Dare I say it? Have you started your Christmas Shopping yet?

Anybody got any good tips on saving money for Christmas gifts this year?

One thing I started doing last year was giving my friends things in my house they had always admired. I use to collect antiques and so I use to have some interesting things. Last year I decided to give a few things to some of my friends who are hard to buy for, yet had always said, "If you ever get rid of that, I want it!"

I'm thinking of doing the same thing this year as I need to declutter this house!

Have you started shopping? Got any tips? Got Tinsel?

JJ

Ha!!! I DID start my shopping - I got my mom some jigsaw puzzles. But that's about it so far. We are really going to take the gift thing down a notch this year; we spent so much money last year, and now no one even remembers most of the presents they got!

JJ, what is it about you? When I was on vacation last week and visited the gift shops in Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas, I kept seeing Elvis and Oreo items. I kept thinking, wow, JJ would love that - I should get it for her.

Then I realized if I started sending you trinkets, you might think I was kissing up to you and wanting to be part of your royal court. So I didn't buy anything, but you WERE on my mind everytime I saw an Elvis item.

Kathy

Ahhh...go ahead and admit it, you want to be part of the royal court. I mean, after all, you're already a princess, am I right?

I was wondering if you all were back from vacation. I hope you had a great time!

By the way, jigsaw puzzles are my other passion. I love those thangs. I DO NOT like the ones that are 3-D. I just like the "theme" ones you can work, glue, then frame. I solve the world's problems while working a jigsaw puzzle. Your Mom and I would make great pals!

JJ

I kind of, sort of started, got a couple gift certificates for my kids. It's still in the 80's here so I'm not really into the whole Christmas shopping thing yet. My friend gave me a better idea though. She said she's not starting her shopping until the week before. She figures that would be the best way to NOT over spend this year!

I almost hate to admit it, but I started in June while we were in China. Found some great items for the families.
Also, we found a great buy on a professional ice cream maker, Dennis's sisters passion is ice cream.
The best part about starting early is putting everything in hiding and rediscovering all those treasures.

Hey isn't it amazing that we think of our Boomer sisters when out and about and we see something like Elvis or Oreo goodies and we think immediately of the person here who would love them. I do that all the time, I have seen some stuff that I was sure Queen JJ would love and it gave me such "joy" to imagine her face when she opened what I'd sent. I've done the same thing for a few others as well and many have done the exact same thing for me. The surprises were just wonderful and so much appreciated. Sometimes I can't afford to send something I find so I send the picture of it to JJ or whoever and they can order it for themselves if its something they like and can afford. And YES, I am a member of the Royal Court. I am the Sceptor/Throne Polisher and Chef/Feeder for the moats aligators. Yuk!
Hummm, well, maybe bigger and better gifts are needed here, you think?????

I'll take chocolate, if anyone is thinking of me...

What do the rest of you want??

I just started by going over the toy section at Costco today.
Some things are suitable for me, like the elaborate bead set LOL!!

By the way, if you have not seen this yet here is an awesome site
for online jigsaw puzzle fun. You can pick your theme, the look of
your puzzle pieces and the difficulty level and more.
And it's free : )

http://www.jigzone.com/

Have fun!! Cindy

Gosh! I still have birthdays to buy presents for! One thing I do however is shop for Christmas cards and wrappers (and Christmas bags & sacks to put them) in January. I also buy my bottles of wine to give away from that time as one gets good buys on "after seasons" sale. Good thing I am teetotal or I'd have opened and enjoyed them in the run up to Christmas.

Funny you should ask. I just began Saturday when I was at the women's retreat. They had the best vendors. I like buy gifts from small businesses and try very hard to do so while Christmas shopping. The big stores get enough business as it is. Anyway, I got two really neat scarves for my young adult nieces who are very mod, a cool set of gardening tools covered with what looks like flowery contact paper (but I know that's not what it is) for a dear friend who is a woman of the earth, socks of the week for a grand-niece, and a few other little things. I love shopping for others and I especially like it when I can find the perfect gift.

Good topic. Let's keep it up so we can get soem good ideas going here.

What do you buy the man/woman who has everything?

I just bought red tissue paper at the Dollarama.

I have to start early, because besides Christmas, we have three major birthdays right before and after Christmas and another major one mid-January (when the shelves are still bare!)

Hubby's is the 23rd, and I always try to get him summery stuff for his birthday and winter stuff for Christmas. So I have to always remember to go out and buy summer clothes/paraphenalia (eg, BBQ & garden gadgets) for his December birthday before the clothes all disappear at the end of July.

What to get people who have everything? We've never done this, but my niece (who is definitely not one of those people who have everything - in fact, quite the opposite!) has actually hinted that she'd love it if we did - it's adopting an animal (like a polar bear or panda bear) that's on the near-extinction list. I haven't looked into it, and don't know how it works, or how bona-fide it is, but my niece is 17 and has a very social-conscious heart and loves the idea of it. She's the one who is planning to go to China and Africa after she graduates in June to do some missionary work through her church. She buys all of her gifts at places where the money goes to charities.

Or you can always go for something like a stainless steel toothpick dispenser - we saw one several months ago and have often wished we had picked it up. It seemed so decadent at the time, but we've since realized how useful it would be. But of course, I can't find it now!

Hi, Dotsie: A good bottle of wine?

JJ,
Just so you know...I don't have my eye on that half eaten bone of Trixie's...probably couldn't get it away from anyway.

I haven't shopped yet. I don't buy as many gifts as I used to, I give gift certificates and money to the kids. But now that there's a wee on in the family that will probably change all of that...who couldn't buy gifts for her?!

Yes, we have an Alternative Gift Market at our church with lots of options. You can buy gifts of various price points. Some are for local shelters, others are for more global causes. That's a great way to go if you don't want to clutter up someone's home.

Something we've done for elderly family members is to give them tickets to a show. That has been a hit.

And I know it sounds hokey, but I still like the idea of homemade gift certificates.