Budget Christmas Confessions

[neatokimmo]

Absolutely did this when they were younger. Now with preteens it has to be Uggs not Bear Paw, and North Face or Under Armour not Columbia and you can not change their mind. So it's a $ limit with a disclaimer that they will not get everything on the list.

I am starting to get this too. I hope to find a north face jacket at the outlet in a couple of weeks. I will go a size up and hold it for next year.
She loves under armor but I can't bring myself to buy a $50 sweatshirt.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Confession: I have been known to wrap up my older son's outgrown toys to give the younger one for Christmas. Seriously, there's 7 years between them, the oldest never had any interest in toys so they're barely used and he's forgotten he even owned most of them. I only kept the really nice stuff, so now his brother benefits.

I also tried to convince my oldest that Grandmas only gave socks and underwear for CHristmas. Worked great until Grandma told him that was ridiculous.

In our house, kids that believe in Santa are allowed to ask for 3 things. They know they
may get all 3 (like the year oldest asked for a soccer ball, orange car, and power ranger figure) or they may not get any (the year he asked for a wii, smart board like the one at school, and a DS). The limit helps them think about what they really want, then we fill in as appropriate with suprises that we think they'll like.

Kids that don't believe in Santa get a dollar amount and pretty much get whatever they ask for within that limit, as long as it isn't inappropriate or something they know they aren't allowed to have. We still add a few surprises.

 

[colormegreen]

My son usually got everything he wanted. He was an only child for the first 8 years and 334 days of his life. Now, he knows that he is only getting one or a couple things which will come from mom and dad or Santa And that's because he asked for a desktop computer. However, I'm choosing the brand which will be Apple because I believe it will last longer than any other brand. He might get other stuff he wanted from my sisters since they do tend to stick to his list...but from his dad and I it will be whatever he actually needs now. My newborn will get clothes he needs for the expected "niño" weather we are expecting, but he will only be about two months old, so I can get away with it for about three more years with him.

 

[1tripandIfell]

Well we lucked up because DS 16 asked for new tires for his truck. (Bigger all terrain ones) So instead of buying something that will be forgotten about in a few months (right around the time he will actually need new tires) he will get something he wants and we are spending money on something we would have had to get eventually anyway! We ended up finding a really great deal and will be able to get them under 500.00 for all 4! Granted this is also our only child.

 

[katie111]

I do this all the time as my kids can never really think of anything they want or they come up with something ridiculous that I would never buy them. My DS8 was just writing his list and I just suggested a pogo stick, a scooter & stilts. He loved the ideas & I had just bought the items yesterday on Amazon so it is working out perfectly! Also bought him new skis for less than the cost of rentals but he is going to be so excited when he finds out that we actually bought them for him.

I also pointed out some boots at Marshalls to my DD13 the other day that looked like the LL Bean boots that she wanted. She actually said she liked them better, which was great because I had already bought them (and saved myself $60 bucks!).

Last year we got our DD an iPhone 5c. DH and I had been on separate phone plans. Once we combined to a family plan our bill actually went down $80 a month so the phone was basically free & she has no idea she is actually saving us $$ by having it.

One other thing I do is take any new toys that are around the house (usually birthday gifts from friends) and I donate them to Toys for Tots. My kids never miss them & I figure someone else might as well enjoy them.

 

[HeidiGW]

OP, that is great, bargain-hunting!!!! She will love it!
(Although, my 25-year-old daughter still complains that she NEVER GOT TO BE BELLE for Halloween as a kid. I couldn't afford the ridiculous price of the Disney Store costumes, so we always waited until about two weeks before the holiday to buy at half price. Of course, Belle was always sold out by then...As I tell her now: first world problems.) LOL!

 

[pampam]

This is a little OT since it doesn't relate to Christmas, but it still goes along with the theme.

