mitchandalisha Posted September 4, 2007 Posted September 4, 2007 It seems like if I start shopping too early then I always end up with more stuff for everyone on Christmas because I always find ONE more good deal. If I don't shop until BF, then I usually only buy what I originally want to buy for each person.
eve Posted September 4, 2007 Posted September 4, 2007 I know it sounds like a silly question, but I was meaning just for 1-2 people you buy for that you just keep picking stuff up, cuz you think..."oh *** would love this", and "OH, *** collects this...", and "*** said they needed this.." Especially when you find those deals you cant pass up. LOL Then you give them they're gifts and you handing them like 4-5 things, instead of just 1. yep got those same few people
Spotted1 Posted September 5, 2007 Posted September 5, 2007 I'm forever on the hunt for the gift that will provide the "WOW" factor (You know, when a kid opens a present and their first response is a jaw dropping "WOW!") I'll get something that I think will get that, and then a week or two later I'll see something else that I think will get a bigger 'wow' and buy that, too. Then a couple weeks later, rinse and repeat. LOL
jdrd90 Posted September 5, 2007 Posted September 5, 2007 I'm forever on the hunt for the gift that will provide the "WOW" factor (You know, when a kid opens a present and their first response is a jaw dropping "WOW!") I'll get something that I think will get that, and then a week or two later I'll see something else that I think will get a bigger 'wow' and buy that, too. Then a couple weeks later, rinse and repeat. LOL
Guest pattikay Posted September 6, 2007 Posted September 6, 2007 we go overboard this year we are going to be less less at thanksgiving i want to exchange names we allways buy nice stuff and get back freebees and dollor tree items i know its the thought but my family does for there own and that should be the way we do so i am going to hint again lets draw names:eyepoppin
6digmans Posted September 12, 2007 Posted September 12, 2007 I usually go over board, in a big way one year my husband asked if I left anything for anyone to buy! the living room floor was covered i think each kid of the 2 we had then had like 15 gifts from just santa! then from us there was another 10 so we really over did it. I now tend to over do it BUT when I take my inventory of what I have and then do some returning before xmas so i don't always over do it. this year it will be a small number of gifts from us because we will be at WDW for the holiday, so each kid is getting like 4 things and thats it from mom and dad.
dmmiller Posted September 12, 2007 Author Posted September 12, 2007 I'm forever on the hunt for the gift that will provide the "WOW" factor (You know, when a kid opens a present and their first response is a jaw dropping "WOW!") I'll get something that I think will get that, and then a week or two later I'll see something else that I think will get a bigger 'wow' and buy that, too. Then a couple weeks later, rinse and repeat. LOLI am like this in a big way myself. Especially for my Inlaws. I"m always trying to get them something they wouldntbuy for themselves.. and when I ask for some ideas, I get "oh nothing.. or just geta gift card.. " blah! I only give gift cards if I"m in a pinch or REALLY cant find anything.
lisamag Posted September 29, 2007 Posted September 29, 2007 have you ever had someone tell you "you buy to much"? i like to buy a lot for my kids at christmas. i don't decide hay i'm going to buy x amount of gifts for each of them it just turns out that way. i see a great deal and i get it. my mom use to give my brother and i some of the best christmas's. so i guess i get it from her, but i have some friends that say i get to much. one friend said she only gets like 2 or 3 gifts for her dd and don't i think i got them enough already since i have a totel of 16 so far. lol i don't think so this is the one thing i enjoy doing, so why is it other people feel they need to tell you what you should have or what to do if you didn't ask them?
freesia39 Posted September 29, 2007 Posted September 29, 2007 personally, i grew up in a family where each of us would only get one present from our parents and other relatives. (in a family of four kids, we thought this was totally normal growing up, and at school we would just never talk about what we got for christmas or how many presents we got. but then our parents didn't tell us about santa either. i think we all just assumed he never existed and it was a neat story.) it kinda boggles my mind when i hear of kids that would get 10 presents or more at christmas, mostly because i don't know if their parents are made of money, or if their parents bought them a ton of stuff on super clearance, or what not. there's no win or lose in this situation though. some might say you're overindulging your children, some say if you can do it, then do it.
kellane26 Posted September 30, 2007 Posted September 30, 2007 Absolutely! I usually do this for people that are hard to buy for. I'll pick something up for them then later question if it was a gift they'll really want. See something else, think it's better, pick that up also..... (Well, you see where this is going)
mccabefamily29 Posted September 30, 2007 Posted September 30, 2007 I have spent way more than budgeted the last few years, I am going to try to be better this year !
Yakyma Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 I always go way overboard....I can't help it, like others I find bargains that are way to good to pass up and just love the look on the grandkids faces when they arrive at my house and find presents all around the livingroom cause there is no more room under the tree. I get so much pleasure watching everyone opening their gifts, I hate to see it end. Are they spoiled?...lol...nah...as I say they are just well loved
ajdana726 Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 I do every year for my 3 kids and dh, so what i have to do is when it comes time to wrap the stuff , which my dh and i do together every year, i dont bring it all out, i wait till i am home alone during the day, then wrap it and try to squeeze it all the closet before he sees it, and then come xmas morning he always forgets what we wrapped. i have been getting away with this for 5 years now...
marcimomof4 Posted October 1, 2007 Posted October 1, 2007 The biggest problem for me is the age difference. I try to spend the same $$ on each of my 2 kids, but everything ds17 wants cost a lot, Like last year he wanted a ps3 =$600. I tried to spend the same on ds5, but if I would have, our house would be piled to the ceiling with toys!:) ds5 toys costs a lot less!! So ds 17 ends up with 2 oor 3 gifts and ds5 gets 20+ and I still didn't spend as much on ds5!! ugg!This is my problem too. It is so hard to make it look even that I really usually go wwwwaaaayyyy overboard!
mcapel4444 Posted October 2, 2007 Posted October 2, 2007 I usually end up buying way too much for the kids. Or one of the kids. I usually have to balance it out.
