[DBlain]

I am not in this one but I will comment from being in one and watching the past few very carefully.

I did not watch how much I spent in total but I was very conscious of what I spent per item, I tried and succeeded in getting a lot for my buck. I also was creative in buying things and then having them customized, for instance I bought a nice infant blanket and had it customized by a friend, had I ordered the blanket with the embroidery on line it would have cost a heck of a lot more. I searched all the clearance sections of on line retailers and found some cute outfits and then customized them. Vendors from ETSY, FB and here are great but prices vary a lot so sharp smart, try the infant sections for things like blankets, bows, toy chests etc. Also I think it helps people keep it real if when you sign up if you don't list expensive items, my buddy had a car seat down and I have seen people list things like cloud nine beds, sorry buddies but I am not buying that stuff, because if I did not much would be left over for the other stuff. However do try to get people what they ask for that is in your budget, On a past exchange a while back I saw someone list and talk about a certain cartoon character over and over yet nothing their buddy sent had that on it. Had that person been my buddy I would have found some cute plain outfits and found iron on patches to add to it to make it more personal. Also pay attention to stuff like the size of the dog you are buying for, it does no good to send toys that are to large or outfits that don't fit or are made in a way that the person mentioned their dog does not wear. To me at least, it's not really how much has been spent it's more that your buddy made it personal and put a box together of things that were picked out specifically for your dog.

So I guess it goes both ways make sure you supply details on what you like and don't like and try to keep it affordable and a longer list is better than a shorter one since it makes it easier to shop for you. On the other side really read those lists and go out and find the best bang for your buck on items especially for your buddy