budgetsRsexy

Giz - another suggestion we found helpful was to have something to roll the dice into. That keeps the dice from falling off the table and it’s easier/faster to pass them on to the next person that way too. We used a pie plate at someone else’s suggestion but it was loud so maybe a fabric lined basket would be better than something that’s made of metal or glass.

I think the biggest thing is to make sure you tear off the Saran Wrap and start it in a different direction fairly regularly. It’s super easy to unravel the ball if you have a really long continuous piece. You should also make one of the rules that you can’t tear the Saran Wrap, you actually have to find the end each time and unravel from there.

Christmas cards - done [emoji736] Shopping - done [emoji736] Wrapping - done [emoji736] The Christmas tree has been assembled, all the lights fixed and the limbs fluffed. Just need to hang the ornaments today and then pack for my trip on Sunday. Feeling really good about about where things are at [emoji16]

Finished my Christmas cards tonight and I’ve wrapped everything except the gifts for the 5 pets of the family (which go in recycled gift bags so that should be easy). We are done with shopping except for husband still needs to buy something for his niece but that’s on his to do list not mine. My mom agreed to make the peanut butter fudge so now I just need to focus on decorating. The only thing that really matters to me is the tree so anything I manage beyond that is icing on the cake. Oh yeah, and at some point I have to pack for the trip from NY to VA, including clothes, presents and for the first time our dog. It’s going to be an interesting drive down [emoji15]

I’d be happy to send your mom a card from upstate NY. PM me her address if you like [emoji3]

After speaking with my sister in law it seems like I won’t need to do any baking until after I get down to Virginia on the 20th. It also looks like I’m only going to need to make pumpkin bread and press cookies (and maybe peanut butter fudge if I can’t con my mom into making it, I use her recipe but somehow hers just tastes better). That just made the To Do list look a lot less scary.

Just got back from the post office and messaged my tracking number. Hope they like it [emoji4]

Came home to a package on my doorstep from my Secret Santa! I’m going to hold off on opening it for now, though I know there’s no way it will last until Christmas. Thanks in advance, I’m sure it will be just perfect.

Has anyone purchased an actual physical item from Groupon? Wondering if the items that are received are legit brands or if there are issues with knock offs. Also, what are the shipping timeframes like? I’ve only ever gotten tickets and discounted events or meals through them before so I was hoping other people could chime in with their experiences.

My last shipment arrived today and I managed to go and at least buy my Christmas cards. DH said he would update the card mailing list, print my address labels and buy stamps for me this week so I can power through and write all the cards while watching football on Sunday. I’m hoping to get my Secret Santa gift wrapped and packaged Friday and mail it Saturday right when the post office opens. I plan to leave all my wrapping items out overnight Friday to force me to do some wrapping for my family on Saturday. If I can get all my wrapping and cards done this weekend then I will feel a lot better about my to do list.

I have one more gift to buy for my husband and I’m hoping to get that done on my way home from work tomorrow. I have one package I’m waiting on and it’s the last item for my Secret Santa. Amazon was supposed to deliver it today but now they say by Friday. My husband still has to get something for his 15 year old niece and then we still have to wrap everything. I haven’t done any decorating or baking yet and now that I’m typing this all I’m starting to get freaked out by everything that’s left. We leave for Virginia where my father in law lives on the 20th so I lose a whole weekend in which to accomplish things too [emoji15] UPDATE: oh lord, I completely forgot about Christmas cards. No idea how I’m going to pull this all off.

My dog (who is essentially my kid as I can’t have kids) is having surgery today to remove a broken tooth. If everyone could send good thoughts, karma or prayers to whatever power you believe in that would be awesome. He means the world to me and all I want for Christmas is for him to be ok. Thanks. UPDATE: It’s been a long trying day and despite some complications everything turned out well with the oral surgery and my dog is back at home. He’s still a little loopy from the anesthesia but he had an appetite which I will take as a good sign (he’s a lab and food is his entire world). Thanks for all the good vibes, I really appreciate it. You guys are the best.

