A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Home for the Holidays Early Christmas Shopping Pt. 3

I got Dad a science fiction book tonight at the store on clearance for a buck, it's a compilation of stories....then I was on my bookclubs site and I need to fullfill my obligation and it was buy 2 books get one free....so I got Dad a Star Trek Trilogy! I also got 3 other books for friends.....woohooo!

Someone needs to make be stop shopping! I can't I just can't be the person that puts limits on things....I wish I were but I'm not and I just buy more and more and more.

really into the buying aren't you?

I have no choice but to have a limit because of our budget. Do you want me to call Mark and tell him not to leave you have any money?

It's a long time until Christmas too!

I did some Christmas shopping over the weekend. My mom got Tristen a PS2 for Christmas so I bought him some games for it this weekend. Wal-Mart has some pretty good deals on ones that he will like.

Jess I would even buy some used games for him.....I have a gamestop here and I've never had any problems with a used games and sometimes they have a sale where you can buy 2 used get one free.

Tamara, he doesn't leave me money.... I'm in charge of the finances and I have the checkbook/cards. Money is tight for us always, but I still keep buying small things here and there.

Yeah I will definitely get him some used games. We have Game Stop here too and I know that my mom has bought a lot of their games there. I just ordered him the Barnyard game because that is one that he really wants but I can't find it anywhere so I ordered it online. My mom has that game at her house and it is his favorite. My mom got him the Madagascar game and I got him a 4 wheeler racing game and Open Season. I think that is enough games for a while. Then I will go to Game Stop and get some more after Christmas or something.

Very cool! He'll be so excited on Christmas!

BTW, sorry I haven't talked to you much lately I've not been feeling good again.

Sorry to hear that you aren't feeling well. Hope you get better soon!

Yeah Tristen will be very excited! His other grandma is getting him a Game Boy Advance so he will be overloaded with video games. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. I will just have to limit his time on them. But, the GB will be nice for car rides.

It's the same here but we take out an 'allowance' for each of us after paying the bills and put the rest into savings. Anything over the allowance is discussed between the both of us first...unless there's an emergency. I wonder if a great Christmas deal would fall into the emergency category

Tamara--when our kids were small by best friend said she said her & her DH would only used credit cards in an emergency--then she waited & said that Christmas was an emergency--(she was not joking)

I too handle the finances--and we too each have an allowance--however there is not much to put away---the whole check is allotted to my "budget".--the only splurge we have is cable-(basic)- and our cell phones.---all-be-it in today's world I do not count cell phones a splurge--and besides--DH has a go phone & buys the lowest amt cards that go over 3 months & I have a minimal phone package--no fancy extras.

day before yeterday I bought DH the "3 wisemen" Christms display addition for his birthday--it was how I could do it--he said that would be a good gift for him. Now all we need to buy is a few animals.

I bought my youngest DD a office bill organizer as part of her christmas. it was not on sale, but I had been trying to get one at various places & they were always sold out--so I figured a bird in the hand, so to speak---

I have 1 or 2 other things I am going to get the 2 of them 7 then some gift cards & some money--- with the 2 SIL's now & a smaller budget--i have to cut down I love christmas--but---

I was browsing my LLBean Christmas catalog today for ideas before heading up to their store. I could easily buy several things from each page if money were no object! I have also been snooping through an assortment of Avon catalogs, getting ideas.


Merme

I got the LL Bean catalog too Merme. There are lots of things I could buy too if money were no object. Money is overrated!

Ummm Jess, did you see that the Sears Black Friday paper is online?

I'm not a huge LL Bean person, but I have spent TONS out of the Avon books. No surprise there huh?

There is a cool gadget coming out that I'm getting for me and my friend....it's a keychain or necklace that stores digital pictures on it....like 80 of them with a little viewing screen....that will be cool to have. And a digital coin counting jar that I can use to keep track of all my change. I swear I usually always OWE money when I put my orders in.

I did see that the Sears ad was online!!!

That keychain sounds really cool!! Is that from Avon??

I just ordered this for my mom!

Do you sell Avon Loz? They have the best nail polish. I'm a freak about keeping my toes painted. And, I always run around barefoot. It never chips or wears off.

I need some help with ideas for Mommy and Bill for Christmas. Mommy is very hard to buy for. Bill always buys whatever he wants when he wants it. I've got Mommy 1 thing already. I just happened to see it at a store and thought she would like it. I have no ideas, though.

