Santa Please Bring Me Budget Busters

[mominwestlake]

Every year there is something one of my 5 kids asks for that I consider a budget buster- not only in terms of price but also because I know it will soon sit and gather dust on a shelf. Last year it was that goofy talking parrot- squalkers mccall or something like that. This year my ds is asking for Lucky the Incredible Wonder Pup (guess I am lucky it isn't Biscuit). Does anyone have this dog? Does it really work? The reviews are mixed that I have read and old.

What are the Santa Budget Busters in your home?

 

[ajk912]

Well, the American Girl dolls are definitely budget busters!

I always ask my kids to make a wishlist and I pick and choose from that. I am kind of mean like that..I wouldn't buy a squawking bird thing because I don't want to hear it, and the long term play value is around 0%.

 

[mominwestlake]

I knew the squawking bird was going to be a bust but it was the only thing she asked for- from us and from Santa. Now my ds is being the same way about this Lucky the Incredible Wonder dog. He told us he knows he can't have a real puppy puppy but figured this would be the next best thing.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

If it's anything like the Rescue Pets, it'll drive you nuts within hours. Those things just wouldn't be quiet. Even DD got sick of hers quickly.

 

[bechtelca@comcast.ne]

I am changing our Christmas this year due to busting my budget every year previously. I am telling the kids that they will get 3 gifts (just like the wise men brought Baby Jesus). It will be one want, one need, and one educational thing. I did buy a Wii for a family gift so we should all enjoy that! As my kids get older, it becomes much more difficult to buy for them. I told them to start thinking of 1 or 2 things that they REALLY want. They usually get a gazillion things that are played with for a limited time and then they sit at the bottom of the toy box or the back of the closet. They will still be getting gifts from grandparents, aunts, etc. so they won't be deprived by any means. I also tend to do stockings up pretty good. So, here's hoping I don't bust my budget this year!!

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Our only real budget buster was last year, the Wii. My kids were told over and over that they would not get it and to not get their hopes up.
We did Christmas, as we always do, and they were happy, but DD14 was noticably not happy, though she tried to fake it, when DH said "what's this box here?" It was a HUGE box, so she didn't think it would be the tiny Wii. They opened it to fine 3 smaller boxes inside, one for each of them to open. One as the Wii, one was DDR, and one was a few games. Needless to say they were stunned!!! Normally we don't do something like that, but I looked at it as an investment in family togetherness and it totally has been. I am so glad DH talked me into it, it is really fun for all of us!!!

 

[mombare]

My kids will be writing their letters to Santa, and can choose 3 things to ask for - I kind of like the idea of a need, want and education item. That will get them thinking about something other than the TRU ad!! They scoop up the fliers each week and circle all the things they want...although I have made the rule they can only circle one item per page. That kind of cuts down on the "I wants"! Our budget buster this year...wii games. We bought a wii a couple of months ago, and now we need some new games (okay, not really a need, but I am getting really sick of bowling!). I went to Target today, but most of the sale games are out of stock - and you can't buy the good ones online! Very frustrating!
On top of the Santa items, though, we typically buy them gifts. I am really trying to scale back and have been picking up clearance items for months now - like a HSM lamp (which my daughter really needs) for $3 at Target. I think at these young ages, all they care about is opening the gifts anyway - maybe I should just wrap up some boxes!
I really like to see what others do - and get some great suggestions!!

 

[winnapooh]

We don't have kids yet, so this is slightly off topic, but a pp mentioned that kids (and some adults!) just like to open presents...

We already gave my family their gifts this year (we contributed to some big ticket items this summer)...but we still want to have some stuff for my family to open. So we're playing a little trick...we're going to go "shopping" in their house and pick out some things that they won't really miss (like decorative type things, nothing that warrants a call to the police!!!) Then we're going to wrap them up and have them open them...it should be fun I'm guessing that at first my parents will thank us, thinking that we didn't know they had one of that...then the second will be "wait..." then they will just be opening things to see what we borrowed!!! My family has a good sense of humor... (By the way, I did get some real stocking stuffers as well...I couldn't be that mean!!!)

But back to the thread, you could always wrap everything individually; like, if you got a wii, wrap the box with the console in it, wrap the remote, wrap the nunchuck, etc. It just gives more to open!

 

[autumnsmommy]

My dd6 has Lucky the Incredible Wonderpup, got it from Santa 2 years ago, and she still plays with it. Sometimes it sings when it should sit, but for the most part it behaves properly. You have to say "lucky" ,it barks twice, then you tell it what to do. It has quite a few tricks that it does.
It's not that annoying as far as talking toys go, otherwise it would not be in the house -all the Barney toys went to visit Grandma's (insert evil laugh here)

 

[luv2nascar]

My dd5 got squawkers last christmas. His batteries are currently dead and I'm in no hurry to change them. I said NO because I knew it would be in a corner by now - DH bought it anyways.

 

[jacksmom]

I did buy our first AG doll this year! Bitty Baby for dd (2 1/2)! But our budget buster is ds (11) wants a lap top! I am hoping to find a good deal!

