Have you been naughty or nice? C'mom, I won't tell. *snickers*
Clearly, since Halloween is nearly here, it's time to start talking about Christmas. LOL So, how many of you prepare all year for Christmas? You shop all year long, you plan your time off all year long, you even have the menu figured out in advance. Show of hands! Who does that?
Or how many of you are last minute shoppers. You wait until....Christmas Eve to shop. You scramble around and grab what you can, where you can. You dodge the other last minute shoppers, go from store to store and check off the list as you find 50+ last minute gift items. You can show me your hand, it's okay! I was this person until last year. What changed?
Honestly, the internet.
Now I tend to do a lot of my shopping online. Things we might not find in the stores, or something the kids saw online that they really want. We do try to get lots of buying done, right here at home. I know some folks have talked about things not shipping in time, or having the wrong thing shipped, etc. That's never been out experience though. However, we don't buy EVERYTHING on line. Just some things. Then we go to the stores and get the rest. I actually love shopping with my husband at Christmas time. We plan ahead. The kids get picked up by grandma, and the hubby takes the day off work. Then we make up our list on the way to the stores, go where we want, have lunch together, and we take our time. It's a fun day out for us.
Though I do have a confession to make. Certain people get gifts, others get gift cards. That makes the shopping way easier! Is this because we don't care about the 'others'? No, but I for one like gift cards. It means my girls and I can go shopping after Christmas and have a fun day without it costing us a fortune. I love being able to pick out my own things. My mom gets me a gift, then a few gift cards, one usually to Barnes and Noble. I loooove that B&N gift card. LOL I personally like to get my neices and nephews gift cards to the favorite stores, like Best Buy, American Eagle, Claires, Hot Topic, etc. I can't keep up with everyone's taste in video games and music and clothes, but if I get them a GC at say, Best Buy, then they can go and get whatever games and CDs that mom and dad DIDN'T get. Also, for the older girls, I like to give GCs from places like Bath and Body or Victoria's Secret. Who doesn't love fragrance or a cute set of PJs? But I might get the wrong size or the wrong color. So, to avoid everyone standing in the return lines, gift cards are the way to go in our family. It saves them trouble, and gives them an extra day of shopping for gifts they actually WANT!
So, how do you approach the madness of Christmas spending? Do you even celebrate Christmas? If not what do you do instead. I'd love to hear about everyone's traditions, not just a select few! :) So spill!
10 comments:
Ahhhhh man! It's coming isn't it??? I used to start in July (DH's idea). Baaaad idea. Our kids always changed their minds about what they really wanted. Now I start going out a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving. ALONE. We tried doing the COUPLE shopping thing and ummm...NO. That didn't work. My husband's idea of great gifts are SOCKS. UH UH. We always without fail ended up arguing. I just want to be left ALONE when I shop. He finally quick pushing the "shopping together" thing.
I DO buy some things on the internet, sooo easy. I'll also do gift cards for extended family. Everything goes on sale after Christmas and it's just smart. I suspect with our bad economy the sales will hit much sooner BEFORE Christmas too. That will help.
Our mothers are getting older and last year, we had some steps built for my mom to allow her to easily get from her back door into her garage. Both my sister and I had fallen on her old rickety steps and I started to worry about that. When my husband and I told her what we were doing for her for Christmas, she cried. She was so thrilled. So this year, we are rebuilding her patio.
Sorry this is sooo long. HA.
Sorry. Something else. Elderly relatives are usually on fixed incomes and doing something for their home...a repair type thing, may not sound very glamorous but it's darn sure appreciated. Painting a room or doing another fix it type job is a good idea I think.
I get gift cards for my nieces and nephew because their teens. They know what they want, I don't, lol. I'm usually a end of November, beginning of December kind of shopper. I always have a list ahead of time or its just way too hard. I love Christmas time, Christmas shopping...the whole nine yards.
LOL, Regina, my dh and I used to get into arguments. I think that stopped for one reason. He relaxed a little because now we have a seperate Christmas account. He doesn't have to worry about us not paying next month's house payment because we spent too much. We save all year and that way Christmas isn't a stressful event.
Kelley--Come to think of it, I do like to start end of Nov. It's a good time because the sales are in full swing.
This year is going to be strange. There's no more 'toys' under the tree. That makes me sad. :(
I used to start in Sept, but then Layaway disappeared. So now some items I buy whenever I think of them, and lately I start the first of Dec and continue up until Christmas Eve...usually the forgotten relative issue. I always end up short-changing one of the kids...go figure!
And now that the toddler has 'discovered' TV, he pauses the TV and comes running. "Mommy! I want this!"
When I see something that I know a particular person on my list would love, I grab it, no matter what time of year it is - either on the 'net or at the mall. That way when December rolls around, I only have two or three gifts left to buy.
I used to totally not be into Christmas cards. Now I love to send and receive them.
:)
G.
I think I've been a very good boy. Last month, I saw to it that my father in law, passed from this world in peace, just as he wanted. I supported my Sweetie through 14 years of care giving and I'm still supporting her with her loss.
Now, for the bad boy. When Sweetie is ready I'm gonna tie her down to the bed and ravage her body for a day and a night. That's my xmas present to me.
Molly--you gotta love T.V ads. Ugh! I still cringe when I think of all those commercials where they were 'not available in stores'. My kids always wanted that stuff.
Genella--I confess, I never send out Christmas cards, though I love getting them. Wrong of me, I know! *blushing*
Dr. Karl--LOL! You're wife is gonna love that present you're giving yourself! ;-)
Some things I make. Ninety percent of my family are in other states. For them I send Wal-Mart gift cards because that's what they've asked for. Most of them live way out in the sticks and Wal-Mart is the closest store.
Some of the things we've done in the past few years... house hunk crochets bed covers for everyone. I do calligraphy pieces including matting and framing. One Christmas I made all of my kids a combo memory/photo album/recipe book. The recipes were all the things they always call me up for. The photos were OLD family photos from the late 1800's through my childhood. The memories were their favorite short stories I've written over the years. That was probably the most popular gift we've done.
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