DD has Down's Syndrome so in many ways she is like a child, but has grown into a beautiful small adult. Anyway, DD wanted a princess dress. Her favourite is Cinderella, but when we tried on the various dresses they were too tight across the chest. Now, I cannot sew, but I am creative. So I told her I would try to make her a Belle dress. She agreed. So I went to a second hand store and bought a royal blue dress with a full skirt, cut off the sleeves, and any lace it had, changed the neck and transformed the dress into a blue jumper. Put a white blouse under it, added a white apron, crinoline under it, and tied her hair back with a bow. She liked it, but it wasn't a "princess dress". But like I said, she couldn't quite fit into a costume at WDW. So again, I said I would buy her a princess dress but it had to be Snow White. That was the only choice. She agreed. So, I bought the dress, took it back to our room, took scissors and slit the dress down the back, encased the slit with duct tape so the jersey fabric wouldn't run, (I told you I was creative), and sewed the cape of Snow Whites dress down to cover up the back. The slit opened up and made the front bust line looser. She liked it, but it wasn't Cinderella. Still, she understood that the Cinderella dress in the store was too small. So she was satisfied and made do. But her favourite was and still is Cinderella. A lovely lady who I don't know very well heard about DD wanting a Cinderella dress and asked if she could surprise DD with one. Well, this dress is darn near a replica of the dress Cinderella wears in the parks. When we picked up the dress, all we could do was gush over it. I Told DD we would have to buy some gloves and silver slippers to go with the Cinderella dress and DD corrected me. "No, Mom. It's not a dress. It's a Ball gown. Moral of the story, sometimes you need a Fairy Godmother to help make dreams come true.

 

[Nakkira]

I have spent the last 3 weeks subtly convincing DD5 that Merida is her new favorite princess...

...because I got a whole set of Merida stuff on deep discount after Halloween and that's one of her Christmas presents.

Priceless

I convinced my new step-son that he wanted Star Wars Battlefront for XBOX because his dad and I want to play it too.
FTR, not a hard sell, he loves games and Star Wars.

 

[Nakkira]

On two separate occasions, my husband has given me concert/show tickets. Both times, he spent the month leading up trying to convince me that I like the group, when in reality, he just wanted to go and tried to pass them off as a gift for me.

My EX-husband once bought me a drum set. Because he thought I "might enjoy learning how to play". Guess who always played them. Guess what I sold to the used instrument store he always went to the day I left him.

 

[Ava]

One other thing I do is take any new toys that are around the house (usually birthday gifts from friends) and I donate them to Toys for Tots. My kids never miss them & I figure someone else might as well enjoy them.

I just did this this morning. My office building always has a donation box in the lobby for the holiday season so it's very convenient. We put up things that they get for birthdays that they either already have or just aren't thrilled with, and sometimes things that Grandma brings "just because" because we can't get her to stop doing that even though my kids have way too much stuff as it is. The kids never miss any of it.

 

[MrsTurnerLovesDisney]

HAHAH I have a confession too...Christmas is on a budget this year and the day after Halloween I made a beeline to the store to buy leftover candy for stockings...I got red and gold foil wrapped Reese's cups, and bags of mini snickers, m&m's etc. It's only me, DH & DD. Well DH threw a fit saying we can't do that it isn't Christmas candy....I said if Santa brings it is & besides we only have a year or 2 left of being able to get away with this. $30 of candy for $10 duh!

 

[KristinU]

Confession: I have been known to wrap up my older son's outgrown toys to give the younger one for Christmas. Seriously, there's 7 years between them, the oldest never had any interest in toys so they're barely used and he's forgotten he even owned most of them. I only kept the really nice stuff, so now his brother benefits.

I also tried to convince my oldest that Grandmas only gave socks and underwear for CHristmas. Worked great until Grandma told him that was ridiculous.

I totally used to wrap pass-along toys from our good friends when my DS was little! Thier kids are 5 and 7 years older than DS, it worked out great for some of those timeless things that don't really get used. Actually, I should say "little" now that I think about it - DS wanted a guitar a few years ago, their DS had wanted one several years prior...Santa regifted and in the end it never got used by either one of the boys! I think I gave it back to my friend to regift to a younger nephew when he hit the guitar-wanting age, LOL!

Love the grandma socks thing!

And on the topic of giving something similar, but not quite what kids ask for - my parents did that a lot. Was there disappointment? Sure. But I learned a lot about researching for the best value for an item that might suit my needs better than what I initially wanted. And for that, I'm thankful. That's a lifelong gift of a skill that I appreciate now that I'm older - learning to be an open-minded and informed consumer has been a better gift to me than the "official" jacket/camera/keyboard/whatever that would have had staying power of maybe a year if lucky.

 

[Baklava]

I bought my 3 year old son an Olaf costume on clearance after Halloween. Well, when he was asked what he wanted from Santa, he said "an Olaf costume." Well, Santa can't bring that because my 9 year old already saw ME buy it. So I had to convince him that he wanted Santa to bring light sabers.

