budgetsRsexy

Oh my word I’m so last minute with my post! May has been filled with yard work and garage sales (that’s how I get my bargain hunting fix at this time of year). The thrill of Black Friday can’t come soon enough for me [emoji3] Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

You are not crazy, a good deal is a good deal! As long as you know the recipients tastes/ likes won’t change there is nothing wrong with it. It helps to spread out the expense of it all too. I have done a tiny bit of shopping for my coworkers in the after Christmas sales, but that’s it for me so far. I have come up with some gift ideas for others and written them down for when it gets closer. I have really had BF on the brain a lot lately and miss all the conversations. Can’t wait for October/November and all the excitement to ramp up [emoji1]

Its been 5 months since the big day and there’s less than 7 more until the next one. How are your experiences from this past year going to influence you this year? Were you happy with how everything went? Did anything go horribly or comically wrong that you want to avoid? What did you learn from this past BF and what are you going to do differently in 2018? I ask because BF is an ever evolving event and I can alway stand to improve my game plan. I learned that if I want anything from PetSmart I need to be in line waiting for the store to open. The check out lines are very slow at mine so it’s not worth going unless you can get in and to the register ASAP (preferably using the buddy system). This past year I went in 3 times and it was so bad I never bothered to buy anything. Also, I need to rework my typical driving routes as the traffic patterns are being changed over this summer. I like doing mostly right hand turns into and out of my shopping destinations to avoid delays and back ups. What about you?

Oh my goodness I’m cutting it close on the deadline this month [emoji15] I realize what I’m about to say makes me odd man out, but I am not excited about warmer weather. Warmer weather means melted snow and rain and dreaded muddy paws, my nemesis. I hate having to wipe off my dogs feet every time he comes in (and if I don’t there would be paw prints all over my house). [emoji849] Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

Checking in for February. This month has flown by but today something happened that only you all would appreciate: I started on my Christmas list for 2018. I love that I stumbled on some very good ideas for the family [emoji3] Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

I’m glad this site exists or else my DH would think I’m the only person alive who plans BF out more than 24-48 hours ahead of time. He thinks I’m crazy because I already bought a present for next year (stumbled on a good idea during the after Christmas sales). Thanks for making me look more normal everyone! Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

White and frigid Christmas here in upstate NY. This cold spell can’t break fast enough. Single digit temps are rough. Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

Just survived hosting Christmas Eve for the first time. We’ve never made a meal that big before and Im not sure I would do it the same way again. It went well but me and my husband are beat! Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

Shopping is done, wrapping is done, and decorating and cleaning are as done as they are going to be. Baking, well it was done by a local bakery. There just wasn’t time this year to do my own baking after doing my mom’s. I promised my husband that I would make his favorite press cookies for New Years as it’s the only thing that mattered to him out of all the baked goods. Fortunately he was totally ok with the small delay [emoji3] Merry Christmas everyone! Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

Thank goodness my husband is handy and was able to fix all the light strands so we could get the tree up this week. Normally it’s up no later than the first weekend of December so I can enjoy it. I might leave it up a little longer than normal this year to make up the time difference [emoji14] Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

Things are progressing along, my Christmas cards are done and mailed, and my boss and coworkers gifts are all done and have been delivered to the recipients. Most importantly though my husband fixed the lights on my tree and now it’s decorated! I just did glass bulbs this year instead of the ornaments that we have collected from childhood and our travels together like normal sadly. But, unpacking the bulbs was faster and less hassle. I’m just really thankful to be able to enjoy a tree at all this year. Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

I was in good shape until this past Tuesday. All of the gifts for my husband’s family were purchased, wrapped and shipped out to the recipients by the 9th, but then my mom went into the hospital Tuesday. Mom’s going to be ok and is back home but she is under strict restrictions for a few weeks. All traditional plans we had have gone out the window as my dad and I try to take care of mom and still manage to make a version of Christmas happen. I spent yesterday putting up mom’s tree and other decorations to cheer her up and made a meal plan and grocery shopping list for my dad (we had to change the menu from our standard/traditional meals to something that I can actually cook) to stop her from fretting over the holidays. Obviously I’m thrilled she is going to be ok and I’m glad I live nearby and can help my dad out but I’m really going to have to accept that there is no way I can recreate our normal Christmas. We are just going to have to make due with what we can pull off and laugh over the things that we forget or screw up. I keep reminding the perfectionist in me that the only thing that really matters is family. And if I can manage to find time to fix (some strands of lights are out) and decorate my own tree then that will be a wonderful bonus. So far I have all of my presents purchased except some items that I plan to pick up at the grocery store tomorrow. I’m still waiting on one package to arrive but it should be here Tuesday. I have 1/2 of my wrapping done but now also have all on my mom’s wrapping to do. My Christmas cards are not finished and I have done zero baking. It’s going to be one heck of a week. On your mark, get set, GO![emoji12] Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