I do sell Avon Rachel. About a year and a half now. I really enjoy it and it lets me get a bit of stuff for free...Just did my nails last night actually...have you tried the instant manicure strips yet? They are pretty cool and once you get used to doing them they're really easy.

That is a cool quilt Jess, I'm sure she'll just love it! Yeah, the digital keychain will be coming out soon....I figure if I get one I can just show pics of my family easier than getting out photos.

I got a couple of things for Bill and a couple of things so far for your mom for Christmas.....My mom is the easiest to shop for in my family, that's why I usually end up buying her more than everyone else...I keep seeing things that I want to get her.

Dad is usually tough and mom told me not to buy him clothes this year....I think I've done pretty good with him....So far I'm up to 30 presents for him and none of them are clothes!!! I bought him lots of DVDs this year, probably 12 of them.

I haven't tried the instant manicure. I never do my fingernails. Just my toes.

Mommy is too hard to buy for. She's so particular about her clothes, and she doesn't really seem to watch too many movies. It would be nice if I could clone her shoulder and give her a break from Lola.

That would be nice huh?

They have instant pedicure strips too! I have a friend like you that only does her toenails, but she does them all year round so I got her some of them for Christmas.

I checked out the Avon catalog online. I think I found Brennan a Christmas gift. The kids car organizer, travel toy box. Everytime we go anywhere Brennan takes enough toys to do for days. Even a simple trip to rent a movie or run for some milk. It's usually 28 Webkinz and a bag full of misc cars, trinkets etc. That thing may be really handy.

Do you have a local rep Rachel? If you buy online make sure you look for Avon coupon codes(for shipping)...just google that. Those do look like they'd be a helper...Athena likes to take a lot of things with her too.

I ordered this for our car a couple months ago. Tristen hauls all kinds of things with us too. It works great!!

Hey Loz....I take it I didn't win the drawing?!?

You still might have, I don't pull for the drawing until Dec. 19th and you have 9 entries so you never know! So far you have the most entries by one....

Oh I didn't know when the drawing was!

Well there are 3 prizes so you have a good chance....then again until I pull for it I'll get a lot more orders. Hopefully you win something.

BTW I'm an idiot, I've been selling for 2 1/2 years not 1 1/2. <--------just noticed that little guy, he's cute!

He is cute isn't he?!? I haven't used him yet. I always type my codes in so I never look at the new ones. Now I know how to do him!

I will probably order before then anyways. Oh I like to use him!

I was shopping last night and got a few Christmas gifts. One was something that James wanted and I already gave it to him. He is going on a hunting trip to Wyoming in 2 weeks and he wanted shooting sticks so I got them for him as an early gift so he could use them on his trip. He will have to wait till Christmas for the rest of his gifts. We were in Scheels (a hunting store) and Tristen saw a bow hunter action figure guy and a deer that he wanted. I had James take him to a different department and I bought them from Christmas. They have a whole bunch of them in the line and I know he would like all of them because he is into hunting. He always wants to go out with James. So we will start with these two and go from there.

Here is the bow hunter. I didn't pay the price that it shows there either. And then this deer. If he likes these as much as he did at the store I will get more of them in the future. You can look at them all at that website.

Funny, hunter action figures. He'll love them! Mark would like hunting stuff like James....He has so much already though that I've stuck to tools and clothes so far this year...His bigger gifts are a 250 pc double rotary tool kit, an orbital sander, and I just ordered him a cordless planer last night. Right there with those 3 I'm already at $250. But we don't have kids so we spoil each other a little.

We do a little of both I guess! That is actually the first thing that I have gotten James this year. Usually I know what I am getting way before Christmas but this year I am a little stumped. I will have to ask him for ideas I guess which I have never had to do.

Me too Jess, I never ask Mark but this year I had to---over the past 10 years of buying him stuff I just finally ran out of ideas. Oh I also just ordered him one of those emergency kits you keep in your vehicle with all the different things in it.....figured that would be handy for him to keep in his truck especially with our bad winters here. Not thrilling, but practical.

Does anyone do QVC? They've been having sales like crazy lately! The finally revealed their editor's choice and I think I'm going to get it for Stephen's niece. The editor's choice is 12 hard back books....I can't remember all of them but there is Raggedy Ann and Andy (anniversary edition) and also Corduroy Lost and Found (30 year anniversary edition). All of the books come with a cd of the book also which will be GREAT because she can listen to the books in the car and stuff (she isn't old enough to read yet).

they also have the new Rubicks Cube game....limited edition autographed by Rubicks himself or non-autographed. I want to get one of those for Stephen's brother.