We also handle this with a note from Santa saying he knew Mommy had already gotten it, so here, have some light sabers. Santa knows if you've been naughty or nice, he can certainly figure out what Mommy bought you.

 

[DisneyNurse4Life]

Just wanted to say my Target has a lot of $25 Disney GCs located at the front of their store. Got my $5 Target GC when I purchased two GCs! Thanks or the heads up!

 

[stayhomemom77]

Hey man...whatever you gotta do to make it work!!

My kids are 10 and 12 but apparently the Santa thing is still going strong. Makes DH happy because his little girl is growing up in other ways and it makes him a little sad that she's not little anymore.

Anyway...

We have always told the kids that Santa knows what we are getting them and chooses something different if there will be a conflict. He also knows how parents feel about certain gifts and won't give them if he knows mom and dad say no (a puppy, for example.)

Back in the day, Grandma was forever giving the kids gifts that were from Santa as well as from her and Grandpa AND the cat AND the dog. LOL The kids were not very big when they started wondering why Santa was getting all confused and only leaving one thing at our house and the rest of them at Grandma's. We told them that Grandma F didn't want to make Grandma S feel bad (because she gave them more stuff), so she thought it would be better to pretend the extra presents were from Santa. It was easy to have this lie cover why some of their friends got more stuff from Santa...only it was probably that kid's mom and dad doing it. Since our explanations seemed logical to the kids, they've never questioned them.

I think it will almost be a relief to me to have them old enough to be able to handle me saying, this is the budget...(mentally) spend accordingly.

 

[AZMermaid]

I subtly convinced my 3 year old daughter that a Barbie House would be really cool. Now she tells everyone that is what she is asking Santa for. I would just say, hmmmm what should you ask Santa for? A Barbie House... oh that'd be awesome!

My 5 year old son.... he's been harder. He wants a Scooter Bike. First I had no idea what it was. Then I figured it out, but told him he has to be able to ride with two wheels for a long time before I okay a scooter bike from Santa. So... I have worked him enough that I think he will be thrilled with the Hot Wheels set he is getting, but I know he is going to sit on Santa's lap and ask for that dang scooter bike.

 

[CandleontheWater]

I'm guilty of "convincing" my kids to like the presents I already bought for them. My five year old has no idea what he really likes, and what he would actually play with. I made the mistake of buying him some of the things he asked for last year, even though I had a suspicion that he really wouldn't like them, and guess what, he never played with them!

This year he keeps asking for the ridiculous crayola crayon carver, seriously?? you can write words on crayons? He would do one or two and the novelty would wear off and it would go in the closet. It is labeled 8 and up, so I told him that Santa can't bring it to him because he isn't 8 yet. He is going to love the legos I bought him, much, much more!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Well we lucked up because DS 16 asked for new tires for his truck. (Bigger all terrain ones) So instead of buying something that will be forgotten about in a few months (right around the time he will actually need new tires) he will get something he wants and we are spending money on something we would have had to get eventually anyway! We ended up finding a really great deal and will be able to get them under 500.00 for all 4! Granted this is also our only child.

You did good! My new truck tires were $800

 

[1tripandIfell]

You did good! My new truck tires were $800

He has a little smaller of a truck, a Chevy Colorado and I was able to get it through my work's account so I received a little bit of a discount...Score!!!

 

[kathy884]

My Christmas budget confession is that I participate in the gift giving thing as little as possible. I rarely have any great ideas and hate wasting the money on things people don't need or want. I'm not into shopping or gift exchange.

I completed all my Christmas planning and online shopping in about two hours the Friday after Thanksgiving.

I specialize in overpriced fruit for extended family -- my brother's family gets Harry and David Pears, my parents get a Honey Baked Ham, DH takes care of him mom, brother's family, and sister, DH and I don't exchange, and for DS 20 he's just getting 3 $100 bills, wrapped in a Christmas box and in a Christmas bag for fun and a Starbucks plastic cup/straw, also wrapped up in a bunch of packaging.

I give Visa gift cards and cash for people who do services for us -- personal trainers, cleaning service, garbage pickup person, and hair stylists.

That's it. Pretty wimpy, pretty lame

I used to adopt a family for Christmas. Now I adopt a cousin -- He get's peanut brittle, a $200 Visa Gift Card, and $300 in cash. He lives quite modestly (more modestly than the families that I used to adopt), and for him this is a windfall that he really loves and appreciates / He also doesn't feel bad or embarrassed about my doing this.