LisaNY Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Yes, definitely. Our girls know that it is going to be tight this holiday season. Our extended family knows this as well. Simple gifts are on the list this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in MO Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 I'm going to be much more conservative in the amount of money we spend. Since my parents are retired (and my husband's mother too, of course), I'm going to advise them not to feel obliged to overdo things for the kids. They (and we) have enough, and I think it's a good Christmas to keep things simple. We just don't know enough about this bailout mess and the stock market to make any predictions for the future. We're not spending anything extra now at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmamainva Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 We're definitely going to be watching our pennies, but not drastically. Each child has one 'big gift' as a rule (my 9yo has already asked for "Rock Band 2" for Wii, for example)...and then they each get 8 or 9 more small things -- like Lego kits, art sets, board games, doll babies, etc. Some things we've already announced will *not* be under the tree!! My oldest asked for a Playstation 3 and, with the cost between $300 and $500, that's definitely out! (The nice thing is that she's old enough to understand finances and what's going on with the national economy...so she understood completely when we told her that we just can't afford it right now). I don't know about other families, but my kids love opening presents! They love having a slew of gifts to open, even if they cost under $10 each! So I'll be doing the same thing this year. Seriously, my 6 year old would love nothing more than a dozen packs of stickers -- at $1 or $2 a pack! She'd be over the moon! So I intend to take full advantage of this! :) I'll be shopping at the used videogame store for gifts for my two boys -- you can find some great games out there for less than $20 -- vs $50 each for new games. DVDs are always a hit with my kids and you can find great movies for less than $15 each. And we always give our kids pajamas for Christmas -- they have such cute ones out there for the holidays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 I'm hoping to convince our extended family to downsize this year. That's what I've wanted to do for years. The family exchange of purchasing, driving there or mailing them off has taken on a required to do, expensive chore feeling rather than the simple joy of giving. I'm climbing down off my soapbox before I get my bp up.:rant: Here in our home we've adopted an anonymous family in town to purchase gifts for. That brings me a good feeling already. We'll still celebrate our traditional Christmas exchange here, but with a more grateful heart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Academy of Jedi Arts Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 And we always give our kids pajamas for Christmas -- they have such cute ones out there for the holidays. Dd always gets to open pajamas on Xmas eve. I love that tradition. Dh and I talked about it and will be charging a few more gifts this year. We're afraid to spend too much money at once since we're unsure about energy and food costs. The food budget alone for Christmas here is huge. I got dd's "big gift" over the summer and I'm glad I did. I might actually spend a little more this year than I did last year because the big gift is more expensive, but we've spread our expenses out over a longer time span rather than my dropping a huge wad of cash in November. I love Christmas shopping. I love the decorations, all the neat stuff to look at, the crowds even. I do most of my shopping online these days because it is more convenient, but I still set aside a budget to hit the stores with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A home for their hearts Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 For us it will be really tight. It's hard to explain to a child who still believes in Santa Claus why he hardly brought them anything. Last year was bad for us as well we were barely able to get our dc anything and it was a very sad Christmas morning for me looking at the dissappointment on my dc faces. I'm hoping this year I'll be able to get them a couple of things each but it's not looking too promising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Academy of Jedi Arts Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 For us it will be really tight. It's hard to explain to a child who still believes in Santa Claus why he hardly brought them anything. Last year was bad for us as well we were barely able to get our dc anything and it was a very sad Christmas morning for me looking at the dissappointment on my dc faces. I'm hoping this year I'll be able to get them a couple of things each but it's not looking too promising. The stores are usually hiring at least part time at Xmas. My friend watches kids while their parents Christmas shop and makes enough to pay for all of her 2 kids Christmas presents. If working isn't possible, I go to a local organization that gives gifts to low income kids. We give to organizations like this just so kids like yours won't have to be disappointed on Xmas morning. :grouphug: Your post made me cry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 For us it will be really tight. It's hard to explain to a child who still believes in Santa Claus why he hardly brought them anything. Last year was bad for us as well we were barely able to get our dc anything and it was a very sad Christmas morning for me looking at the dissappointment on my dc faces. I'm hoping this year I'll be able to get them a couple of things each but it's not looking too promising. This made me sad too. Do you have Freecycle in your area? Could you ask for a couple of toys on there? What about Target - the dollar section often has a lot of really fun things. Heck - what are your kids' ages? We have some toys we could get rid of. In fact, I have a box I was going to send to Goodwill, but if you have kids my kids ages, you can have them! Seriously - PM me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 We have a trip to Disneyland booked. We are going to cancel it tomorrow, and lose a $300 plus deposit. :sad: This was going to be our "family gift"...now we are going to go on a much more scaled back, closer vacation. I'm just glad we didn't have the Disney trip paid for; at least we can get out of it at this point without much loss. Sigh. Maybe next year. ~D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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