Anyone Christmas shopping yet... continued...

[dhardawa]

I guess I officially started today. I ordered two pairs of Indiana Pacers tickets (Saturday and Sunday games) for my son and booked a hotel room in Indianapolis for the two of us. He’s 11 and loves basketball. This will be his first professional game.

My daughter is 19 and I have no idea what to get her. Her birthday is Monday, so now that I’m done buying for that, it’s time to start thinking about Christmas for her.

 

[dreamin_disney]

I wish I could help you out with suggestions but I’m struggling myself. My DD is very sentimental and would not want cash. She’s not into clothes, girly stuff, coffee etc. The last couple of years I’ve been buying her things for when she has her own home; dishes, towels, small appliances, Tupperware, silverware etc. I’m about tapped out in that department though. I’m playing with making a TiVo w/1 year service her “big gift.”

I went for it with the Powerbeats for all three. I know from buying the headphones in the past that only certain colors go on sale at certain times and didn’t want to take the chance of not getting the ones I wanted. Saved $65 on each pair and I don’t think they’ll come down much more than that. I have 90 days to return so we’ll see what happens.

Clothes are definitely out. She has to try on clothes otherwise pants are way to long(she's only 5'ft tall). Blouses doesn't like them to tight. She lives away at college so money always comes in handy. I was thinking gift cards from dollar tree and .99 store cuz thats where she goes if she needs stuff for her place or school projects. A few gift cards to clothing stores. Her campus is huge so a lot of kids use bikes, scooters and skateboards. Awhile back we saw a compact mini electric scooter that folds. She said it would be good for campus but I want sure if its allowed because its electric. I might get that if its allowed . It was under $150 so might be cheaper around the holiday

 

[colormegreen]

A BIG thank you to who posted about placing gift cards inside a mason jar with candy! I just planned to get my nieces and nephews a gift card and always just gave them in a little stocking, which didn’t hide what it was. I think I will be using this idea for this year.

As for my two boys...the 3 year old will be getting a bike, helmet, and don’t know what else. He has a lot of toys already. I save things and his brother who is 9 years older took care of his toys...so a lot are handy me downs along with clothes. My nephew is 2 years older than my 3 year old so I never had to really buy clothing so, I may just buy Spider-Man pajamas, as he refuses to wear anything else, and books.

As for my soon to be 12 year old, his birthday is in November. He had asked for an iPhone which he got in February (his old phone was a hand me down and terrible condition, so we discussed about him getting it early for his birthday). So for his birthday he just requested to have a lobster dinner. As I don’t cook lobster it’s going to be a pricey meal and he’ll get gifts from his grandmother and aunts. As for Christmas he only asked for three things...Bluetooth headphones for the ps4 (which my mom purchased for his birthday), call of duty, and a $100 gift card....so I might just to get him clothes and books. His iPad is in terrible condition so I might replace that.

As for my husband, I am at lost.

But no, I have not started purchasing a thing! I usually use to wait til after the last birthday in November, but now we have a birthday in December...so most likely I will begin after Lego Land in November.

 

[Alexle2007]

DH agreed to put hardwood floors in the 2nd floor of our house so that will be my Christmas gift. I have some installers coming this week to give me estimates for laying them. DS11 wants a iPad Pro (since you can play a Fortnite on it ) and he might get a new iPhone also since his iPhone 5 keeps draining the battery so quickly. I’ll get my mom some gift cards along his teachers. I am sure DS will end up with more as I go along but I have no idea what since we don’t do clothes as gifts plus they need replaced now since he has grown from the spring.

 

[MomToOne]

I’ve had a pair of wireless Bose Soundsports and charging case in my Wishlist forever. We don’t usually exchange but the younger kids have been really adamant the last year or two about getting us gifts for holidays. DH is very much in the “let them pick it out” camp so I’m trying to find a way to drop “hints” to them. (No one ever looks at my list)

DD18 is a wonderful child, but has always been an awful gift giver. For years, I smiled my way through her gifts often thinking "what the heck is THAT?" LOL But last year I decided to engage in a full-blown hint offensive - and thankfully she picked up on it. I know that sounds awful of me - as a parent I should be thrilled with anything my child gives me - but I had so many years of really odd-ball gifts and I hated to see her waste her money that way. I always tell her I don't want any gifts (and really mean it), but she insists, so I figured hinting for something I really wanted would be the best way to tackle the problem. I guess I need to think of a few things I want that are in her budget range and start hinting soon for this year...

Oh - and I gave in and ordered my earbuds! I went with the JLab Jbuds Air True that just came out. They are only $50 and while it's early, the reviews seem good. I put them on my Discover card to get the 5% back this quarter and because if they go down in price before Christmas anywhere, I can use price protection to get the difference back. That was one of the reasons I went with ordering them now - Discover is dropping price protection for anything purchased after Oct 31st.

 

[serenitynow]

A BIG thank you to who posted about placing gift cards inside a mason jar with candy! I just planned to get my nieces and nephews a gift card and always just gave them in a little stocking, which didn’t hide what it was. I think I will be using this idea for this year.

