Christmas Shopping
 

Well I finally got started. Just exactly WHEN did My Little Pony stuff get so expensive? $6.19 for ONE pony!

Have ya'll heard of Magnetix? My son is really into them this year, but they are expensive too. $48.88 for a 200 piece set of plastic things with magnets in them. :rolleyes: He is also into Bionicle - they are actually pretty reasonable.

I spent $259.05 and got next to nothing. I haven't bought anything for my 13 yr old daughter yet. Have no clue where to even start with her. She is one of those types that already has everything.

I am trying to hurry and get it done. I don't want to have to fight the crowds this year.

good thinking:thumbup: i always wait until the last minute then i have to run around and i never have enough money to buy everyone what i want to get them :rolleyes:

I think next year I am going to start in March. I am going to use tax refund money and then stash it all. That way I have Christmas AND birthday presents already bought. LOL :p

I wish I could start my Christmas shopping. We are just broke now since just coming back from Vacation. I will be starting in November

We don't have kids yet, but we walked through the toy section at Target (to get to the Nintendo Wii stuff :rolleyes:) and I was amazed at how many toys there are and how expensive they are. My kids are getting wooden blocks to play with!!! :D

I get my little teenage cousins iTunes gift cards.

Also, just FYI if any of you have kids begging for iPods, they just changed the models but there is nothing wrong with the "old" ones and they will be all over ebay for $50. Or you can even get refurbed ones from Apple for a lot less than a new one.

My sons are 15 and 20. I can tell you the older they get the more expensive the presents get. When they are little they are not too picky about clothes but when they get to be teenagers, they only wear certain brands of clothes and shoes. And the video game systems and games are too high. And they always have new systems coming out with new games. I bet we have spent thousands of dollars on those games. I haven't even started shopping yet.

Oh the games. My oldest is DYING for a Nintendo DS. $129 for the little pocket sized game system, then $50 each for the games. :rolleyes:

My boy's want Nintendo Wii games, and they are expensive too. I have 4 boy's and that's all they want are games games and more games! Last year that was their Christmas gift, The Wii with 4 controllers and 3 games, Unfortunately they had to wait till March to get it. They would sell out so fast! We did get them clothes and stuff too. I am without a clue this year! I was thinking of a trampoline but I just don't know!!

I am normally done the end of Sept. I hate dissapointed kids and long lines...lol. I am starting a bit late this year because we spent so much on our Disney Vacation which was the biggest part of the kids xmas. I am totally scaling back this year. My kids have everything under the sun. There are still things that they haven't played with from last year. It's a bit disgusting. So this year I am scaling very very low. I got my little guy the VSmile Enhanced Learning System and five games that go with it. He loves video games and these will help him learn so it's a win win thing no matter which way I look at it that was about $200. I want to get him one more game that he wants for the XBox 360 and that is all she wrote. My sisters, bil/sil and parents will want to get him stuff too. My 11 year old wants clothes...what else. My 8 year old daugther wants My Sims for the Wii and maybe another game or two and I can get her some clothes too. We just pretty much adopted my 15 year old Nephew and he of course wants clothes. I told hubby that I am so not spending like a loon this year...to this he just rolled his eyes at me and said yeah sure.

I am admant though that it has to be low budget. I don't have the cash after spending so much out in FL....we did all the parks with the kids.

Toys have gotten way too expensive and they want it and then two days later they are bored with it. Maybe I should just give them a big brown box and they would be happiest with that...lol.

Good idea!! But my tax return is going towards a car, if I can save it..lol

Me too. We just got back from Disney Oct 6th. I am very budgeted this year. Plus My Daughter has so much that she doesnt play with now

I normally lose my head and spend a few grand at Xmas. There is no few grand this year to spend since we did Disney. A family of five plus I also took my two younger sisters...talk about spending.

Xmas is my most favoriet time of year. I love to shop for everyone and get them goodies I know they will love. But alas this year they will get stuff on a much much smaller scale...rather miniscule if you ask me :D Odds are they won't even miss the crap. It's just the working mother's guilt that gets me spending...ooh and my alter ego the shopaholic loves to chime in as well.

i started last weekend we have 3 more to buy for 2 new grand babys and my daughters boyfriend shes been with him for 10 months now i shopped at toys r us and spent 127.00 for 2 babys and a diego talking doll for my grandson i guess you c an program it it comes with a disk to program on your computerhes into diego and my youngest daughter wants stuff for her apartment shes moving out next summer .still have 7 adult kids to buy for.so its gonna be tight this year.