They have this Tea ball thinger that brews tea better than a normal teaball. It comes in 6 different colors and if you buy more than 1, all of the others are $3 cheaper. I want one of those soooooo badly!!! And they have some nice flavored tea boxes as well. OMG...I'm gonna be in QVC overload soon!! Thank god Stephen is working again so we have money that I can spend! I missed it sooo badly!

I like HSN they have better clearance. Really big clearance event with tons of stuff under $10 right now. Although I have ordered from QVC before....I watch both on tv.

I don't watch soo much HSN. They never have anything I wanna watch when I'm watching TV. Maybe I'll look at their website instead. I hope it is easier to navigate and search than QVC.....that is my other complaint.....other than the shipping.

I flick back and forth between the two....I can even name all the hosts that's how much I have them on. Usually for background noise.

The shipping always kills me.....I think they should do it by how much you spend in total instead of per item.

I did buy my expensive featherbed this year from QVC....each summer on their anniversary they do a day where every item is 5 easypays.....even if it's $10 it's 5 payments...usually I buy a more expensive item and it's nice to just have it split up like that.

And QVC just recently started doing the customer reviews online...HSN has been doing that for ages and I really think that's important....I like to read what others think of a product.

Hope you find some good deals on HSNs site....I like their website layout better than QVC.

I got lots of Christmas presents yesterday. A little bit for everybody it seems. I even got myself some stuff. We went to Fleet Farm (not sure if that store is everywhere or just around here ) They have Toyland at Christmas time and always have good deals. I got a lot there and then we went to the outlets. I had the best luck at the Gap Outlet. I got a lot of stuff and they had some really awesome deals. Most everything in the store was 40% or 50% off!!

I like the Gap, their jeans are actually long. When we go to the outlets in the spring we hit up the Gap outlet.

BTW, I always end up buying myself stuff when I'm Christmas shopping. Can't help myself sometimes.

Never heard of Fleet Farm....we have a Tractor Supply store which is huge and more than just farming/tractor stuff....I think it used to be Quality Farm and Fleet.

I get FOUR shipments this week full of presents for Mark mostly. Pretty much done everyone else.

Dad said, if you're pretty much done everyone what will you buy Black Friday....I said, oh ya know---sometimes you see really cheap things that you just have to buy....he thinks I'm nuts....

We will always find something to buy. I am over halfway done with my Christmas shopping. I think this is the earliest that I have ever had this much done. I always start early but I have never had quite as much done as I do this year. It is a good feeling!!

We have Tractor Supply here too. Fleet Farm has everything Tractor Supply has but they have hunting stuff too and they have a big Toyland. They have a bigger selection of clothing and stuff than our Tractor Supply has here but out TS is pretty small.

Well, thankfully I had already started my shopping. I need to re-adjust my budget again so I will be buying less. I am hoping to get some good deals with the money I have already saved. DH and I won't be buying for each other so that's a big savings.

Sis-in-law told me the Dollarama got in a new shipment of items. Can't wait to feel better to go shop. The craft fair should be soon as well(few weeks away).

Well shoot Jessica, we need one of those stores here. I'm glad your getting done so early, I LOVE it...I used to be a procrastinator and go the week before Christmas when I was younger...but that was back when I only bought one or two things for everyone. Now I'm just out of control.

Tam, I'm so glad to see you back---I've really missed you around here! Christmas isn't about what we give or get.....but it is awful fun to go shopping eh? I'm sure you'll find some great bargains!

If I didn't start my shopping pretty much right after Christmas I'd never be able to afford to do what I do(I'm just a crazy shopping fool) .....and ya know what's funny.....on Black Friday I'll be able to sort of relax....I won't be desperate to get such and such....if I get it great, if not that's fine because I'm pretty much done.

That is great Loz! I won't have to go too crazy on BF either. I'm sure I will find things that I will think that I HAVE to have but there isn't really anything big that I need to get yet. I know I will spend plenty of money that day though.

I used to go later too but that was before I had a kid and nieces and nephews. Now I really have to spread it out. I mostly have a few gift cards to get yet and to finish my blankets. I do need to get a few more things for Tristen too. Just haven't decided what I want to get for him. Oh and I need to get more for James.

What is the shipping deadline for the swap again?? I bet I could find some nice stuff on BF if the deadline is after that. If I can wait that long that is.