 

[KAPTink]

My dd (now 7) has asked Santa for the last 3 years for only 2 things...1)a baby sister and 2) either Butterscotch or S'mores...those annoying horribly expensive horses that you can sit on and ride. She even had space reserved in her closet for its 'stable'. We tried to tell her that Santa doesn't bring babies, but she's still trying again this year. Just the other day, she told her brother that she hoped that THIS year Santa would remember that she wants a *real* baby, not AG doll, and she can still find a spot in her closet for the horse. (Last year, it was $250... I guess that's cheaper and less of a budget buster than a baby sister!!)

 

[angeleigh]

My dd (now 7) has asked Santa for the last 3 years for only 2 things...1)a baby sister and 2) either Butterscotch or S'mores...those annoying horribly expensive horses that you can sit on and ride. She even had space reserved in her closet for its 'stable'. We tried to tell her that Santa doesn't bring babies, but she's still trying again this year. Just the other day, she told her brother that she hoped that THIS year Santa would remember that she wants a *real* baby, not AG doll, and she can still find a spot in her closet for the horse. (Last year, it was $250... I guess that's cheaper and less of a budget buster than a baby sister!!)

My dd asked for a baby brother for years. We also wanted a baby. Had several losses between her and ds. But she got her wish. For a couple of years she really thought Santa helped. We had our "final you can officially tell people your are pregnant" ultrasound on Christmas Eve morning. She was so happy. But now that he is four she wishes she could return that gift.

 

[cjackearl]

Ok, not exactly budget busting, but 2 years ago both of my girls wanted Puppy Surprise, and asked for nothing else from Santa. It wasn't expensive, but I still hated buying it. I knew that once the "surprise" (how many puppies she had) was no longer a surprise, her appeal wouldn't last. I wasn't at all "surprised" when I was right!

 

[RobinFabulous]

Allie wants Bitty Baby, and all of her "stuff" mainly the highchair set and the food.


Jonah wants Spike the $129 dinasour And he'll probably get it, he loves dinasours and the buttons are easy enough for him to manuver.


Hannah wants a laptop (not gonna happen) or the DS lite (she has a gameboy advance so she'd already have some games)


Mostly my kids are getting a trip to Disney.

 

[timzagain]

Only one of your kids asks for a budget buster? Wow!

DH and I have a blended family of 4 children - 18, 16, 16 and 10.

The wish lists have included an iTouch, a laptop, a Sony Milo, a Wii, an iPod nano (the new one)...

As far as I am concerned, the 18 year old is working full time, so he's more than welcome to finance his own overpriced fantasy!

I might buy the youngest the ipod - I know she'll appreciate it! She's really into music - last Christmas she won an no-name iPod nano knockoff that she loves, but it's pretty unreliable! It's such a cheap thing, I am really surprised that it lasted this long! DD has taken care of it like it was the Crown jewels! The only other thing DD10 has asked for is a My Meeba thing or a Webkinz!

DD16 will probably get the iTouch from her dad - a combination Christmas gift and a reward for an exceptional performance in the last school year!

I am not about to buy a Wii - we had a Play Station before that stepson would take here over to friends' houses etc. Needless to say it was damaged and of course, no-one is chipping in towards the cost of its replacement.

As for the laptop or Milo - I am of the opinion that such extravagant gifts should be a performance based reward. You need to work for it and demonstrate that you're consistently responsible

I'm not inclined to buy a laptop for an irresponsible teenager who has managed to go through a portable DVD player, several phones, an iPod or two etc. They've been damaged by friends (why did you allow someone to play with your phone!), wrecked (downloading infected files in spite of repeated warnings), lost or supposedly stolen!

That's enough of my Christmas gift rant!

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

We always tell our kids they can ask for anything they want, but it doesn't mean they're going to get it. I also tell them that Santa won't bring them anything Mom and Dad don't approve of. They say they LOVE/NEED (I told them they want it. They don't need it.) practically everything they see on tv, but when they write their lists, they usually only ask for around 3 things. We try to fufill reasonable wishes and always add some surprises of our own.

 

[Mkaz]

We told our children that they can't ask for any budget busters this year. We bought them season passes to Camel Beach for next year, and dh bought them a new quad in August. We are also planning a three week RV trip for next year. We are all very excited about it. We have been talking about which states we would like to visit, and the kids will help get to plan our route.

The kids have asked to take a day trip to NYC before Christmas. They want to visit Nintendo World and other places. They know that Christmas will be light this year due to our plans. They are fine with it. They would prefer to spend time traveling and doing things with mom and dad more than a pile of gifts under the tree.

 

[All American]

It's Spike the Dinosaur for us, which is fine and will be entertaining to watch our dog flip out over it.

In addition, our daughter also wants "Kota" the Triceratops. Luckily, Grandma arranged it with Santa for our little girl to get Butterscotch last year, so we just tell her she's already got a horse (which she loves and still plays with).