I had the best intentions of waiting until November/December this year, but....
I'm already pretty much done.
I picked DD19 up a Roku TV at a Best Buy sale awhile back. I'm not sure what Black Friday is going to be like this year, if the tariffs stay in place, so I figured I'd go ahead and grab it early. It was a really good deal, so at most Black Friday would be a few bucks cheaper. And prices could even be higher then because of the tariffs.
Otherwise I have gotten her:
- a bunch of housewares. I figure if I start now, by the end of college she'll have most of what she needs for an apartment (she lives at home now and goes to the local university). This year's theme is baking - I picked up a bunch of stuff that fits that theme (baking sheets, mixer, etc), mostly using rewards points from various programs.
- a pair of tall Hunter Rain Boots - I got them on a Sam's Club auction for less than $40, including shipping!
- a Columbia fleece jacket that I got on clearance in the spring for only $20
- a hammock (all the rage on her campus) - it was cheap on
Amazon, and most of the cost was covered by a free gift card I got via Sprint, plus (in a rather shady move) it arrived with a card offering $5 for a review. I was planning to leave a review anyway, and I really was very happy with the product, so I went ahead and took them up on that offer so it ended up being close to free but not quite
- a small purse I got for free with DSW rewards
- jumper cables. She's gotten it into her head for some reason that she needs them. She has AAA, so I've told her all she has to do is call them - and it's probably lots safer - but she still wants them. So I grabbed an all-copper wire pair that were decently priced for the quality, although you certainly couldn't call them cheap. But I figured if I was going to buy them, I wanted to buy a pair that would last her nearly forever.
Other than DD, I really don't have many others to buy for. I give cash to the gardener and my nephews, gift cards to some friend's kids, and just get See's candy for some elderly family friends. I have my sister's name in the sibling name pull, but I already have the makings of her gift (we have a gag gift war, no need for shopping
)