shop. I was in line for about 1 hour 20 min, so you get a lot of shopping time in that way... Just something to consider. They all rang out together, I wasn't mad, just jealousl. I have to say, Kohls was VERY organized and efficient, they were just so busy!!! 4am though??? Ouch!

I really do feel that way!!! And some of the things on TRU really surprised me as they aren't TOYS!!!

All of the wii things I looked at are at full price though, or am I missing something?

Our stores didn't have a lot of toys up on top yet. But... I asked for the Sleeping Beauty DVD. They didn't have a place for them anywheres, not a label, nothing, but the guy went in back and said they had TONS of them there and wasn't sure why they weren't out I know why... Bought one to price adjust

Do you have a Kohls around there? If so... watch for their good sale codes and when they come out you can order from them and they can return things to the store easily if they don't fit. I have gotten a lot of clothes for my boys there and toys too. I love free shipping. Aldi tends to have cheap (price wise) toys this time of year.

Dh is looking at several that are like 699! I about had a heart attack. I thought it was going to be something under $100 and the size of a backpack. He used to be in a band and sold most of his gear several years ago. I have no problem with him getting a little amp to mess around with but with 4 kids I sure hope he doesn't think he is going to get back in a band! He is already in grad school and working full time plus the kids. It was this or golf, he wants to take up golf. But golf takes him away from home, guitar he can play at home and play with the kids at some point... I remember he used to get stuff from Musicians Friend too. Thanks for your help!

I just made my $6.99 calendar. I spent HOURS on it! I found the layout options, background designs, etc... and added our school early dismissal, days off, etc... I sure hope it comes out well!

How lame is it that my heart has actually been skipping beats to read that! Shameful, I know. AND BRING ON MENARDS!!!!!! I LOVE MENARDS! And I have rebates to spend there.

That is so sweet of you for your niece. My mom and dad did this once for my cousin. She had 4 kids and the youngest was born premature so they had been at the NICU for months. Rough year. Her only request was that they not tell people (like all of my other cousins!!!) including their children as they didn't want any credit for this, just wanted to make one thing a little easier for them that year. My mom felt so good because she knew it was doing good, and my cousin and her hubby were able to give their kids a great xmas with no stress on paying for presents. And my mom passed away this year too. It has really affected my shopping. She started me of BF stuff years ago and I have honestly really really missed being able to call her each day and tell her what all I got for such great prices! Good luck with the holidays.

I got my coupons for 20% off at Home Depot on eBay to use at Lowes. I paid a couple bucks for it, I've never seen them on Craigslist or Freecycle and I used them for buying carpet so it was well worth that money!

Mine were in a yellow bubble lined envelope. They came in the mail, not from UPS/Fed Ex etc...

Kohls sells Airators also. My sons both love these. These are on sale for $25 (Wow, may have to get them for that price...) http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/landingpages/skechers/kids/PRD~342860/Skechers+Supercharger++Nucleons+Shoes.jsp I am sure there are Kohls codes too