I don’t need a doorbell because my dog lets me know whenever someone comes up the driveway. Even if I’m not home when they make the delivery I can tell that someone came up to the house because the couch ottoman will be halfway across the room from him jumping off of it to run to the door and then back to the window multiple times in his excitement. Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

I put my tree up but 1 entire section of lights are out ugh! I knew I should have just made myself put it up before BF so I could get a replacement in time if needed [emoji22] I’m so annoyed and upset at myself. Not sure what I’m going to do just yet. Sent from my iPad using GottaDEAL

Just realized that other than pets I haven’t gotten anything for my husband’s family yet. I’d really like to ship the box with all their presents next weekend so it has plenty of time to get there and not pay extra for faster shipping. Looks like I’m going to be doing a lot of shopping tomorrow [emoji15] PS this is what happens when people don’t get you a wishlist until after BF! PPS 2 months of posting down, 11 more to go! Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

54!? That’s a lot of people getting on board with this contest. I’m super curious to see how many people manage to stick it out until next November (myself included). Brad, you’ll have to give us new stats at the halfway mark (by then you might finally be recovered from the sleep deprivation) [emoji3] Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

Friday I got up at 4am so I could be out the door by 4:30. Picked my dad up by 5am and hit the ground running: Kohls @ 5:20am (Dad - stocking stuffer for sister) Target @ 5:45 (Dad - door buster sheets, Me - 3 stocking stuffers for DH) Macy’s @ 6:30 (walked out with nothing, dad didn’t like the pot from the ad when he saw it in person) Michael’s @ 6:45 (got there only to realize it wasn’t open so we skipped it and moved on) Home Depot @ 7:00 (Me - 2 HDX 27 gallon totes, hole saw/dozer set for me and stocking stuffer for DH) Petsmart @ 7:30 (walked in and walked right back out, insane line) Joann’s @ 7:32 (Dad - paint) Petsmart again (line still obscenely long so left again) Lowes @ 8:00 (walked out with nothing, dad just wanted to see what their electric fireplaces looked like in person) Ollie’s @ 8:30 (Dad - thermos) Petsmart (line still bad so we gave up) Joann’s again (dad forgot to pick up the 5 for $10 shirts) Best Buy @ 9:00 (Dad - some part for his computer) I won the BF bingo game this year so that meant that Dad had to pay for breakfast. Met up with my mom and DH at the diner at 9:30. I ended up going out by myself later in the day after my chiropractor appointment and hit Michael’s (walked out empty handed), Marshalls (got presents for all of the families pets - 4 dogs and three cats) and ACMoore (bought myself crochet stuff). Last stop was Country Max for a stocking stuffer for DH. Got home at 3:30pm whooped but happy. Crowds and traffic were pretty light until about 10am and then things got really hectic. Not sure if I’ll ever go out shopping later in the day like that again. People were crankier then and stores/parking lots were too congested even for me. Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

We only had a color theme (red, white and silver) our first year with a dog. We didn’t know how Oreo (black lab mix) would be with the Christmas tree so we just did shatter proof bulbs the first year. Once we learned that he would leave the tree alone we went back to the ornaments that we had received from our parents each year growing up and ones we would pick up while on vacations together. We like the walk down memory lane as we decorate. Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

My Kohl’s order from Monday morning was delivered yesterday and they got all the orders right. Now I’m just waiting on the instant pot that was ordered Thursday morning. My husband can’t wait to try it out. Sent from my iPad using GottaDEAL

The most money I spent in one place over the past week was at Kohls but that was all done online. Home Depot came in second place. But everything I bought at kohls or Home Depot wasn’t even for presents, just our house! I think my chiropractor’s office came in third place (my back is finally improving and I made sure to get an appointment on Friday afternoon to fix anything I may have screwed up while shopping BF morning) [emoji15] It has been a very odd shopping year so far. Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

I haven’t done any of my Christmas shopping with Amazon yet which feels odd. When I was assembling my own Christmas wish list more than half of it wasn’t from Amazon either. Amazon just didn’t have the best prices and now that so many other places have good shipping offers for the holidays they aren’t the only convenient option out there. Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

As of my last post I hadn’t received the confirmation email. It ended up coming in around 9:30pm but I had already crashed by then so didn’t see it until I woke up today. Got the shipping notification this evening so I’m a happy camper. Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

I didn’t shop there but when I drove by on BF at 5am there were not even a dozen cars in the lot. It was busier when I drove by again around 7am but definitely still under 50 cars. I was really surprised by that. Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

Even though the big day is over it doesn’t really sink in for me until sometime in January when all the festivities are over and there’s still 3-4 months of winter left. At this point I still have more shopping and events to keep me busy to help avoid the withdrawal symptoms. Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL

Thank you to Brad and the small army of helpers he had with ad posting and sale trackers etc. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on this forum and it’s a bonus that it has saved me money too [emoji3] Sent from my iPhone using GottaDEAL