As for my two boys...the 3 year old will be getting a bike, helmet, and don’t know what else. He has a lot of toys already. I save things and his brother who is 9 years older took care of his toys...so a lot are handy me downs along with clothes. My nephew is 2 years older than my 3 year old so I never had to really buy clothing so, I may just buy Spider-Man pajamas, as he refuses to wear anything else, and books.

As for my soon to be 12 year old, his birthday is in November. He had asked for an iPhone which he got in February (his old phone was a hand me down and terrible condition, so we discussed about him getting it early for his birthday). So for his birthday he just requested to have a lobster dinner. As I don’t cook lobster it’s going to be a pricey meal and he’ll get gifts from his grandmother and aunts. As for Christmas he only asked for three things...Bluetooth headphones for the ps4 (which my mom purchased for his birthday), call of duty, and a $100 gift card....so I might just to get him clothes and books. His iPad is in terrible condition so I might replace that.

As for my husband, I am at lost.

But no, I have not started purchasing a thing! I usually use to wait til after the last birthday in November, but now we have a birthday in December...so most likely I will begin after Lego Land in November.

You’re welcome!

 

[pblack]

Now I'm excited about Christmas shopping-lol! I talked to dd the other day and she said she had a lower back right side spasm type. Sometimes her backs hurts (probably from stress) and also has pain in her legs so not sure if stiffiness or what. She has had low vitamin D labs were 12-14 and regualr labs should be 30. Took rx vita D and brought it up to 19. I told hubby for Christmas I would get her a nice massager. One thats for back and legs. Anyone have one they recommend? She lives on campus in an apartment and shares a room, so nothing super big or bulky so no massage bed or recliner-lol!

shopping list of stuff I need to get
-massager for dd

on DD's xmas request list
-sun bum 3-1 leave in conditioner

I already got her her card games she wanted but doesn't ask for much
what else do college kids like besides $$money$$ and gift cards


DD's bday is first week of December so I always find it hard to figure out what to buy her, especially because she doesn't ask for much


so far I have
-5 mermaid theme make-up brushes
-cards against humanity main deck black box
-cards against humanity red, blue and green box
-What do you meme? game
-keurig K mini single serving


waiting for gift card deals

You could get her some kcups to go with her keurig. A nice coffee cup. Other coffee related accessories.

 

[Hikergirl]

I already got her her card games she wanted but doesn't ask for much
what else do college kids like besides $$money$$ and gift cards

I was thinking that all my dd was going to end up with was cash and GC because she really doesn't have space in her dorm for anything to be stored but I did manage to come up with some things so she has actual presents to open.
I got her the CAH expansions, a couple Switch games and a Vera Bradley large duffel and a weekender bag. She has been complaining about her phone so we may upgrade her. (that would end up being a joint Christmas/birthday gift for her).
I'm going to send her an Advent calender and fill it with small practical things that she would need anyway so there isn't extra stuff for her to store at school. If we don't end up getting her the phone she will wind up with GC's and cash.

I'm struggling the most with my college age ds. He doesn't want anything, and since he's a saver and not a spender he was plenty of cash from working. Not that he wouldn't like more, I just don't want to give him money so it sits in his bank account since he isn't saving it for anything specific. I know that financial planners all over are cringing hearing that but I want to give him something he wouldn't spend his own money on. Giving him cash just feels like I gave up trying to wow/surprise him.

This is why I wanted to just go away for Christmas and not worry about presents to open.

Well dd's ears must have been ringing because she texted me a couple hours ago letting me know her phone was acting up and it kept freezing on her.
I gave her a list of phones I was willing to purchase and told her to pick one. I was sure she was going to go with the most expensive option but she decided to go with the cheapest one. Still expensive for a phone IMO but I ordered it and now her Christmas shopping is done other than her calendar fillers.
I will most likely give it to her early since her's seems to be dying.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

I'm struggling the most with my college age ds. He doesn't want anything, and since he's a saver and not a spender he was plenty of cash from working. Not that he wouldn't like more, I just don't want to give him money so it sits in his bank account since he isn't saving it for anything specific. I know that financial planners all over are cringing hearing that but I want to give him something he wouldn't spend his own money on. Giving him cash just feels like I gave up trying to wow/surprise him.

How about tickets to a sporting event? New tires for car? A years worth of AAA?

 

[Hikergirl]

How about tickets to a sporting event? New tires for car? A years worth of AAA?