Turtle Mommy Posted October 3, 2007 Posted October 3, 2007 OMG the question should be can anyone stay in their budget for Christmas. I can't remember ever not overbuying for christmas. I was thinking the same thing!!
Mikmakmom Posted October 15, 2007 Posted October 15, 2007 I definetely do with my 2 boys. I figure it is only once a year that I really splurge like that. Every year I say I am going to cut back, but it is too hard. It's not my fault the stores have such good sales. Same here - I only buy toys for birthdays, Easter and christmas so why not splurge? I dont buy them clothes they are only 6 and 3 - why give a gift I "have" to get them anyways. I usually try to keep their presents to about 20 each - and then a few "together" gifts. Usually end up with about 50 presents total - we only buy for them though. We dont buy for family except our 2 nephews. My brother and I decided 1 gift per child $20 limit - keeps it simple and no one is sad that someone else got more then them. But when it comes to my girls its easy to go overboard. Like I said I dont buy toys throughout the year so I justify it.
Mikmakmom Posted October 15, 2007 Posted October 15, 2007 my kids are 6 and 3 so I am counting presents to make sure its absolutely even.
brynnfromtheblock Posted October 15, 2007 Posted October 15, 2007 have you ever had someone tell you "you buy to much"? i like to buy a lot for my kids at christmas. i don't decide hay i'm going to buy 30+ gifts for each of them it just turns out that way. i see a great deal and i get it. my mom use to give my brother and i some of the best christmas's. so i guess i get it from her, but i have some friends that say i get to much. one friend said she only gets like 2 or 3 gifts for her dd and don't i think i got them enough already since i have a totel of 16 so far. lol i don't think so this is the one thing i enjoy doing, so why is it other people feel they need to tell you what you should have or what to do if you didn't ask them?Noone's told me this .. but I have a mom that was the same way... and I remember it being wonderful so I do the same for my kids... it's hard because DH's family is the exact opposite... they're not into buying for each other and it was a big deal for them to draw names so everyone bought one present... after the kids were all born his mom is like "they're too many people now it's getting to be too much we shouldn't draw names" .... doh you're still just buying for one person!!! It's also hard for my kids because being young like they are it's hard for them to go Grandma K's to have fun when Grandma P's house is like ToysRus
Iliveforblckfri Posted October 16, 2007 Posted October 16, 2007 LOL I can't imagine not going overboard when my boys were little. It would bug my mom and others in my family. Others felt that they couldn't compete. I would have been better at this had the person who asked to set limits didn't ask to limit the gifts to one gift per child. That was the total that the child would get -- from everyone. This changed for me when we asked our sons if they wanted gifts or a trip. It came out what was important. We kept going for six years.
Fishboysmom Posted October 16, 2007 Posted October 16, 2007 have you ever had someone tell you "you buy to much"? i like to buy a lot for my kids at christmas. i don't decide hay i'm going to buy 30+ gifts for each of them it just turns out that way. i see a great deal and i get it. my mom use to give my brother and i some of the best christmas's. so i guess i get it from her, but i have some friends that say i get to much. one friend said she only gets like 2 or 3 gifts for her dd and don't i think i got them enough already since i have a totel of 16 so far. lol i don't think so this is the one thing i enjoy doing, so why is it other people feel they need to tell you what you should have or what to do if you didn't ask them?I would never think of saying that to anyone. But I have said it people who buy gifts for my kids. I always feel bad if I think they spend too much on them because I know my kids would be happy with just 1. My mom and dad always bought all 5 of us lots of gifts. They didn't have a lot of money but somehow there seemed to be a ton of presents under the tree. I know my parents do it because when they were growing up they would only get 1 or 2 gifts from their parents. My mom told me she always felt bad when her friends used to say how much they got. But we make sure my parents get lots of gifts now.
jacky-O Posted October 16, 2007 Posted October 16, 2007 OMG...every year my husband says I have to stay within bidget, but every year I go WAY overboard.I just can't help it.I LOVE to give gifts, and I LOVE Christmas, and then regret it when the bills come in.Oh well , I have been doing it for 30 yrs,too late to stop now. Jacky-O:D
pogiporkchop Posted October 16, 2007 Posted October 16, 2007 I just got a sure-fire way to keep my spending to a minimum... hubby said we are able to pay our mortgage off so that's what we're going to do :) However I'm waiting to see what kind of shopping list he comes up with for me...
Tara3117 Posted October 18, 2007 Posted October 18, 2007 I overbuy every year because I never think about what I'm spending until I get home. When I figure it all out, I just sell off the extra stuff to fit back in my budget. Every family member last year got something I bought but then sold to someone else to give them. My family loves it - cheap stuff without having to wait in line!
Recommended Posts