You make spending the Kohl’s cash sound like a chore [emoji12]

My budget ended up changing quite a bit. My husband’s half of the family decided that adults won’t be exchanging gifts this year, we are just doing something for kids. As there is only 1 kid so far that makes things super easy and way cheaper. I took some of the gift budget and ended up buying some new clothes for me for the holidays (I’ve lost 40 pounds but can’t quite get back into my old skinny clothes yet so I’ve had a very limited wardrobe for a while now). It was nice to do something for myself and not feel too guilty about it.

Just wanted to thank everyone for their ideas and input on this thread. My family was very skeptical about the game when I brought it out and explained it to them but everyone ended up having a blast. My ball ended up having 30 items in it for the six of us and I managed to keep the cost right around $50. I think this will be our new Thanksgiving family tradition [emoji3]

Really looking forward to the conversations going on year round. It’s nice to read what everyone is up to.

So far a pair of adidas warm up pants for my husband and a Nike hoodie for me both for free. I still have a little more left so maybe some athletic socks for DH. I tried to hold off on purchasing the items that coupons don’t work on and save my Kohl’s cash for those instead to get a better deal.

So far I’ve received 2 packages and I’m only expecting 3 more this week. I was able to use in store pick up for a lot of my online orders. It helped me to avoid shipping charges and in some cases earned me bonus Kohl’s cash. It is also a little less stressful because I know Within a couple hours if my order is going to be fulfilled rather than waiting for sometimes several days for shipping confirmations to be received.

Over the course of the week I made 3 Kohl’s online orders (clothes and google home hub) and 1 Target online order (board games). Online really comes in handy when you can’t be out standing in line for the doors to open. It also was a life saver when things are sold out at your individual store or if they never got inventory in in the first place. Online definitely has its time and place and is a great supplement but i don’t think it will ever replace going out to the B&M stores for me. Until I’m too old and frail I’ll be out there shopping in person.

Sometimes I wonder if the person who received the gift card isn’t coming forward because they are getting a good laugh out of us all going crazy over needing to know. Wouldn’t that be a wonderfully evil little trick to play on everyone? [emoji15]

So you want Amazon then [emoji12] BF has changed a lot in just the last decade, who knows what the next 10 years will bring. What I do know is that I fully intend to join in on whatever fun there is to be had.

I wish more stores would offer some different items on Friday vs Thursday. I only go out early morning Friday and it would be nice to have first crack at just a couple door busters. I think it would also encourage more people to be out on each day which would be nice to get to at least sort of experience the crowds of BF of yesteryear so to speak.

That explains a lot of my personal experiences while out on BF. It seemed like the lines at the in store pick up counters were far busier than the checkout lines in all the stores that we went to on Friday morning. I only had to wait once to check out and there was only one person ahead of me so it was just for a minute or less.

Had a great time shopping with my dad on Friday morning. We met up at Kohl’s at 5:30am and hit the ground running despite it only being 9 degrees out. Kohl’s - my dad purchased a $9 men’s flannel shirt and $5 socks, used a $10 off $10 coupon so his total was $4 Lowe’s - I picked up the 21 piece Bosch drill bet set for $13 Staples - dad got the $10 gallon of Elmer’s glue that they had on sale Home Depot - I grabbed the $10 Bosch set of 12 spade drill bits in the ad Target - I bought a few prize items and Saran Wrap for the Saran Wrap Ball game we were playing Friday night $5 JCPenney - I returned a pair of jeans and a sweater that I bought the week earlier Office Max - my dad got a cell phone power pack for $8 Old Navy - I grabbed a Buffalo Bills T-shirt for $12.50 By then it was 9:30 so we met up with my mom, husband, sister and sister in law for breakfast. I won our Black Friday bingo game so my dad had to buy breakfast. Afterwards my husband and I went to Dick’s (2 shirts for $36) and then a local pet store ($20 on dog treats). I was home by 12. Overall it was a great day but there were hardly any people out until after 10:30. No one seemed to be in a rush and were just perusing the sales like it was another Saturday at the mall. Even my dad commented that BF as we know it is dead and we’ll be telling the next generation “back in the good old days” stories about BF.

Just got my shipping confirmation on my last Kohl’s item. So glad my order wasn’t cancelled and that I found out before I purchased the item from a second retailer as a back up plan. Now to spend my Kohl’s cash while they still have deals on Nike and other athletic brands.