Thanks for the ideas
He would love to see his favorite basketball team so I could look in to when they will be playing here on the east coast.
The tires and AAA would be a great idea but over the summer we passed down our dd's old car to him with brand new tires and added him to our AAA free for a year. I will keep that in mind for future gifts though. We normally pay for AAA anyway but he would be responsible for his own tires.
He pays his own gym membership so I could take over the payments for a year.
His birthday is coming up so I asked him to give me ideas, hopefully there will be a couple so I can use some for Christmas.
Worst case is I can get him get him gas and fast food gift cards so he can save even more of his own money.
He was looking at a pretty expensive gaming keyboard but decided to buy a cheaper one because he didn't want to spend the money on it even though he really wanted it. I could surprise him with that.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

Thanks for the ideas
He would love to see his favorite basketball team so I could look in to when they will be playing here on the east coast.
The tires and AAA would be a great idea but over the summer we passed down our dd's old car to him with brand new tires and added him to our AAA free for a year. I will keep that in mind for future gifts though. We normally pay for AAA anyway but he would be responsible for his own tires.
He pays his own gym membership so I could take over the payments for a year.
His birthday is coming up so I asked him to give me ideas, hopefully there will be a couple so I can use some for Christmas.
Worst case is I can get him get him gas and fast food gift cards so he can save even more of his own money.
He was looking at a pretty expensive gaming keyboard but decided to buy a cheaper one because he didn't want to spend the money on it even though he really wanted it. I could surprise him with that.

One year for Christmas my folks surprised us for paying our car insurance for the year. It was REALLY appreciated. I hadn’t been out of college long and it seemed like millions of dollars to me at the time.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I'm trying to go ahead and get a jump on some shopping so it isn't so much money at once. DH and I don't have kids, but we have a fairly large family that we buy gifts for.

DH and I both really need new phones. We have iPhone 6's that we got right after they came out. Mine won't hold a charge anymore even after getting a new battery and his just does weird stuff all the time. So, I told him the other night that we should just get the new phones and call that Christmas.

 

[bitty246]

I'm trying to go ahead and get a jump on some shopping so it isn't so much money at once. DH and I don't have kids, but we have a fairly large family that we buy gifts for.

DH and I both really need new phones. We have iPhone 6's that we got right after they came out. Mine won't hold a charge anymore even after getting a new battery and his just does weird stuff all the time. So, I told him the other night that we should just get the new phones and call that Christmas.

If you are looking for a deal on phones, watch the Black Friday ads for Walmart and Target. They regularly have $300 gift cards with new phone activation for The newr models of Samsung and Iphones. That would be for each line. We've done this a couple of times and then used the gift cards to buy gifts for others. The best thing is they usually start the promo a few days before BF, and run it for several days after so you don't have to go through the madness of BF.

 

[DisneyHardin]

If you are looking for a deal on phones, watch the Black Friday ads for Walmart and Target. They regularly have $300 gift cards with new phone activation for The newr models of Samsung and Iphones. That would be for each line. We've done this a couple of times and then used the gift cards to buy gifts for others. The best thing is they usually start the promo a few days before BF, and run it for several days after so you don't have to go through the madness of BF.

If you do one of the Black Friday deals, do you know if you can still finance the phone through your AT&T bill, or do you have to pay outright for the phone at Target?

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

If you do one of the Black Friday deals, do you know if you can still finance the phone through your AT&T bill, or do you have to pay outright for the phone at Target?

I didn't do a Black Friday deal, but I did a Target gift card offer before Christmas last year. I paid taxes on the phone at Target, but my monthly payment appears on my Verizon bill. We have also gotten phones through Costco and the monthly payment was paid on our cell phone bill.

 

[bitty246]

I didn't do a Black Friday deal, but I did a Target gift card offer before Christmas last year. I paid taxes on the phone at Target, but my monthly payment appears on my Verizon bill. We have also gotten phones through Costco and the monthly payment was paid on our cell phone bill.

Yes, my phone is billed to me in monthly installments on my bill. Gone are the days of free phone upgrades, so we thought this would be about the best we were going to get.

 

[bitty246]

If you do one of the Black Friday deals, do you know if you can still finance the phone through your AT&T bill, or do you have to pay outright for the phone at Target?

Sorry, not so great at the quotations thing! LOL. Yes, I replied to StitchandPooh'sMom... my phone is billed monthly on my AT&T bill.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I didn't do a Black Friday deal, but I did a Target gift card offer before Christmas last year. I paid taxes on the phone at Target, but my monthly payment appears on my Verizon bill. We have also gotten phones through Costco and the monthly payment was paid on our cell phone bill.

Sorry, not so great at the quotations thing! LOL. Yes, I replied to StitchandPooh'sMom... my phone is billed monthly on my AT&T bill.

That's great to know. I will definitely wait until Black Friday then. I would love to get a nice sized Target gift card for the rest of our shopping.

 

[DisnyDrmr]

DH and I don't really do to many gifts for each other, maybe a few small things here and there, but nothing big. DS(12) is more into experiences now than he is toys and stuff so we decided to go ahead and do annual passes this year for all of us. We moved to FL 4 years ago and are close enough to be able to go AT LEAST monthly so it makes sense to do that. I have picked up a few smaller items for DS and have maybe one biggish gift that I am hoping to get him. He said he doesn't mind if there is nothing under the tree this year, though, since we are giving him Disney all year

 

[ktate82]

Yes, my phone is billed to me in monthly installments on my bill. Gone are the days of free phone upgrades, so we thought this would be about the best we were going to get.

Yea, it's a shame. We got our phones for $.99 two years ago at Sam's. I think we got our last "free" phone then.