My Little Ponys are expensive and so are the Littlest Pet Shop stuff that my daughter is in to... I had her do her list last weekend and will begin shopping for her soon. FYI Target is having free shipping on alot of toys right now and Amazon has free shipping after $35 most of the time. I get most of the big stuff thru them..

Oh yeah, my daughters list has about 5 of these DS games but they are so expensive.. I started searching for them on Ebay hopefully I can get them there cheaper~~ :eek:

My kids are pretty big, so I will probably start and finish their Christmas Shopping next week. Everything they want is so expensive that they'll each probably get two presents each, and then some odds and ends. Then all I have left is the grandsons.

For those of you looking for Ninetendo, PS or Wii systems or games..... go USED! Nothing wrong with it! My girls know they are getting a Playstation 2 this year AND they know it will be a good used one. Finances have been really terrible for us this past year and as much as I try to shelter the kids from that information, they do have to understand what's happening. I have been watching Ebay but also am considering buying it from Game Stop. They even offer a one year warranty for 10 bucks! Both girls have Gameboys and they have received new games in the past but used games from a reputable dealer are just as great!

Thank you so much for the heads up. :thumbup: You are so right, used are just as good. I am expanding my search as we speak :thumbup:

Oh, and Game Stop does have a website if you don't have a store in your town. http://www.gamestop.com/ Happy shopping! :D I'm trying to be upbeat about this although it's not very happy when you have to pinch the pennies.

I too have started shopping for my boys, 11 and 15. They actually make me a list on Microsoft Word with prices, where to buy, brand, etc. This is helpful to me when shopping. I pretty much go crazy at Christmas and get them whatever they want within reason because they do not get toys all year round. They get gifts at Christmas and their birthdays, that is it. But guess their birthdates Dec. 12 and Jan. 9, so I get hit all at once. Mine just want video games, legos, and clothes. But prices just keep getting higher and higher every year. I too look for used items on ebay and good sales. Toy R Us just had a pretty good sale on video games, buy 2 get one free. I saved a bundle. I look for sales like these every year. I also try to get all shopping done by end of Nov. I refuse to set foot in any store in Dec.

Let the holiday madness begin!!!!!

I have a Toys R Us printable coupon for a free Polly Pocket up to $5. Not sure if she's into that (not sure if she's into that). It's good up until 12/31 so you could get one every time you go. :p

If you're interested, you (or anyone else for that matter) can PM me with your email address and I'll email it to you. :)

ETA: Maybe it would be good to start a thread with good deals, free things and coupons??

That is a good idea! I have codes that I would love to share for stores!

Thats a good idea!!!

My sister used to work for gamestop as a manager. Definitely get the used and get the warranty. It's worth it.

Yep, I've been watching Ebay for a while and just not seeing as good a deal as if I get it from Game Stop. Definitely will get that 1 year warranty for $10!

Take the extended and you can also sign up for their free edge card. That gives you discounts when you purchase things. With a used system take the longest extended warranty that you can afford. These machines are a bit finicky. How much are they asking for a PS2 now. I know that the PS3 is a bit finicky.

As far as the games get the edge card and watch starting that black friday in Nov. They tend to run sales if you buy two more more used games you get an extra % off or a free game.

Thanks for the advise! I plan on going to the store this week to get the system but was going to wait until Black Friday for the used games. I wasn't sure if they actually have sales like that since stuff is used already. You answered my question. And to answer yours, the PS2 is selling used for $79 here where I live. That only includes one controller but a second one would be about $10 plus the $10 one-year warranty. I wasn't aware that they had anything more than a one-year.

My two boys 12 and 6 want xbox360 lol!!!!! My money tree stopped producing though. Actually most years they're happy with almost anything, even cheap stuff (not cheap made just cheaper than most) But i've told the family to give cash to the boys, last year they saved up xmas, birthday and babysitting and chore money and bought an xbox and games! They are saving for an xbox 360 now. I'm very proud of them for saving their money. But I have no clue as to what to get them. I really don't have family close around so we only have to buy for the four of us, babies, cat, and the labs. If I spend more than 500 for everything I get mad at myself so we try to get some of the stuff on black friday.

Wish I had known you wanted one before my sister quit you could have used her staff discount.